BOREALIS
“THE OFFERING”
Album Review by Iron Mathew
9/10

Borealis are a melodic metal band from Canada formed in 2005, releasing their debut album ‘World Of Silence’ in 2008. The follow up album ‘Fall From Grace’ emerged in 2011, with their third album ‘Purgatory’ released in 2015. The bands debut album was re-recorded for 2017’s ‘World Of Silence MMXVII’ release, and 2018 will see the bands fifth album ‘The Offering’ released to a worldwide audience.

Twelve songs with one hour of running time, this is an album of good numbers and very good music. ‘The Fire Between Us’ is an epic and glorious opening, pounding hard with a thunderous rhythm and an infectious melodic foot stomp. Hitting as hard as a heavyweight boxing champion, Borealis have launched their new album in emphatic style, and it only gets better, as ‘Sign Of No Return’ chugs into life, with a mild hint of AOR hidden under the surface. Borealis may be from Canada, yet they have been influenced hugely by the European power metal sound. The title song ‘The Offering’ heavies things up a bit and is one of the hardest foot stomps ever. The energy and intensity that oozes from ‘The Offering’ is phenomenal as it thunders along, heads banging hard in appreciation of a great song. There are touches of the progressive genre of metal spread across the album too, none more so than ‘River’, a shuddering, thundering and more blunt song than anything heard so far. No matter which style Borealis deliver, from power to progressive to traditional heavy metal, they are masters of catchiness, and the sing a long style chorus breaks.

‘The Second Son’ is another pulsating progressive power metal romp, very heavy, yet melodic at the same time. Borealis have managed to create a unique sound blending three different genres to create a unique, and very heavy, listening experience. Time for lighters to make an appearance for the ballad ‘The Devil’s Hand’. The bands singer has a great voice, from a mild raspy growl for the power metal hard hitters, to a sublime and exquisite clean delivery for this ballad. Soulful too, as ‘The Devil’s Hand’ ambles along, allowing the listener a few minutes to catch a breath. The more mellow approach continues on with ‘Into The Light’, as it progresses to become a thundering power metal ballad, but only just. Maybe a little on the heavy side to be classed as a power metal ballad, ‘Into The Light’ will pound and pummel you into submission. Out and out melodic metal makes a welcome return in the shape of ‘Scarlet Angel’. Foot thumpingly addictive, ‘Scarlet Angel’ is a mid tempo masterpiece, adding to its epic nature with the addition of female backing vocals as it plays out.

Pulsating and heavy, ‘The Awakening’ is an earth shattering thump of a song, and one that will give lesser mortals a headache…but not us die hard heavy metal fans, we love it hard and heavy… ‘The Path’ takes us on the progressive metal trail once more, guitars a major feature as ‘The Path’ is very much a guitar led instrumental. Whoarghh, where in the hell did that heaviness come from? The opening riff for ‘Forever Lost’ would not be out of place on a thrash metal album, and as it gathers momentum, ‘Forever Lost’ is an absolute peach of a heavy power metal rampage. The final song on the album clocks in at nearly nine minutes in length, and is a glorious epic. Keyboards lead the intro, as ‘The Ghosts Of Innocence’ atmospherically builds and builds, turning into a thumping heavy rock song. Borealis continue to deliver epic and anthemic power/melodic metal, with one hundred percent catchiness and an infectious nature that will have you hooked. All twelve songs on offer are deserving of their place on the album.

Overall, a very heavy power metal album with touches of the progressive metal genre, Borealis deliver an infectious and catchy collection of hard hitting songs.

TRACKLIST

The Fire Between Us
Sign Of No Return
The Offering
River
The Second Son
The Devil’s Hand
Into The Light
Scarlet Angel
The Awakening
The Path
Forever Lost
The Ghosts Of Innocence

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