Album Review: The Halo Effect – March Of The Unheard (Nuclear Blast)

Swedish melodic death metal all-star band The Halo Effect are back with their eagerly awaited second album ‘March of the Unheard’. It will be released on January 10th, 2025, via Nuclear Blast.

Setting the melodeath bar high for 2025, which won’t be too much of a surprise to those familiar with The Halo Effect or the member’s other bands/projects, March of the Unheard isn’t about changing the world, it’s simply all about showcasing the best aspects of the genre, adding some accessibility and ensuring that fans come away very happy.

For the most part.

It’s not a big problem as the majority of the album is killer, but there are a few moments that sputter rather than spark. One of which is the opening track, Conspire to Deceive. Lacking a bombastic edge and failing to get out of second gear, it ticks plenty of the right boxes but is a forgettable start.

Things do improve with the following Detonate though as The Halo Effect pick up where they left off with the debut album, Days of the Lost. Think fast heaviness, think big harmonies, and think an overall vibe that takes the very best of each musician and infuses it into one four-odd minute track. It, and the following Our Channel to the Darkness, Cruel Perception, and What We Become are thoroughly enjoyable melodeath efforts that harks back to some of the best periods of the sound. It’s what we expect from his band, and they rarely fail to deliver.

Heck, even the fairly pointless track This Curse of Silence is likeable enough. However, it’s around the middle part of the album that The Halo Effect start to unleash anthems and it’s when the overall quality of the record increases exponentially. First, there is the title track and the sound of a band on fire. An upbeat anthem that has elements of vintage melodeath to it, but still sounds fresh and modern.

Then there is Forever Astray, a track with a killer chorus (the clean singing is great), and there is Between Directions, a track that is more elaborate and dramatic than anything elsewhere. Take that for what you will, it’s creative and changes up the melodeath formula, but is it memorable outside of the violin and clean singing in the chorus? It’s hard to be too wowed by it, regardless.

Their inherent melodeath form is back with aplomb though on A Death That Becomes Us and The Burning Point. The Halo Effect ensuring their new album goes out with a heady and harmonious bang. Especially as the finale of Coda is the cherry on top of this final run of tracks. The old adage of ‘if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it’, proving to be an important mantra for The Halo Effect and how they approach this record.

It’s good, it’s very good, and another strong showcase of their immense talents. Importantly too, it’s a cohesive listen where you can feel the connection between the members and feel how that dictates their creativity. A couple of miss moments (minor too) isn’t enough to impact the overall enjoyment of the record. It’s two for two with his band and melodeath continues to be as relevant as ever when they’re around.

The Halo Effect – March of the Unheard Track Listing:

1. Conspire to Deceive
2. Detonate
3. Our Channel to the Darkness
4. Cruel Perception
5. What We Become
6. This Curse of Silence
7. March of the Unheard
8. Forever Astray
9. Between Directions
10. A Death That Become Us
11. The Burning Point
12. Coda

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