Merging Flare is a five-piece from Finland whose origins seem to date all the way to school-kid jams in the early 90s, but whose first release didn’t come into reality until the 2003 demo. Hell To Pay is their second demo and of quite high standards at that.

The long roots are very evident in the groups playing, which is very tight and flawless in technical execution. The double-bass attacks are prominent and precise, the dueling guitars churn Gamma Ray/Priestesque widdling and riffs at a rapid pace. All is topped off by Matias Palms very capable vocal performance, that at first brings to mind a more darker and deeper version of Timo Kotipelto, equipped with a peculiar nasal quality that pops up occasionally. His high notes are very good and the slightly teetering low range is bound to get stronger with experience. It's quite fitting to the material that I got a hold of this demo in the front row of Primal Fear's kickass show at the 2005 Tuska Open Air Metal Festival - in a moderately jägermeistered state if I recollect correctly.

Faker and In The Line Of Fire represent the more traditional metal side of the discs material with the speedy pace and skilled guitar leads. Choir choruses and breaks are numerous, akin for Queen, but unfortunately the otherwise good production (especially for a demo) doesn’t give quite enough boost to the pomposity that is required for gang choruses in my view. I’m sure this is just a matter of honing the sounds with time. The lack of originality is made up well with sheer energy. The closer Killing Ground is the gem of the demo, with a fierce Michael Romeo-styled opening riff and an overall feel of slight progressive influences that have much Symphony X in them. Palm's cool distorted wails have loads of Rob Halford/Tim Owens wibes that I enjoy a lot.

All in all, a very promising package from this “old” band of very young dudes. More variation will probably come within the near future and after more muscle is acquired into the sounds, there’s no telling what might come out. Check out samples at: Merging Flare Sounds