Though Ville Valo has often been seen as the sole proprietor of love metal as a genre, primarily because very few can match his vampiric romanticism and poetry, Atlas arises as a formidable and remarkable successor. Infusing love metal with arcane echoes and bestial screams, they delivers a sensually brutal epic in their new record, Sunder (Odyssey Music).
Vocalist Patrik Nuorteva’s voice has a distinctive sonic imprint and an incredibly wide range. To the point of their obvious HIM/VV influence—On “Altar of Your Love,” Nuorteva takes a step outside of his usual modus operandi to deliver a vocal performance nearly indistinguishable from Ville (A compliment and impressive feat, by the way). Each song is a ceremony of remorse and romance, thanks to his richness of emotion.
While seamlessly fitting together like a tapestry, every track on Sunder manages to have its own personality. It’s hard to pick a single stand-out to discuss because of that. “I Whisper Your Name Like a Curse” captures an immortal, artful pain, while the title track, “Sunder,” serves as a modern-day viking hymn. The acoustic entry to “Anodyne” is jarring, only to evolve into a gaspingly desperate soundtrack of an agonizing hellscape.
Sunder’s atmospheric work flows like soulful, mythical ballads to the Old Gods. Many bands attempt the perfect loop from the final song into the first, yet very few capture it as naturally as Atlas did. A collection of romance and omens reverberating through the vastness of time, unearthing ancient roots and resonance, it’s impossible to ignore the production quality, talent, and heart of this record.
Atlas is often described as metalcore, but this label does it a disservice. The majority of metalcore bands fall into an angst-driven, garage-born sound. However, Atlas’s sound is purely ethereal. They’ve crafted a dynamic combination of a distant, haunting atmosphere and the infernal screams of eternal torment. Truly, they are a preternatural, love-striken force of the underworld.
Buy the album here:
https://shop.odyssey-music.net/en/collections/atlas
8 / 10
LJ DEWITT
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