Unleash the Archers – Abyss
August 21st, 2020
Power Metal
Napalm Records
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
“Holy. Shit”. That was my initial reaction the first time I finished listening to Abyss, the fifth album from Canadian power metal group Unleash the Archers. But it was also my reaction after the second listen, the third, and the countless times I’ve spun this record from front to back in the last four months. Since this album’s release I’ve actually been struggling to listen to other new music that has come out in 2020 because of how constantly I’ve had this album on rotation in my headphones.
You know those records that you listen to as a young, impressionable adolescent that stick with you for the rest of your life? Those records that impart so much upon you and become so close to your heart that it feels like the songs are interwoven with your DNA? I’ve got plenty of those. Screaming for Vengeance and Painkiller from Judas Priest. Leviathan and Crack the Skye from Mastodon. Addicted from the Devin Townsend Project. But while those albums had a huge impact on me as a teenager I find it to be a rarer case that albums released now in my adult life can have that same, grandiose impact on me. But when it does happen it’s a huge deal. I want to cherish such records. This is one of those albums.
I’ll preface this even further by saying that I’ve never been a huge power metal fan. I find that much of the genre is too saturated in cheese and overblown grandiosity, and while I understand that that is really the point of power metal, it’s rubbed me the wrong way for most of my adult life. There are some records I enjoy quite a bit like Framing Armageddon Part II from Iced Earth, and a smattering of releases from Blind Guardian or the big three of symphonic metal (Nightwish, Epica, Within Temptation), but once I grew out of my initial fascination with the genre in my early teens I rarely if ever returned to it. This album changed that.
The interesting thing about Abyss and the sound of Unleash the Archers as a whole is how they combine elements of power metal with traditional heavy metal from the late 70’s and 80’s as well as melodic death metal. But they go a step further. In talking to this record with other people I’ve described it as being “what happens when you fuse the vibes of synthwave artists like Perturbator and Carpenter Brut with the energy and songwriting chops of classic heavy metal bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden”. The addition of electronic synths with the high octane, bullet train riffs of speed metal has been done before, sure, but Unleash the Archers does it so right on this record. Every track oozes in the atmosphere of neon cosmic glory and it’s beautiful.
In speaking of every track, each song on this record stands out on its own. They are all catchy, melodic pieces that you can bang your head too, sure. But beyond that they all have their own thing going on. You have the unexpected blast beat cacophony on “Legacy”, or the long, strung-together vocal patterns on “Soulbound”, or the constant palm muted riffing on “Through Stars” that sounds 1000% inspired by “Edge of Seventeen” by Stevie Nicks. Each track has its own gimmick. I know that sounds bad but I think the word gimmick carries connotations that aren’t entirely deserved. Every song on this album is memorable not just for their catchiness, but for the ways in which the catchiness is implemented in each of them. Hence, gimmicks.
But what about the instrumentals? Well if you’re wondering about the riffs, fear not, for guitarists Andrew Kingsley and Grant Truesdell certainly bring the thunder on this album. I feel that with a lot of bands who incorporate symphonic elements into their music, the symphonic elements end up drowning out the rest of the band. This is a huge problem I have with bands like Epica and Dimmu Borgir. They put too much emphasis on the keys and not enough on the guitars. Kingsley and Buchanan don’t fall for that. Rather the guitar is still by far the driving force on this album. The band understands that to truly achieve power metal enlightenment, the synths must compliment the guitars, not overshadow them. Besides the composition of the songs, Kingsley and Truesdell rip massive, unchained, legendary solos all over this thing from top to bottom.
Drummer Scott Buchanan is a force to be reckoned with on this record. Blast beats don’t usually show up in the power metal world but like I mentioned before, he uses them on the song “Legacy” to stunning effect, producing a wall of sound that reminds me of artists like Devin Townsend (also from British Columbia) and Deafheaven. There are tons of moments with intricate double kicking patterns and kickass fills all over the toms and snare. But the slower songs also have the perfect attention to detail, allowing the drums to carry tracks like “Through Stars” through the vast emptiness of space with sublime magnificence.
Vocalist Brittney Slayes is at the top of her game here. When the band was first starting out, releasing records as an independent group, I found that Slayes’ vocals were fantastic, but sounded a tad flat in the mix due to the lower quality recordings that they had to work with (see “Dawn of Ages”). That problem is nonexistent on Abyss. Slayes soars like an angel with flaming wings surrounded by a shield of meteors. Her talents cannot be understated. She is a phenomenal frontwoman and her voice is dripping with personality from beginning to end.
In case you haven’t figured it out yet, this record is highly likely to be my favourite of the year. I love it so goddamned much I’m actually struggling to articulate exactly why it’s so good. It just knocks my socks off and hits my soul in all the right places. If you’ve been wanting to get into Unleash the Archers then you need to check out this record. I have a good feeling that Abyss will go down in history as the magnum opus of the band’s career and one of the greatest power metal albums of the decade.
Y’know how I was saying back at the start of the review that this album has hit me so hard that I’d compare it to some of the most formative records of my youth? I meant that in every way. This is one of those albums where I get goosebumps listening to it on an almost daily basis, it’s that powerful. Do yourself a favour and DO NOT let this album pass you by. Maybe it won’t hit as hard for you as it did for me. But I must at least try to get the word out that this is the best album of 2020.
Final Verdict: 11/10
Beyond the Mortal Comprehension of Awesome
Favourite Tracks:
“Abyss”
“Through Stars”
“Legacy”
“Return to Me”
“Soulbound”
“Faster Than Light”
~ Akhenaten
Where Strides The Behemoth? 