Artist: Neon Daemon
Title: Anno Dystopia
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Release Date: 1st October 2021
Label: self-released
Review Flash
NEON DAEMON is Finnish Melodic Death Metal band that was formed in 2018 and ‘Anno Dystopia’ is their full-length debut. NEON DAEMON plays a rather variable hybrid style, means the vocals are not just harsh or clean. Vocalist Henry Hämäläinen changes his style from harsh to clean and some pitches in-between which makes this approach to Melodic Death a more interesting one. The use of keyboard sounds is hit and miss to be honest, some moments sound dope as fuck and some remind me of the nightmarish dance music of the 90s. Aside from this minor downside NEON DAEMON do a great job in keeping their tracks aggressive and interesting. The changes in pitch and heaviness loosen up the normally quite inflexible superstructure in the Death Metal context. It surely helps that these guys already played in a few different bands before. The only thing that bugs me a bit is that I am not able to concentrate on the bass sound with two guitarists and a keyboard in the mix. Another upside is that the keys sometimes remind me a little bit of FEAR FACTORY (which I really dig).
Conclusion: If you like the idea of FEAR FACTORY having a love-child with CHILDREN OF BODOM go ahead and give this a few spins.
Rating: 7 / 10
