Alone

Astray, a band I've never heard in my life I decided to purchase an EP by them from my local record store after having a preview of it. Now first off, what I can say is that these guys are still in their developing stage, they haven't found a particular focus point yet and are still experimenting, which is perfectly fine in my eyes as some bands can take over a decade to discover and perfect their style.

Astray are a band mainly with mixed influences, and his EP has quite a few. The guitar lines are reminiscent of the Gothenburg sound at parts, however they are bit darker and lean towards the black metal side too, sort of like a cross between dark tranquility and dissection. The vocals are typically black metal, very much like most 90's Norwegian black metal singers, however the clean vocals do need quite a bit of work. The drumming is solid, it's varied enough to keep the listener interested however my only complaint is that there is maybe one too many blast beats going on. The keyboards are also noteworthy (excuse the bad pun), which are very nice and give good breaks when needed but also complement the main parts of whichever song nicely.

My only complaints about the band overall is that they use arpeggios way too much throughout all of their songs and even base melodies around them. Also their music can be repetitive at parts and constant keyboard arpeggios can get annoying after a while.

Overall, this EP sounds very promising and I am looking forward to hearing what Astray have to offer in the future. While I would not say this EP is an essential purchase, if you happen to come across it for a decent price, buy it, you won't be disappointed. And if you are looking for a new melodic death/black band to keep your eye on in the future, I recommend this one.