AVERLANCHE
“Arctic Atlas”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

9/10

Averlanche are a melodic metal band from Finland formed in 2017, releasing their debut album ‘Life’s Phenomenon’ in 2020, and sophomore album ‘Arctic Atlas’ in 2023.

Featuring a much more symphonic metal feel than ever before, Averlanche are pumped up and raring to go – the new album eleven songs and thirty three melodic minutes of symphonic power metal! The band are red hot, opening the album with the short instrumental ‘-273.16°C’ – and for all you fact fans out there, “-273.16°C” is absolute zero, the lowest temperature that is theoretically possible where there is no motion and no heat. And just to put in to context how cold -273.16°C is – the lowest temperature at which humans can survive is around -32°C. Anything below that, hypothermia can occur, a life threatening condition in which your body loses heat faster than it can produce it! Anyway – back to Averlanche and their barnstorming new album! After the bitterly cold and atmospheric intro, the band launch headlong into the fast paced and energy laden ‘In The Theater Of Fire’ – hitting heavily with a high level of brute force. Much heavier than I expected – but I ain’t complaining, the heavier the better as far as I’m concerned!

The symphonic power metal fuelled opener was an immediate head turner, making listeners stop what they’re doing and hone in on the bands devastating desire to please – the album moving swiftly on with ‘Killing Floor’, pounding the ground hard, causing seismic detectors all around the world to go fucking crazy! ‘Killing Floor’ is shaking the ground, crumbling walls, and wreaking havoc everywhere – with the powerful vocals of lead singer Rebecca Sporl as beautiful as she is! What an incredible opening one-two – which becomes a one-two-three, with the heavy thunder of ‘Heartache Parade’. The intensity Averlanche have begun their second album with is phenomenal, the oomph and energy off the fucking charts – I haven’t stopped head banging since ‘In The Theater Of Fire’ stormed into life. As I’m sure you haven’t either! Not to mention jaws dropping and hitting the ground in amazement. And with a dramatic change in tempo and pace, ‘Island Across’ floats in on the crest of a cloud, no where near ballad territory, more like an angelic hymn-like stroll – the band offering a short breather from the all out metal attack of ‘Arctic Atlas’ up to this point.

And where ‘Island Across’ is almost five minutes in length, every other song on offer clocks in at under three! A swift and fast moving album maintains its melodic mastery with ‘Polaris’, pounding the senses with power come heavy metal vibes to retain listeners attention! Attention which is solely focused on the bands incredibly infectious root sound – “melodic symphonic power metal” is the best description I can come up with. Anyone disagree? No! Good! Let’s move on – ‘She & The Dark Winter’ returning the pulsating heaviness of earlier, yet still offering the fabulous symphonic vocals of Sporl. What a range! And what a catchy album ‘Arctic Atlas’ is turning out to be, grabbing listeners attention from the off and never letting go – ‘Little Lotus’ floating in with a crescendo building and anticipation fuelled first minute, adopting a heavy foot stomp reminiscent of the doom laden style of Black Sabbath. And bear with me for a moment as I can explain “the doom laden style of Black Sabbath” – if Black Sabbath were a modern symphonic power metal band with female vocals. Just let your imagination roam far and wide for a minute and you’ll see where I’m coming from. And it isn’t the mental institute where many people think I should be!

Mellowness and serenity descends like an elevator going down, ‘Black Butterflies’ Night’ coming to life on the back of a sublime keyboard passage – lacking all the oomph and energy of everything heard so far. Well I say lacking energy, but you can feel the reined in energy bursting to be set free. Yet the band do an incredible job of holding it in, as does Sporl, delivering the most angelic and soaring vocal performance on the album! Although ‘Arctica’ does follow the same path through the clouds that ‘Black Butterflies’ Night’ did – for the first minute anyway! And then – boom! ‘Arctica’ takes on a mighty foot stomp that cracks the ground wide open, shaking buildings and crumbling walls! Just where did that heaviness come from? The depths of hell I would imagine – Averlanche blending anthemic metal with their root symphonic power metal sound. Which all brings us to the albums closing song, ‘Atlas Of Hearts’, the most heavy metal sounding offering ‘Arctic Atlas’ has. The bustling nature of ‘Atlas Of Hearts’ is far removed from any symphonic, or power metal elements, pounding the ground with all the intensity of straight up, traditional heavy metal. Okay I concede, there are minor touches of symphonic power metal sprinkled throughout the albums final hurrah.

Overall, a thunderous and highly engaging gallop of heavy, symphonic power metal with masses of melodious intent.

TRACKLIST

-273.16 °C
In The Theater Of Fire
Killing Floor
Heartache Parade
Island Across
Polaris
She & The Dark Winter
Little Lotus
Black Butterflies´ Night
Arctica
Atlas Of Hearts

https://www.averlanche.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Averlanche

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