STORMBOUND hailing from Netanya, Israel were formed in 2018. They are a symphonic Metal band and "December" is their debut full-length album. It has a length of about 56 minutes, and it was mixed and mastered by Alex Zvulun at A.G. Studio in Tel Aviv. "December" is an independent release.

STORMBOUND is one of those young bands, who started their career shortly before the pandemic and hence, at the most challenging times for a musician. The original line-up still being intact, the band took their time to release their debut album by starting to release the first of four singles from the album in 2020 already. Now without pandemic restrictions and being able to perform live, it was the best possible time for having "December" released.

"December" starts with "Desert's Roar" and as many symphonic albums, it starts with a cinematic symphonic intro, before the guitars take over at mid-tempo. The riffing is powerful and orchestral arrangements are more in the background. The female vocals are versatile, going from deeper Rock oriented part to higher soprano vocals. Yael Horwitz has male vocal support by guitarist Ofer Friedman during the first part of the track. "Desert's Roar" is the official video release, and the YouTube link is given below. "Altar Of Innocence" starts with another symphonic intro including a spoken word part. The guitar riffing is heavy and dark and so is the whole melodic framework of the track. The song textures are complex with a lot of changes and twists in rhythm. The male vocals are growls at the medium end of the guttural range. Highlight of the song is a very contributing lead guitar solo.

"Sacred Lies" starts at fast pace with a few Thrash oriented riffs before it transitions into mid-tempo for the chorus part. The song consists of two different parts, the fast Thrash Metal inspired part with the growling male vocals, and the mid-tempo part with the female vocals. "Sacred Lies" is an unusual song for a symphonic Metal album, but it is very good to see STORMBOUND experimenting with a different sound. For me, "Sacred Lies" is one of the album highlights. There is a sharp contrast between "Sacred Lies" and the beginning of "Away From Here", which starts with a slow piano and vocal part. It transitions then into a track that is inspired by Heavy Metal riffing and the lead guitar parts driving the song forward. The vocal duties are shared again whereas the male vocals are clean. "Away From Here" is again structurally not straight forward and has lot of rhythm and tempo changes. I like the lead guitars, which have the traditional Heavy Metal vibes.

The title song starts with an orchestral into led by the keyboards before it transitions into a guitar driven song with heavy riffing. The melodies are catchy, and the female vocals follow the melodies. The first part of the 10 minutes opus is easy-to-listen which changes during the middle part of the song, when an extended instrumental part starts with several lead guitar and keyboard solos. The instrumental part is a couple of times interrupted by the male growls and by the female vocals. "December" is certainly an album highlight in terms of songwriting and instrumental contributions.

"Shadows" is a beautiful ballad driven by the orchestral arrangements and the beautiful voice of Yael Horwitz. Here she shows her amazing talent and vocal range. "Shadows" is an easy-to-pick highlight of the album. "Flying High" is another typical STORMBOUND song where a lot of different influences are brought into, ranging from Irish Folk to traditional symphonic Metal as well as Power Metal. At the end of the song, the melodies return to the Irish Folk theme from the start. "Fragments" is one of the heavier and darker songs on the album with grim riffing during the verse parts which come with harsh male vocals. The chorus parts have epic melodies and they accompanied by the female vocals. Complexity is introduced with the extended instrumental part during the middle of the song. Highlight of the track is again the lead guitar solo. The album closes with "Child's Play" and it starts with an extended instrumental part, before it transitions into a faster part driven by powerful guitar riffs. The vocals are again equally shared between Yael Horwitz and Ofer Friedman with a few duet parts. "Child's Play" is the second song on the album with almost nine minutes playing time and hence, there is a lot of time for instrumental parts and solos,

"December" is an interesting album. It has a strong symphonic Metal basis, but there are a lot of different sound elements added to it. Many of the songs are very complex, which makes it difficult to follow for the listener. There are a few songs where it is easy to get lost. The songwriting lacks a little bit matureness. There are a lot of ideas, but sometimes the cohesion is missing, and the songs sound a bit unfinished. The album is well produced. STORMBOUND lay out a first marker, whether this becomes a typical STORMBOUND sound, remains to be seen. Symphonic Metal fans who like experimentation with different subgenres will surely dig the album.