CONJURING FATE is a band from Belfast releasing their third album. A melodic band without a lot of bells and whistles, Conjuring Fate pulls together thematic elements with a traditional guitar-bass-drums-vocalist lineup without synthesizers, and they don't sound like they're stuck in the 1980s!

"Premonition" is a solid ambient opener, complete with storm sounds, a creepy organ and howling winds. It teases the listener with some intense guitar chords here and there as the song picks up. These riffs directly lead into the next track, "Burn the Witch."

The singer is mostly clear, but there are a few hiccups in the vocal performance on this track (some vocal cracking a nasally spots here and there). The chanting in the chorus would be a fun element at a concert. The guitar solo mainly keeps to the melody, but there are a few bells and whistles thrown in to distinguish it, like sweeps and long, high notes.

"Voodoo Wrath" begins with some ominous chords before getting into the main riff. I appreciate how the riff so far are utilized like lightning strikes: sudden bursts of intensity through slower parts and building up or crashing over and over through the songs. The snare also helps this effect. The melody is intense and uplifting even with a lower register. More than the first two songs, this one makes me excited for the rest of the album.

"Midnight Skies" has some of the best vocal performance on this album. In his lower register, the singer's voice has a nice, clear quality and I liked how his part started syncopated, drawing attention to it. The instrumentals aren't bad; they just don't stand out since there's not a lot of variety in the notes.

"Journey's End" has some more variety in the instrumentals but mainly sticks to a riff or two. However, the song is fast, engaging and pumps you up. Like the last song, the vocalist sticks to a lower register and therefore, he can easily keep his voice clear and on-key.

"Daughter of the Everglades" has some great vocal technique. The lyrical melody soars above a faster, intricate melody line, creating an uplifting feeling; this is my favorite kind of Power Metal song. The melody has variety in tempo and the harmonies are great, which keeps me smiling from beginning to end. The guitar solo has great complexities, including varied techniques like sweeps and arpeggios that keep me engaged.

"Night of the Knives" begins with a 3/4 tempo and then changes to standard 4/4 time right in the introduction. It features a standard gunfire guitar riff and a narrative before the solo that contextualizes the theme. The song is about a survivor of Jack the Ripper, which I didn't get until the narrative before the solo. I wish it were included in the intro so I could have some context when listening to the lyrics; it's a small, personal nitpick, but I think it would make the song more relatable if the narration context were at the beginning.

"No Escape" is a thrashier, more intense song featuring echoing vocals and a speedy, hard melody line throughout the song. Like "Voodoo Wrath," it's energetic and keeps listeners pumped from beginning to end. It also adds some variety in the tempo of the album, since the last song was mid-tempo and this one is faster.

"Children of the Night" is also a fast song, but the intro is more melodic than Speed or Thrash. The guitars can approach synthetic levels. The choir elements in the verses add some unique flavorings to the song to distinguish it from the last one. The slower refrain acts as a call to action, making this song almost like an anthem, and invoking an image of bats or winged demons being summoned from the depths, especially with the frayed solo following the refrain.

Finally, "Original Sin" begins with a machine gun riff that rarely relents through the song's run. Whether it's carried by the guitar, the bass, or the drums in the background, the relentless pounding is always present in the song. For a closing song, it's the most intense, fastest song on the album when closers are usually slower or combine all the elements of the album into one final song.

In fact, there were no slow songs on the album. However, it didn't feel monotonous. Each song kept true to their own thematic elements and produced their own world. For people who are fans of melodic, thematic metal, but don't like a lot of symphonic bells and whistles, this is a band definitely worth checking out, especially this album.