Welcome back to another episode of The Great Metal Debate podcast. I'm Xander and today we are looking at the debut album from Haliphron titled Prey. This symphonic blackened death metal band from The Netherlands has given us a new modern art masterpiece.
This band may have clearly been inspired by old school acts but I assure you that they have still managed to produce stellar content that doesn't sound like anything recycled with the exception of another pointless skipable intro track. The song structures are all completely original musical scores.
Haliphron has keyboard work that gives off that old piano sound. Judging by the music video for the song "Human Inferno", David Rojas appears to be using an electronic keyboard so I'm sure he just has it on a particular setting to produce those haunting keys. As for that song I will say that the keyboard seems to have more of an echoing cathedral vibe as if it's tuned to an organ setting. There's even church bell rings scattered throughout the track and a choir background recording thrown into the mix.
While we're still on the subject of my favorite things, let's go ahead and praise my favorite song on this album "The Resistance". If you're not yet convinced that this band is the lovechild of Septicflesh and Dimmu Borgir then you will be by the end of this song. It is the perfect blend of gothic classical music with traditional melodic black-n-roll style vocals performed by Marloes Voskuil.
I knew there were other reasons to enjoy this band, especially since this is Frank Schilperoort's new side project band. You might know him as the drummer for God Dethroned. As a long time fan, this was an amazing discovery. His rhythm and speed are noticeable in the studio mixing throughout the entirety of this record.
Notably the drums really stood out in the opening track "The Killing Spree". It begins with a drumroll and the guitar chugs are in sync with the keyboard towards the end of the song which makes the whole thing extraordinary. The last minute of that song sounds eerily reminiscent of new age Cradle of Filth, a band that I am also a huge fan of.
"Mother of All Evil" might be a somewhat generic song title but the music is anything but cliche. Forgive me if I butcher the pronunciation of these guy's names but the two guitarists, Ramon Ploeg and Jeroen Wechgelaer make their basic riffs sound good. The whole band is a breath of fresh air and the keyboards do a great job of smoothly tying everything together.
The beginning of the song "Perfect Existence" displays a sweet bass solo from Jessica Otten. It's just a shame we don't hear much else from her through the rest of the album. The keyboard is my favorite aspect about this group as I feel like it is a key component, full pun intended. This one just might be my 2nd favorite song as it is certainly one of the more symphonic tracks. We even get a nice guitar solo in this one.
Then we get the album title song "Prey" which delivers impactful moments such as the evil choir and the guitar riff during the song's mid-point. Very calm and melodic and then leads into a nice groovy solo.
Another thing that I really appreciate is the length of these songs. They all seem to surpass the 5 minute mark but never the 7th. I also enjoy the old middle eastern feel of the intro to "Schizophrenia" which is considered a bonus track. I also really like the creepy little girl voice in the middle of the song telling us that we're going to die. It's a nice touch that truly adds to the dark atmosphere that this band has crafted. It also does that thing where the whole band stops for a second then then comes back.
The final track "Unidentified Mass" was actually the first single the band put out last year. It provides listeners with a very ominous tone that will stick with people for years to come.
As I said earlier, this is my current favorite of the year. I'm giving Haliphron - Prey a rightfully earned and well deserved 9.5 out of 10.