Melodic Death and Black Metal are always a blend I'm a fan of. There's a certain ambience and atmosphere that come with the two, usually taking the best of both worlds, merging them together and creating a mighty fine mix to savour. Having German melo-death metallers DARKNESS ABLAZE land on my desk, I was looking forward to their latest offering, "Creator". Now, they're a band I've not really listened to, which can be a huge advantage when it comes to reviewing as there's no preconceived ideas or pre-formed expectations; you take the music at face value and simply immerse yourself in the band's offering. So, immerse myself I did, and here's the outcome of my metal submersion...

"Betrayer" opens gently with a delicate acoustic intro that crescendos to a melodic, harmonious riff, gradually building to introduce the rest of the rhythm section. The vocals kick in not long after and take a little while for me to warm to, the pitch isn't quite hitting the mark for me, but otherwise the track is melodious and soothing with a bit of bite to it. That said, a gorgeous guitar solo comes in, but it's literally at the end of the track, which was quite disappointing. Personally, the guitar work could have become much more of a feature, perhaps a solo to bridge the track to break up what ultimately resulted in feeling a little monotonous with not much variation. Moving onto "Believer", however, this tasty little number opens seamlessly, delivering symphonic keys and serves up much more grit compared to the opening track, even the vocals are projected with more conviction. The riffs retain plenty of harmony but feel edgier with more intent, offering a great build-up to DARKNESS ABLAZE's next track with a robust confidence about it that seemed to lack in "Betrayer".

Moving into the third cut, "Destroyer" transpires as the cream of the crop on the EP. Its syncopated rhythm manifests an unnerving malevolence, unyielding in its dominant drums, abyssal pitch to the gutturals and fantastic variation in the overall vocal range, even introducing some clean singing that contrasts perfecting with the abrasive tones. The harmonious leads power the track through, with an overall melting point of soundscapes that delight your ears from start to finish, plenty of melodious moments that intertwine to cool down in preparation for more boisterous output. Listening to the EP, you sense that there's an introspective narrative that streams through each track, so I'll assume that the order of tracks is a continuation of the story. However, if "Destroyer" could have been the opening track, even the title-track, it would have strengthened the record overall.

So why shouldn't "Creator" be DARKNESS ABLAZE's title-track, you may be wondering? To put it simply, the track is too weak in so many aspects, and a gargantuan step down from "Destroyer". The mix is way too high on the guitars, which as melodic as the riffs are, often drown out the vocals. It crushes my soul because the juxtaposed vocals are so gripping, switching from the clean, polished sharp delivery to the aggressive gritty gutturals. The lack of variation in melodies is all too familiar with this record, and it's sadly started and ended on a very weak note.

For the one very solid track in the form of "Destroyer", the other few tracks have key aspects that are missing and pull down the overall score for "Creator". Structurally, the tracks are too simplistic and there's a real feeling that the band 'play it safe'; that said the intros and outros to each composition are well-thought, with some very clever and keen ideas behind the symphonic elements. DARKNESS ABLAZE are clearly immensely talented, with (in my opinion) great potential and interesting concepts to their work. With a little more refining, more variation in the melodies and riffs and a touch more substance injected to keep the listener's attention, this could have been a strong EP.