These Dutch barbarians' release pace is slow. Or then they have disbanded or something... Anyway, 'Only Shadows Remain' is this war/pagan death metal band's only full length album to date and it's already about 6 years old. Has it gotten any better with time as wine does, as they say?

Frankly, it has not. At their best, Shadowbreed sound like a rabid bunch of bloodthirsty savages, but sadly there's also another side to them. See, there's good and catchy war metal on offer, but also bad and purposeless songs. Generally, the songs are kept very simple, which is okay by me, but just how the hell did abominations like 'In the Shadow of Yggdrassil' and '...Only Shadows Remain' slip on the album??? At worst, the song material is almost below demo standards; bad compositions with bland riffs. Shadowbreed have clearly been influenced by Scandinavian metal, both death metal and black metal bands. At times it is relentless bashing, but thankfully the band have injected some punchy melodies into some of the songs, to make them more noticeable. Anyway, it is Unleashed that this reminds about.

The production work is simply barren, but at least, organic. The drums are somewhat powerless, which is a big minus in itself. The 7-string guitar gives this a fuller sound, but the overall sound is still kind of dull and lacking, ending up pretty much flat. Remigius's low growled throat vocals are another stronger point, reminding me of Amon Amarth. Kris Verwimp's cover painting is simply magnificent. The lyrics tell tales of battles and Scandinavian mythology.

If only every song was on the par with 'Warcraft (After 2001 Stories)', 'Path in the Dark' and 'Avatar', but no. Some cutting and it could have been a good EP (actually 2 of the aforementioned 3 songs appeared on previous EP, 'The Light of the Shadow' from 1999, and they were better there). However, if you enjoy some war death metal and are loaded with cash, you might want to check this out, as there are some nice pieces and moments among lame songs.

Rating: 6 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
02/13/2007 14:43