Deep in the heart of Västra Götaland county of Sweden lay the small town of Vara. Surrounded by farmland, this small town was home to a group who wanted more from life than the quiet, they wanted something louder. So together a group of like-minded individuals formed the band THERMALITY within the great pandemic of 2020. Starting out independently, the band released a handful of singles, their first being, “Awful Lies” that was released in 2022. These releases propelled them to expand and grow musically, where they later released their debut full-length album “Before I Get Rest” a year later and then followed that up with an EP a few months later in the summer of 2023, all released independently. But we are here to talk of their latest full-length album “The Final Hours”. After contacting Black Lodge Records and submitting a song to them, which they enjoyed, THERMALITY was able to sign with them and release their latest album under their banner. It’s always a no until you ask.

Well let's get back to it. “The Final Hours” is a cascade of melodic death that washes over you with waves of death that are crest with metalcore elements. It will showcase their style of death for 50:50 minutes through thirteen solid tracks. This album was released August 16, 2024 and I am a bit late to the party due to an unexpected move. But alas here we are, so let's dive in and see what this new album has to offer.

To start, the album art is interesting. Simple yet bold. A golden male figure emerges from a clock framed within the border of the art, yet the man looms over one of the frames arms stretched out. A depiction of a city skyline sits below central. As if the clock signifies a pressing importance over man that shines over the modern world is my impression as below the clock has what appears to be rays of light. Black, gold and grays are the color pallet used with a bit of distress on the image. The band's name and album name sit within a clean font and central at the bottom framed in. Not something that you usually see for a death metal album art cover, but it has peaked my interest.

What starts off the album is a melodic classical chord progression done in an acoustic guitar. “MMXXIV” starts off softly with what sounds like in the flamenco scale or influenced by the scale that really sets a somber tone as it plays off to a nice ending. “Weeping Angels” takes off with a chord progression that paired nicely with the previous track's melody. Really nice touch there. The pace is decent, steady with a nice melodic tone. Almost a slight progressive influence can be heard subtly. The vocals do sound a bit soft and clean but work with the overall temperature of the track.

“Thorns Of Salem” comes in with more of a metalcore tone, but the vocals fall a bit flat for me. I do know that their vocalist Ludvig Sommar was having some issues while recording and even lost his voice for a small period of time which forced the band to delay things. But the following track “Fire Will Reign” makes up for this with a solid metalcore intro that leads into some solid but familiar chord progressions.

Looking at the latest album “The Final Hours” objectively, its levels are mostly sitting in their rightful place and on a production level, it’s decent. I do find that the vocals need a bit of work though. They seem a bit flat to me, perhaps a little too compressed. The chord progressions are catchy but seem a bit too generic to me almost as though they were playing it safe and keeping to familiarity. I think that they could have expanded a bit more musically and explored deeper. This by no means discredits them on their talent as they are quite talented, but I do believe they are still finding their perfected sound. That being said, I'm curious as to where THERMALITY will go as they have been on a steady evolution from their first single.

Closing off the album with two tracks, one continuing from the other, we have “Divinity Pt. 1” and “Divinity Pt.2”. Both start with an acoustic melodic chord progression that seeps into a heavier guitar built around metalcore roots tinged in melodic death with a bit of a progressive undertone. The basis of both tracks is the corruption of power built around greed and what leads to a war. “Divinity Pt. 1” has a lyrical video out while part 2 can only signify a continuation. Though “Divinity Pt.2” begins again in the acoustic melodic chords, much like the track before, “Divinity Pt.2” has a different melodic chord progression. A slower paced track that was fitting to close off the album.

THERMALITY is definitely on a path to finding themselves as they evolve musically, however, their latest album “The Final Hours” sets them on their path to do so. Now on a label, having worked with a talented recording studio, there is no telling what these guys will come up with next. You can tell these guys have respect for the melodic death and they showcase this through their musicianship. I do think that they are still finding themselves and honing in on their perfected sound that will tell them apart and showcase who they are. But I'm not sure they are quite there yet. Regardless, this is a decent album that I would recommend giving it a try.