Beyond the Black - Heart of the Hurricane (2018)

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Delivering a killer female-fronted Symphonic Metal opus, today we have Germany’s Beyond the Black and their third full-length release “Heart of the Hurricane”. Led by the talented and also quite beautiful Jennifer Haben, this band has a great sound that while part of a crowded genre, it easily stands out from the rest. Perfectly designed for those fans of bands like Nightwish, Tarja, Epica, and even the likes of Doro, this release will keep you quite entertained for over 60 minutes.

Things get heated quite quickly with the hard rocking catchiness of “Hysteria”, a very direct and engaging opener that shifts things into 5th gear from the start. The album title song delivers very crafty tempo changes and dramatic riffs that are very well rounded up by the emotional sultry female vocals. This song feels like a unique mixture of the dynamism of Delain and the bombastic nature of Nightwish put together. We love how the band can switch the mood of the release from one song to the next, as it happens one “Million Lightyears” opens with male clean vocals and slowly transitions in a hyper catchy chorus section.

For those looking for more dramatic and bombastic tracks, “Song for the Goddess” has a nice mixture of Folk elements with lush arrangements, while “Escape from the Earth” is more of a ballad-type, allowing Jennifer Haben to fully showcase her vocal talents. We like catchy songs and “Beneath a Blackened Sky” and “Fairytale of Doom” clearly delivering in this aspect. One of our favorite tracks has to be the very diverse “My God is Dead”, which perfectly balances dramatic female vocals with contrasting male vocals and crushing guitar leads.

As the album winds down with tracks like “Scream for Me” and “Breeze”, we are quite impressed with the level of creativity shown in how diverse and yet engaging the tracks in this release are. While many bands in the genre always sound, more of less the same, Beyond the Black manages to shapeshift enough to keep the listener engaged and always wanting more. Overall, “Heart of the Hurricane” is definitely one hell of a release a great introduction for the band to a wider audience thanks to their bigger label, Napalm Records.

Bands: Beyond the Black Album: Heart of the Hurricane

Label: Napalm Records

Release: August 31st, 2018

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Genre: Symphonic Metal

Country: Germany

Rating: 88/100
Year: 

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