ACT OF CREATION hailing from Siegen, Germany were formed in 2007. The melodic Death Metal outfit release their fifth full-length album. “Moments To Remain” was mixed and mastered by Dennis Koehne (ORDEN OGAN; SODOM; TRISTANIA). The album has a length of about 52 minutes, and it was released via German Death, Power, and Heavy Metal specialists Massacre Records. The album starts powerful with the epic “Awake”. After a short cinematic pre-lude, crushing guitar riffs take over at a mixture of mid-tempo and faster parts. It is e melodic Death Metal track, where the melodies are dark, epic, and partially melancholic. The female vocals are growls and they are around the medium end of the guttural range with a few tonal shifts towards higher pitched screams. It is a very strong opening track of the album. “Come With Me” continues with the darkness and melancholy driven by the guitars. The track is played at mid-tempo, but with some fast parts in between. The riffing is crushing and tight at times with support of the double-bass drumming. The vocals are pre-dominantly growls with a few traces of clean vocals to intensify the sound. During the break, there is a clean vocal part included. “Under Friendly Fire” starts thunderous transitioning into a fast verse part with devastating riffing and a few blast-beats added during the bridge. The chorus melodies are once again epic and grim, while all other parts of the track are more direct and aggressive. “Under Friendly Fire” was released as video, and the YouTube link is provided below. “Egoist” is a short, direct, and aggressive track at mid-tempo driven by the punishing riffs and the aggressive vocals. The track is very different compared to the more melodic and playful preceding songs.

The title track goes back to the melodic Death Metal album sound. Driven by the thunderous guitar riffs, the double-bass drumming and the vocals, the track is crushing, but sticks to its melodic concept. Highlights for me are the contributing lead guitar solo and the versality of vocalist Jess, who shows her immense vocal skillset ranging from ferocious growls to highly pitched screams and short clean parts in between. Her performance for the title track is outstanding. “Cry Of A Peacecrow” is an instrumental driven by the acoustic guitars. It is a slow song where the melodies give gloom and hope at the same time. “Dying Inside” is one of the fastest and most aggressive tracks with flesh-ripping riffs and screams straight from the abyss during the verse and chorus parts. The break is a more playful mid-tempo part with grim melodies. The hammering continues with “Confront The Truth”, which starts fast with the blast-beats and then goes back to mid-tempo for the melodic parts. The track is in fact a well-composed mixture of crushing parts and melodic parts with grim and melancholic melodies.

“Lost Little Soul” has a short quiet opening, transitioning into a fast verse part with tight riffing. The choruses are melodic mid-tempo parts with powerful riffing. The break consists of multiple parts, starting with a slow part driven by thunderous riffing and clean vocals, transitioning into a contributing lead guitar solo played at fast pace. The track eventually circles back to a final epic chorus part. “Beyond Reality” starts with dark and devastating riffs at a measured tempo. The track is a mixture of head-banging verse parts and fast and crushing verse parts. The vocals are once again the ultimate highlight because of Jess versatile skills. “Agonizing Slumber” is a mid-tempo track based on the grim melodic framework of the album. The melodies are mainly delivered by the lead guitars. There are twists and turns in tempo and rhythm, likewise there are twists from growls to clean vocals throughout. Although the chorus melodies have a certain catchiness, altogether the track has some complexity in its textures and is difficult to follow at times. The album closes with the short outro “Into Dreams”.

ACT OF CREATION deliver a crushing, but melodic album. “Moments To Remain” got the best elements of modern melodic Death Metal: a grim melodic framework, pace and aggression, devastating riffs, epic and melancholy in the sound at times, and an outstanding vocalist, who keeps everything well together. The only thing I miss is a track that is a real banger, a highlight. The album is well produced. “Moments To Remain” is one of the best melodic Death Metal albums I listened to in recent times, and it should be part of the album collection of every Death Metal fan.