Swedes are nototrious for providing the world with some of its finest Melodic Death Metal bands. One of those bands that have been lingering in obscurity for quite some time is ABAZE MY SORROW. If you haven't heard of this group before like I have, you are truly missing out on a band that could easily match up their skills with other Swedish groups like DARK TRANQUILITY, AT THE GATES and IN FLAMES.  Their music is, in a nutshell, powerful and furious Death Metal with catchy, melodic lead riffs and an infectious rhythm section.

The band's last full-length album was the seminal "Anger, Hate And Fury", which was released fourteen years ago! The band seemed long gone for a good amount of time but reformed themselves in 2013 and finally managed to release their newest album after quite a lengthy hiatus. I cannot say what made the band put out another release right now but I am grateful that they did and you all should be equally as grateful that you can get one more chance to hear this band with their new album "Black". ABLAZE MY SORROW are able to conjour a sound that seasoned Melodeath fans will remember from the early 2000's  bands truly helped develop the sound of Melodic Death Metal, like SOILWORK before they went House or ARCH ENEMY before they went Butt Rock. The helm may not been worn for over a decade but the spirit of ABLAZE MY SORROW burns everbright on "Black".

When it comes right down to the important thing, the music, I think the album's greatest song is the anthemic "When All Is... ". This song really calls back the soaring lead guitar riffs that makes us remember why this subgenre of a subgenre is so awesome. The song isn't sloppy in the least and is very carefully and artfully put together that should make a ton of sense to any fan of Heavy Metal. The lyrics are catchy and memorable and are infectious enough for you to scream along to it.

The song "One Last Sting" is a fantastic song that really rips you apart riff-by-riff. The vocals from Kristian Lönnsjö also sound really fucking good too. They are similar to Tomas Lindberg from AT THE GATES but it is not overly tortured and, dare I say, stronger. You can also understand the lyrics very clearly in perfect English. Its a pretty impassioned song full of fury that respents the struggles with the demons of drug addiction.

There are moments where "Black" stumbles on its own Euro-machismo and it ends up hurting its lovability. With all the awesome harmonizing guitar riffs and furious drumming, there are some songs that have lyrics that just don't translate well when you can make them out. Songs like "Send The Ninth Plague" and "Razorblade Revolution" have lyrics that have lazy rhyming ("Revolution is in the air//Time has come, will you be there?") or ham-fisted lyrical cliches ("They run they hide//but darkness is everywhere"). I bet the lyricist could've stretched his imagination a little bit further than this on some of these songs. At least every track doesn't suffer from this.

I also was missing the tone and charcter of the kick drums on this record. The cymbals, snare and toms were crystal clear but I found that the double-kicks were buried in the mixing. The bass is a dependable way to find where they are in the songs but your ears have to pay really close attention to hear the song of the kick drums.

This album is quite simple to comprehend but still requires several listens, I would definitely say into the dozens. Just because the riffs are so juicy with melody and the hooks are all over the place, you will have to hear the record again and again in order to re-experience all these sweet moments of Death Metal goodness. I think the music that isn't my favorite on the record demands that they be heard as well. "Black" was a simple but strong sort of release and I bte ABLAZE MY SORROW won't have us wait so long for their next release.