...as the World Crumbles

Oak Knoll Productions have a knack for putting out amazing albums that are very definitive of whatever style that band might play, and "As The World Crumbles" by Fireborn is no exception. These five gents from NY, have created an album that is very pleasing in a lot of ways, being very melodic, while still being viscious, fast, and with a certain amount of technical flair.

Even though I am very passionate about melodic death metal, it has become increasingly apparent in the past few years that the style as a whole, is becoming somewhat stagnant. Many bands nowadays have trouble being original within the genre, and many end up shamelessly looting the back catalogues of genre greats like At The Gates and other seminal bands.

So where does Fireborn fit into the equation? Well for one thing, Fireborn are no group of rookies, having over ten years of expierience and several releases under their belt. Though obviously very heavily influenced by the Swedish sound, and very knowledgable about writing within the melodic death framework, Fireborn still offer a great deal for fans of this style.

"As the World Crumbles" certainly doesn't break much new ground, but rather attepts to put an interesting spin on the genre. Everything you want from melodic death is here in spades, fast riffing and drums, aggressive vocals, and catchy song structures. However, Fireborn also add a couple of their own ingredients to the signature style.

What sets Fireborn apart is their many nods to tradtional metal. Sounding as if they take a great deal more influence from old school metal than many of their peers certainly makes this album more enjoyable. The punishing grooves of 80's thrash and power metal are more than apparent, but they never dominate the bands overall melodic death style, only enhance it. The grandiose and epic feel of power metal is here, but with none of the cheese or over the top imagery.

Though this album was culled from two seperarate sessions, all the songs flow wonderfully, and retain the same signature sound. "As the World Crumbles" is a great effort by a severly underrated band. So, if thrashed out melodic death is your bag, then Fireborn is certainly worth checking out