Album Review: Thalarion – Dying On The Scorched Plains (UPRISING! Records)

Carl Fisher 2 min read

Back, after a 15-year absence, Slovakian death/doom band Thalarion return with “Dying on the Scorched Plains”. The new album will be released in digital and CD formats by UPRISING! Records on December 10th, 2021.

Epic death and doom with melodic depth and lyrical story-telling brilliance (easy to understand when you consider the literary work that has come from band members). Thalarion’s Dying on the Scorched Plains might be a return but it’s also a celebration of a band that has had a career spanning 30+ years.

Blending heavy instrumentation with lighter melodies and dominated by the vocal pairing of Petronela Hederova and Juraj Thal Grezdo; one light and airy, the other meaty and guttural. There is a lot to unpack with this new release. Particularly as the tone shifts from doomy drawls to crunchy death-infused noise to lavish melody that gives it a grandiose flavour. It sounds all over the place, but the structure is fabulous and fascinating. Such is the talent of this band and the triumph of their return.

Not only is it captivating from beginning to end, it’s also filled with variety. If you don’t care for doom, don’t be put off. If you don’t care for death metal, don’t be put off. This is an album that is so much more, that genre-placing feels wrong.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

What it is, is an album of heavy melodic metal that creates atmosphere and feeling while constantly keeping you wrong-footed as you just can’t predict what will come next. How do you compare something like Space in Between, with its crunching heaviness and cold melodies, to something like Wandering Minstrel? Where a relaxed tone, progressive guitars and light-hearted vocals switches in an instant into something utterly devastating? You can’t. You just have to sit back and admire what Thalarion are capable of.

A return to be proud of. The musical world is a better place for having Thalarion in it.

Thalarion – Dying on the Scorched Plains Full Track Listing:

1. Prelude to Dolorous Scenes
2. Burning Pile
3. Space In Between
4. Dead but Still in My Heart
5. Fairy Garden
6. Wandering Minstrel
7. Sub Rosa
8. Back to The Light
9. Dying on The Scorched Plains
10. Into the Nowhere




Links

CD Order | Facebook

Author

  • Owner/Administrator/Editor/Writer/Interviewer/YouTuber - you name it, I do it. I love gaming, horror movies, and all forms of heavy metal and rock. I'm also a Discworld super-fan and love talking all things Terry Pratchett. Do you wanna party? It's party time!

Thalarion - Dying On The Scorched Plains (UPRISING! Records)
  • The Final Score - 8/10
    8/10
Sending
User Review
9.4/10 (4 votes)