IDOLATROUS hailing from Portland, Oregon are a melodic Death Metal band with symphonic elements. After releasing one EP, "Sorrow On Midgard" is their debut full-length album. It has a length of about 59 minutes. The album was released via Italian label WormHoleDeath which has a lot of Death, Thrash, and Gothic Metal bands among their current roster. The album starts with a cinematic symphonic intro to build up tension for the things to come. After almost three minutes, it all explodes into the fast "Predecessor" which starts with a bang of flesh-ripping guitar riffing and double-bass drumming. The song transitions quickly into a mid-tempo track with epic melodies. The growling vocals are between the deep and medium end of the guttural range and Michael Priest has support by a choir in the background, intensifying the grim atmosphere of the track. While "Predecessor" was more on the epic side of melodic Death Metal, "The Harrowing Reprisal" is more powerful, has more aggression, and is more direct. The thunderous guitar riffing and the crunching bass lines are among the highlights of the track. It is a track at a measured tempo, which has an almost stomping rhythm at times. For me, "The Harrowing Reprisal" is one of the best songs on the album.

The powerful riffing and the dark atmosphere continue with "Eternal", where symphonic arrangements are the focal point of the track. The melodies are epic and there is a frequent switch between direct and aggressive parts driven by the riffing and vocals, and more melancholic slower parts. Some of the melodies in the song have a few KATAKLYSM vibes. "Eternal" is more a symphonic Death Metal song than a classical melodeath track. "Chasing Shadows" starts with an extended instrumental part driven by the guitars, drums, and the background choir. It is a track at a measured tempo where melancholy is at full swing. The permanent contribution of the choir creates a doom-laden atmosphere throughout. The track has also some epic moments, in particular during the blast-beat driven parts. "The Wolf's Ghost" continues with epic sound by including a few more symphonic features. It is a mid-tempo track and some parts have more aggression driven by tight guitar riffing. The chorus parts have again those melancholic moments as well as the break halfway through the track. One feature on "Sorrow On Midgard" is the absence of any lead guitar solos. When listening to a song like "The Wolf's Ghost", I feel that was a missed opportunity.

"Asgard" is a mid-tempo song with powerful riffing and crushing bass lines. The melodies are probably the catchiest on the whole album. "Asgard" is short, direct, very heavy and simply a banger. It has all potential to become a fan favorite and a regular on the band's setlist. "Returning To War" has a sluggish start at a measured tempo. The melodic framework is epic and melancholic, and there are a few tempo and rhythm changes throughout the track driven by the drums. In fact, drummer Eric Scherzinger shows all his versatility on this track and the drumming is the highlight of the track. "Prophecy" is among the faster tracks on the album and the symphonic elements are again more prominent compared to other tracks on the album. The drumming includes a few blast-beat attacks. The melodic framework is in the line of the other tracks on the album. Although driven by the melancholic melodies, "Prophecy" is one of the more direct and aggressive songs on the album. It is also the most complex song on the album with a lot of twists and turns in rhythm and breaks. It has been released as lyric video, and the YouTube link is given below. With an impressive length of more than eight minutes, "Prophecy" is one of the album highlights.

"Sorrow On Midgard" starts again with an extended instrumental part, before the verse parts kick in at mid-tempo. After the complexity of "Prophecy", IDOLATROUS mixing up things a bit with "Sorrow On Midgard", which has a relatively simple and straightforward song structure during the first half of the track. The drumming is again among the highlights with a lot of twists in the drumming patterns. The break during the final third is entirely driven by the symphonic arrangements. "Sorrow On Midgard" is one of the longer ones with more than six minutes, and it perfectly fits into the melodic framework of the whole album. "The Smoke Settles" is the final battle of the album and it starts with thunderous riffing and crushing bass lines at a head-banging rhythm. Even though, it starts direct and aggressive, the epic and melancholic pattern return quickly, but I feel the mixture between heaviness and melancholy is very well balanced here. Especially the first half reminds me a bit on AMON AMARTH in terms of riffing and vocals. "The Smoke Settles" is a very good end to this epic journey.

IDOLATROUS deliver a good and interesting debut album. "Sorrow On Midgard" is a mixture of melodic Death Metal and symphonic Death Metal, where the symphonic elements are often in the background. The melodic framework is epic and melancholic and there is a remarkable consistency in melodies throughout the entire album. This is perhaps a weakness on "Sorrow On Midgard" as many of the songs sound similar. It is notable that IDOLATROUS try to be diverse in the songwriting, but all songs are caught in a very narrow melodic concept. The album is well produced. Although IDOLATROUS use some well-tried style elements in melodic Death Metal, "Sorrow On Midgard" sounds unique and Death Metal fans will dig the debut album of a very promising band.