By: Anders

Posted: Oct 30, 2005

Only few bands deliver albums that are breathtaking at the first listen, even fewer deliver albums that keeps on being breathtaking. The Dutch band Detonation has delivered a quite breathtaking album with their second full length "Portals To Uphobia" and even if it sounds great at first, it keeps on growing and making a bigger and bigger impression on the listener.

The recipe the band uses seems very simple. A healthy dose of crushing melodic thrash and a good dose of melodic Swedish death metal elements. Though on top of that are added killer musicianship, technical show off, brilliant breaks and variation en masse. The guitarwork are truly amazing, the melodies delivered are catchy, beautiful, studies in how a guitar can be mangled, beaten and turned up side down, and still sound sweet as candy. The technical aspect of the guitars are top notch, I guess a lot of guitar freaks will drool when they hear this record. All from the basic riffs, to the melodic leads and the good solos, from the slow playing to the lightening speed extravaganza are good. There are of course the noticeable references to other bands here and there, but nothing that ruins the overall impression of Detonation. The bass is great and can be noticed almost all the time, though it tends to slide into the background due to the guitars delivering as much havoc as they do. The drumming is skilled and effective as well, the drummer hammers of some effective beats, killer breaks and he let us hear all the parts on his set, not a tam or a cymbal goes unbeaten. The vocals are in the usual melodic Swedish death metal style, a screamed growl, very soulful and emotional, it creeps right in with the listener, and stays close.

The compositions are well made and lasting, there are many elements in each track, though they are bound well together, by a red line, which also keeps the album together as a whole. The different elements and many technical parts are weaved well into the main songs and it seldom gets too much. The production of the album is also very open and embraces the listener, and soon makes one feel one with the music. The instruments have lots of space and all details are delivered well, the bass drowns once in a while, but that is about it.

I guess one could say that this was melodic Swedish death metal taken to the next "extreme" level, though that wouldn't be all fair towards the band, there are much more to it. Though there are resemblances here and there, and that is hard to avoid these days, when most are made… Detonation has found a style and have fine tuned it to almost perfection, I recommend you all to go and check this album out, you'll be surprised by the speed, the excessive brutal parts, mixed up with killer melodic leads, screaming vocals, breaks all over the place and multiple pace shifts in each track more or less, there isn't a dull moment on this album, and with each listen something new reveals itself. This is a well made album that in time will become a benchmark for this type of metal.

Rating: 9/10

Print