The new release from Mystic Circle is one of the best releases in death I have heard this month. It caught me off guard but I was very impressed by the sixth release from these German death heads. Their music has shifted slightly in this new release. While their last album, Damien, was a concept album rooted in traditional death metal, this album opens up their sound to many different and new influences. They do all of this without compromising their heavy sound and quality.

“Beyond the Black Dawn” opens up the album. The riff is straight ahead death metal. The melodic aspects are not overlooked and blend perfectly with the pounding from hell coming from the drumming. One particular aspect I enjoyed are the cymbal flourishes at the beginning of the track. While not super technical, they definitely add to the listening experience. Beelzebub’s vocals are both death growls and blackened screams. He can be analogous to Johan Hegg of Amon Amarth at times in his sound and delivery. Regardless, this song is the killer of the album and is a great opener. The writing is top notch for this style of death metal and provides a nice firm basis for the album. There are no blast beats on this song but this is rectified by other grinding tracks like “Satanic Rituals,” “Awaken by Blood,” and “Book of Shadows.” These songs prove that Mystic Circle can pulverize with the best of them. Of note is one bridge fill in “Awaken by Blood.” It has some fast riffing which also reminded me of recent Amon Amarth as well. This song also highlights a minor flaw in the record. The mix can be a little bit screwy at times. While I credit them for not making their music entirely centered on drumbeats as other bands do (*Cough* Nile), they mix the drums too low. In addition, there is a great solo in this song that is not featured prominently enough to hear what is going on. The rhythm guitar in the back seems to outshine other aspects of the music too much at certain times. This is a perfect exemplar.

The real diversion from the death metal mold comes on the fifth track of the album. “Wings of Death” cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be called a death metal song. It is very similar to heavy gothic rock with the blackened vocals, hearkening back to their earlier sound. While it has a death metal section in the middle, the piano melody running through the song coupled with haunting, operatic female vocals and very simple guitar chords make this a goth song. There are even synth drums for sections of this song. It is slightly similar to Nightwish in some aspects but owes to Inkubus Sukkubus and The Gathering a lot more. It is a total diversion from the rest of the music on the album and I enjoyed this song a lot. It adds another dimension to the music and on a concept, level adds some more meaning. Back to the grind, the title track does not disappoint for your fix of metal. The intro sounds like the death metal version of an Iced Earth riff. This track reminds me of Bodom without keyboards until the Morbid Angelesque chorus begins.

Mystic Circle has crafted a unique blend of death metal and should be recognized for it. This is definitely an addition to any death metal collection. My only real complain was the length. At 34 minutes, there just is not enough music. The album leaves you hanging. One or two more songs would definitely have added closure to this album. If you liked Damien, you are pretty much guaranteed to like this one though.