ENIGMATIC ENTRANCE is a Melodic Metal project from Finland, formed in 2020. Along with a host of special guests, including Rob Lundgren, Ryan Strain, Björn Strid, Jake E, Erica Ohlsson, Marco Minnemann, Alex Landenburg, Tommy Portimo, Euge Valovirta , Eric Gillette, and Jere Tulirinta, Timo presents his debut album here, titled "Becoming Daylight." The album contains ten tracks, plus an additional ten done as instrumentals.

"Under Raven Wings" leads off the album. It begins with a galloping Power Metal sound, and quickly transforms to harsh vocals and a more Metalcore sound. Delicate harmonies can be heard in the background. The guitar solo is burning! "Becoming Daylight" presents a similar sound...a tough and heavy bottom end with Metalcore leanings. The harmonies in the chorus are more in line with Melodic Death Metal, but the drums roll with Power Metal tendencies. "Space Drifter" opens with nice keyboard melodies that are soon dashed again with the harsh vocals. The vocalist is quite capable in many different ranges, but I prefer the cleans to the harsh here. The guitar solo runs clearly show his Classical training.

"Infomaniac!" brings more of the same, with similar pacing, energy, and song structures. He is resting too much on the same style of music here without much deviation. "Hearts of Fire" is a shorter song, with a little bit more melody. One of the reasons I tire of Metalcore is the constant, heightened punishment of the vocals, which is the case here. Pushing more of those charming clean vocals would help. "Beyond this Flesh" features wonderful female vocals...where have these been the entire album? This is what I am talking about. Though that bottom end still rattles with the same brutality of other tracks. He needs to shake things up a bit...the songs are starting to blur together.

"Out for Blood" brings more of the same sound once again. A pitfall often befalling new musicians is the overreliance on the same elements. Though Timo is not a new artist to the Metal scene, this is his first album as a solo artist. "Giver of the Sun" opens with piano notes and some Symphonic elements and is in fact the first song with some diversity. He let's this track breathe a little more and the melodies come through stronger. "Cold as the Night" begins with eerie clean guitar tones. Once again, the harmonies are well developed but I can't help comment on that similar style again with the harsh vocals. "A Sanguine Dream" closes the album. The clean vocals in the verses are very alluring, but again the overreliance on the harsh vocals washes nearly everything else away.

This is an interesting combination of several subgenres of Metal. The melodies are bright and sublime, but the harsh rhythms are strong and powerful. The vocals are more in line with Core genres, but Timo keeps things grounded with his wonderful guitar playing. I can't help think that with a little push, this could really be strong music. He has a seasoned sense of melody and songwriting, but the harsh vocals are too pronounced for me, and too many of the tracks have a similar sound. Musicianship is not the problem at all...it's a debut that is good but could be much better.