DEI UMBRAE is a metal band from Greece, who formed in 2019.  'Archangel,' is their third full-length album. I wanted to like this album a lot more than I did.  The talent of all members involved is clearly evident.  It isn't so much the music that is the issue but the execution.   Unlike some bands who combine multiple styles with a more fluid approach to metal,  I can't help but feel DEI UMBRAE are just all over the place with this album.  Rather than sound like they are going from style to style with a clear direction of the end game, this album sounds aimless and disjointed. That isn't to say there isn't anything enjoyable about it.  In fact, there are a lot of elements about 'Archangel' that I found engrossing but, unfortunately, for every moment that thrilled me, there was another one that didn't latch onto me so well.

'Inner Compass,' has some good riffs, especially the groovy ones in the beginning.  The bass slaps and the drums are super crisp.  But once the vocals come in, I can't tell if the song wants to be an all out thrash song or a sort of weird combination of aggro and traditional metal.  The keys in the second half of the song and the spoken words aren't bad but they are out of place, coming off as a more Gothic element than anything. 'Fighting For A Crown,' sees the band taking a more power metal approach.  The opening melodies are catchy but, again, these spoken word parts just don't work at all for me.  However, the chorus is on point and catchy as hell.  Jason actually has a decent singing voice so I'm baffled why he hides it behind clunky spoken passages.

'Fame,' signals a slope for the next few songs.  I rarely mention lyrics in songs but these are so bad that I couldn't take the song seriously-very corny and contrived.  Jason's weird rough/clean vocals from the first song make an appearance again... it just sounds off.  I'm not sure who does the female clean vocals but I really like her, as well as Jason's vocals during the later half of the song when he actually attempts to sing.  The album picks back up with 'Throe,' which is one of the better songs on display.  The vocals are much more even, the more extreme ones much more focused.  Again, the female vocals are on point, giving the song a nice Gothic death/doom feel to it.

'Unexpected,' is the last song but not the one that should have ended it.  Part of it, such as the bass, and the rougher style vocals are good but the chorus is annoying and musically there isn't much happening that makes me want to listen to it over and over again. In the end, 'Archangel,' isn't a terrible album but it struggles to find its footing throughout and never fully engages me.  I look forward to what they do next, however, because they have a lot of potential.