Band:	Darkness Ablaze
Album:	Shadowreign
Style:	Melodic death metal
Release date:	April 2010

01. Enclosure No. 7
02. Zero
03. The Chains Of Life
04. Trail Of Lies
05. Reduced To A Beast
06. Enlightened By Shadows
07. Interlude
08. The Might Of Repression
09. Walls
10. Two Souls Marked By Sorrow
+ The Chains Of Life [video] [Live at Celtic Rock Festival 2009]
+ Once Called For Redemption [video] [Live at Celtic Rock Festival 2009]

The best-fitting genre description for the German sextet Darkness Ablaze would probably have to be 'melodic extreme metal'. While the tag seems kind of counterproductive, I can't seem to think of a better one for a band that hasn't quite decided which is most fun to play out of extreme power metal, 'gothenburg', melodic black metal, pagan and modern thrash metal. Extreme power metal seems to have taken the lead so far though.

Shadowreign is the kind of album that tries to please everyone. Be it the necro-kids who think black metal with keyboards is the epitome of evil, to the modern-metal-mosher who likes himself some heavy riffs as long as it isn't 'just noise', to the power metal dude thinking that listening to Children Of Bodom will give him a level up in badass-ness. The truth is that while Darkness Ablaze do an OK job in all of the waters they tread in, they don't really shine in any of them.

If you listen to this album and really enjoy that certain melodic black metalish song, chances are you're better off just listening to a quality melodic black metal band and the same is true for the other genres on here. As a whole the CD is already interesting for a listen or two just because of its variation, but after multiple spins I have to say that none of the different elements they blend into their music manages to impress me.

Another issue is the lacklustre production. The atmosphere isn't emphasized in the songs where it would be important, in the songs focusing most on cool riffs they don't sound powerful enough etc. All in all this album really isn't 'bad', it's rather 'not good enough'. Perhaps they can convince me more with their next try.