Their debut (Sinthetic) was really, really good. Since then there's been a slow - yet steady - decline with each new album. They kind of jumped the shark with their last release, and I'm afraid that will be the case even moreso with this one.

I quite like this band's style, especially on Omega Arcane. Looking forward to this!

Written by SoUnDs LiKe PoP on 14.04.2023 at 19:39

Their debut (Sinthetic) was really, really good. Since then there's been a slow - yet steady - decline with each new album. They kind of jumped the shark with their last release, and I'm afraid that will be the case even moreso with this one.

That's really a matter of taste we're talking about here as Omega Arcane is the most epic album I have ever listened to! I tried to give their earlier albums a try but never liked them so that this new album could not find me very interested in what seems to be a return to their roots. Yet I won't call it bad, matter of taste as I wrote. :p

Does this album have any similarities with "old school" Shade Empire? Not really.

Is this top-notch music/composition? Absolutely.

Did I enjoy it? Fucking hell I did.

Omega Arcane and Poetry of the Ill-Minded are among my all time favourite albums. I wasn't a fan of anything they did before Omega and I'm definitely not a fan of this release.
The vocals have a lot do with it. They somehow sound like an afterthought. Also, a lot of the change-ups in songs sound like a completely different band suddenly steps in. Sometimes it's power metal, other times it's metalcore and other times it's Dimmu Borgir.
It's an utter mess and I'm gutted.

P.S. The new vocalist used to be in Nemecic and they improved immensely after he left. Their last 2 albums are stellar

Not bad but I'm not a huge fan of the clean vocals and there is a lot of clean vocals for a Black Metal album

Not at all what i expected, but probably i will give them a few more chances after the dissapointment wears off.

I miss them in days when they form, never listen to those guys a lot, now well it has melodies it has mix bet3harsh n calm voc9. Not impressed whit artworks in general, but well music do the thing.

Sad to hear that SE become another generic metal band, didn't even expected a better outcome though after the original vocalist left the band...

I was hoping this would be a well-crafted album with all that's gone into it, unfortunately there's nothing here that grabs my attention and making me go wow, that's impressive. For me it's basic modernized symphonic black metal with annoying clean vocals, average songwriting and uninspiring melodies. There's perhaps potential for this being a grower on me in time, but so far I'm not that impressed by it

I don't get this one. It feels like I looked away for 5 minutes and half of the album turned into commercial metalcore and alternative with occasional black passages? I like meloblack music a lot but this isn't it. Tracks 1, 2, and 6 I enjoyed.

Excellent album, hints of old SE still present, upon hearing the singles I thought this would be a huge disappointment but it turned out to be exactly the opposite.

For those who can't get what happened I suggest to check the side project of Juha Sirkkiä and Erno Räsänen called Thence.

This album is way better than Sylosis' new one. This got more memorable songs and is worth revisits unlike A Signs Of Things To Come. Also the deluxe version comes with orchestral versions of the songs that are pretty epic. I don't really understand all the hate this album gets. I like it at least and I prefer when bands don't make the same album over and over again.

Good but not great, tho im sure i will like it more after listening to it longer

i quite like they are experimenting with the music and trying some different things, afterall its been 21 years since the first album, its expected that it would sound different

Solid album, nothing here reaching the heights of lecter, anti life savior, or treasure.

In amongst the woods, title track and Profane Radiance are pretty sweet.

His cleans can do get grating at times.

Clearly a change from Omega Arcane and other similar releases of theirs, but I still quite enjoy it. It's quite varied, and generally each different song works well (I wasn't too hot on the balladry of Torn Asunder, but the keyboard solo and subsequently following guitar solo lift it up for me), even if no song especially stands out.

I'm on the fence like many here. It's enjoyable overall, but not really anything I find worth coming back to.

Better than their last one, but not as good as Omega Arcane.

I remember I found their 2013 album through this site's Top albums of 2013. I have been using it since.
Too bad we only got but a few 8.5+ albums per year since 2013.

Written by GrimReaper85 on 06.10.2023 at 18:59

I remember I found their 2013 album through this site's Top albums of 2013. I have been using it since.
Too bad we only got but a few 8.5+ albums per year since 2013.

That's because the rating abuse was way worse then than it is now. Now we get more nuanced ratings that reflect how good an album actually is.

Great album. I surprised to see a lot of negative reviews. I've never heard their previous stuff so I had no expectations going in,

Despite a lot of the negative criticism I'm seeing here, I really liked this album. I especially liked the orchestral versions of the songs found on the Expanded version of the album.