Symphonic/melodic/metalcore out of Spain FLAMES AT SUNRISE first hit the stage in 2011, and now have finally released their debut full length effort "Born In Embers". In between then, they released an EP entitled "Never Coming Home" in 2014, which they supported with moderate success. It was well done, pretty much a teaser of what to expect from the full length: melodic and symphonically influenced metalcore with plenty of cleans, a scattering of chunky breakdowns, and plenty of drawn out more melodic and power metal moments that kind of have a meandering feel to use as stuffing between heavy parts.

The EP definitely has more of that classic power metal feel, whereas "Born In Embers" really demonstrates a lot more chunky, metalcore, and even djent moments. The harsh vocals are solid, I can't say I care for the cleans much, but a large part of that is also the production not being all that it could be pretty much across the board. But that's also personal taste, being a young band, crowdfunding, etc/whatever. It was fine overall.

Normally I'm super down for a melodic and epic intro leading into a metal album, but I can't say I was a fan of opener "Embers" kicking the full length off. It was a cool concept and logical attempt for a track like this with an aetherial and epic aesthetic featuring operatic cleans and clocking in at 1:42. But, ultimately, it was bland and something we've heard so many times before.

Track 2 "Dolmen" does do a solid job fortunately following that, leading into a groove n chunk riff featuring fantastic harsh vocals. However, the song then breaks into a melodic and more ballad-esque vocal section featuring cleans and a western vibe, which was super odd to me but I don't live in Spain so who knows man. But, it does exemplify the ultimate problem with this album, which is consistency (fortunately "Dolem" does bring back the chunky riffs later in the song, and they sound even better than the first time you hear them).

The entire rest of the album has a very up and down feel like this. Some tracks feature a lot of metalcore-esque breakdowns and harsh vocals to match, like in Ark Flesh", "Dark Ages", "III Faces", and "More Than Fear", but then you have others that slow down into a much more ballad based feel where it sounds like straight up symphonic power metal. You also have tons of proggy experimentation and weird different things they try, which is technically original but it doesn't always flow together well. I loved all of the heavy moments, they knocked those out of the park.

I will say "III Flaces", for being as all over the place as it was, really locked in around some of the best and most unique breakdowns on the album, and probably the best chorus. That is a cool track and a great single.

If you really vibe with all these aesthetics I can understanding the combination working, but for me it just made me feel like something was lacking amongst plenty of potential, because it felt scattered. It's a solid but ultimately flawed attempt from a young band. I think some of it is definitely worth checking out for the groovier/djentier moments which were largely very, very good (particularly the 4 I mentioned). I hope to see them make some adjustments and produce something that feels a bit more cohesive, but "Born In Embers" is a fine place to start.