01. Intro
02. ...As The World Crumbles
03. A Vision Of Darkness
04. The Revolution Of Shadow
05. Enslaved In Tragedy
06. The Forgotten Existence
07. Counting The Days
08. The Masochist Within
09. The Curse Of The Deceiver
10. Alone
11. The Watcher
12. The Essence Of Being
13. Painful Reality
14. Broken Shards Of Humanity

Fireborn hail from the US and they move in Gothenburg metal soundscapes, generally speaking, but they tend to sound too much heavy metal oriented at times. The main influences of the band in one hand seem to come from Children Of Bodom and stuff from Finland, on the other hand In Flames and other Gothenburg references make their appearance in the sound of Fireborn.

What someone can easily notice is the fact that the members consisting of Fireborn are really wonderful musicians! Especially the guitarists sound so stunning and unerring at the same time that you remain speechless while listening to them unleashing all those fiery solos! The riffing is really good and inspired, but the real highlight is the solos and they are so many that after having listened to "?As The World Crumbles" you really feel fed up with the solo term and in the most appropriate way that you don't won't to listen to such guitar passages for 2-3 days afterwards! The rhythm section interprets its role in an ideal way, with the drumming being raging when it has to or more tempo-keeping, yet always sounding dynamic and well-executed and the bass lines keeping the pulse of the compositions alive, having an obscure sound though that seems to fit somehow. The vocals fit the music perfectly and they lend the ideal aggressive tone the compositions are asking for in terms of vocal lines!

The first seven compositions are very melodic with only the shrieking vocals lending a more "violent" edge to them, apart from them the whole feeling is pure heavy metal with the riffing and the solos burning the shrouds. From the 8th composition and on the album becomes more aggressive and powerful, it's probably the fact that the 8-14 songs were composed during the previous year, without being sure though because this is the first time I listened to Fireborn and I don't know how much tougher they sounded before. The sound of the band from "The Masochist Within" and on becomes more groovy and thrashy at the same time with Fireborn unleashing the energy lying deep within!

If you are searching for an album that moves in heavy/melodic death/Gothenburg metal soundscapes with a good production (which could have been better) then "?As The World Crumbles" is a good choice. They have a lot to offer, they have the skills and the ideas, they just have to work on a more personal sound.