SELIAS, a new(er) name in the modern metal world, unleashes their second full-length album "Killkarma" on WormHoleDeath Recrods. Since 2020, SELIAS plays a mixed bag of melodic death, groove, and alternative metal. Fourteen tracks of such are compiled in an hour of SELIAS' sound: atmosphere, depth, brutality, and plenty of musical highs and lows. (The sound kind). If a band cites In Flames, Orbit Culture, and Rammstein as inspirations, my interest starts to peak, and my hands start to press "play" on "Killkarma."

I always start off an album by listening to the singles, so the first step on my SELIAS journey is "Bullets." A simple, high-quality track with some pretty impressive vocal registers reached by Guillaume P. There's room for some cleaner vocals too, but they pale in comparison to the high-pitched harsh belts. The track takes the attitude of alt metal, and pairs it with some melodic death moments. A pretty solid choice for a single, as the song leaves you wanting some more. The the second single, "Beyond The Switch," focuses heavily on melodic death metal, as harsh and clean vocals simultaneously harmonize and clash over manic drumming and melodic riffs. A thing to mention is the ever-so crisp production. Overproduction is a myth - this is great. I'd like to hear the bass more, but I can make this work. The final single is "My Time." A bit weaker overall compared to the other singles, but quite solid nonetheless. The track is anthemic, and easy to listen/sing along to. A catchy end to the streak of pre-release music.

The full album, as mentioned before, is about an hour, so I set some time aside to tackle the musical bulk. The LP starts with a little atmospheric opener, then jumps straight back into the usual, with following songs like "Abducted" and "888." Clean vocals are back, and while alright when used with more melodic songs such as "Abducted," should be warned against overuse. "888" is some more melodic death metal madness, of course. All tracks were (thankfully) able to evoke different feelings, too - "Don't Tread on Me" brought out the Libertarian in me, while "Cautionary Tale" pulled at the heartstrings a little. After that batch of tracks, the first half of the album is done.

"88i8" starts off the second half, and at this point I realized there were way more than three singles, as many more tracks were released with music videos or visualizers before "Killkarma" was fully out. These videos are unlisted on YouTube, and not marked as singles on Spotify, so I really had no idea. "88i8" dwells on acoustic vibes and a darker feel overall. The tongue-twister titled tracks "Six 6 Sicks" and "Real Eyes Realize" are solid compositions like the rest of the song lineup. Graspable melodies, but satisfyingly brutal. I only mention this now for some reason, but subtle electronic elements nestle their way into the backgrounds of almost all of the songs, adding a welcomed tinge of modernity to the album. The final handful of songs; "Raven's Call," "Flames," and the closing theme "Twisted Path Reimagined" all shone brightly like the rest.

SELIAS is a great modern metal band, and their newest LP "Killkarma" is a great example of their sound. My only gripe about the album is length. When I'm given a barrage of high quality songs, I don't want the album to just keep on going. Such a stretch of great music waters down the package as a whole if all I remember from it that it just kept going and going, almost to the point of monotony. I'm not saying "cut songs out and make the album way shorter," but if "Killkarma" went on for any longer, I wouldn't be this positive about it. "Killkarma" is a great album, but if it were longer, I wouldn't have the same reaction