From Bandcamp, “Finland’s ANTIPOPE return with their Monumental Genre-melding seventh album, blending the best elements of Melodic Metal, Black Metal and Death Metal into a True Thrashing Heavy Metal album unique to themselves and reaching the Pinnacle of their distinctive sound. Open the doors and your journey begins, filled with magic, ritual, treasure, sacrifice, and brotherhood. You will learn of the new religion with no name, travel back to Babylon, be led by the snake and dove, meet the maker and in the end travel through the “Doors of the Dead.”

The album has eight songs, and “Magisteria” is first. Following a soft introduction, there is a veritable explosion of sound. There is an old school cadence to the music, ala IRON MAIDEN, as well as hasty and ominous elements in the music. “The Maker” is another fast mover, fueled by blast beat drums, thick and galloping riffs, heavy bass work, and vocal screams. “Brotherhood” is slower, and you can really hear the genre bending qualities of the music…at times it is Black Metal, other times Thrash, and even other times the music has a Classic heavy metal sound. Still, that IRON MAIDEN influence cannot be denied.

“A Ritual of Snake and Dove” has darker and deeper qualities, giving ode to QUEENSRYCHE and other Progressive Mood bands of the past. It stays in the shadows for much of the song, alternating between bubbling forward and retreating. “Treasure in the Deep” is another fast mover with more IRON MAIDEN influence, especially in the cadence and dual harmonized guitars. It’s almost unabashed in the way that ANTIPOPE pays homage to one of the most important heavy metal bands in the history of the genre. “Sacrifice” is a slower song, heavy with burdens in the beginning. Somber and melancholy tones abound, but there is still that sense of importance coming from the music.

The title track closes the album and there are more of those lovely guitar harmonies, as well as more galloping beats. The slow moving sound at times allows the emotions to be fully absorbed. Overall, this was a good album that paid homage at times to the mighty IRON MAIDEN, and if there is ever a band to pattern yourself after, that it is. ANTIPOPE also worked in their own sounds, and refused to be pigeon-holed into one genre.