Nothing can be more stress-inducing to a band than losing your singer while recording a new album but that was the case for Portuguese metallers BLIND THE EYE. Founded in 2015, the Melodic Death metal band released an album in 2018 called Arise to the Theta State and followed that up in 2020 with an EP called Tripolarity. While writing the new album and just before releasing the single "The Lion of Lions", lead singer Dario Rosa left the band, leaving them to find a session replacement to finish the recording of the new album. That person turned out to be Ricardo Pereira of the band MOONSHADE. The band then quickly was able to find and continue with new vocalist Rui Antunes as their new album drops September 30th.

The album starts off with their single to promote the release "The Lion Of Lions". The song is full of energy, and I am a fan of the vocals as they are a perfect match to the music. A demonic growl in the form of a LAMB OF GOD's Randy Blythe. The guitars are melodic and fast paced but it is the smooth acoustic at the end that stands out in the song. The next track "Aquilifer" opens and reminds me of a pure Swedish melodic track from early IN FLAMES. The melody itself is enough to make this song catchy but the vocals stand tall with them. The drums and bass are a slow pounding riff that provides a solid background to build from and the solo is well played and fits perfectly. The band then opens it up with a more heavily-driven track "As Vista's Fire" that eventually follows suit to a more radio friendly melodic metal track. Though the song is not going to knock your socks off, it is a well-played and written song. The songs on the album are heavily driven by the drum and bass combo that are setting a strong foundation for the tracks to develop and can be heard throughout the release including the track "Tauroctony".

"Crimson Duskfall" opens with a relaxing acoustic guitar and some spoken word before becoming another pounding track with the acoustic finding its way in between and it is not a bad thing. A strong lead guitar mixed with the acoustic makes the song a win in my books. There are some more heavier hitting tracks on the album like "Imperial Thunder" and "Mars! Exulte!" but for the most part the album sticks to their melodic guns. "Vae Victis" is the heaviest effort on the release and is a strong track with the bass shaking the ground in which it stands. Very strong playing by Nuno on the album as his bass is far from being in the background and is constantly providing power and situated with strong on point drumming. The song also includes creative guitar fills that sound to me to be Spanish inspired. The songwriting is a standout on the album, there is not one bad song on it.

It is a strong sophomore release that should get respect from anyone who enjoys their melodic metal, even though I don't know if I would describe it as Death metal. Strong songwriting and I am interested in hearing the band with Rui's vocals as I think Ricardo did a valiant job with what he brought to the recording. The mixing and mastering were done with expertise as each song sounds really well done. Like I said before, not gonna blow your socks off with brutality, but the band should be very pleased with what they were able to accomplish especially with the uphill battle of situating the vocals.