SEVENTH STORM are a Progressive/Gothic Metal band first formed in 2020 from Lisbon in Portugal and this astonishingly is their DEBUT album released on Atomic Fire Records. I say astonishingly because this is the sound of a band that are on fire. Musically, compositionally and production wise, this sounds like a band that have been around the block and you would think this is their third or fourth album. It's true that they have a heavyweight drummer in Mike Gaspar, formerly with MOONSPELL for around 28 years and he pounds the drums like a man possessed.

"Pirate's Curse" introduces the album with the sound of the wind before a roar from Rez introduces the song. The production is wonderfully punchy and everything is crystal clear. Rez has a great vocal which exudes both heaviness and passion in his delivery. The song starts off quite mid-paced before it gets faster which is nicely punctuated by keyboards which don't overwhelm the song. 2 ½ minutes in there's a more melodic guitar and some pipes add a progressive feel. Four minutes in, it has a much thrashier feel and you can imagine being on the sea, cast about on the waves. There's some nice lead guitar and some chanting towards the end of the track which just adds to the atmosphere. The drumming is unsurprisingly impressive and overall it's a fabulous track. This ability to add different dynamics to the song engages your interest and that's a staple to the whole album.

"Saudade" which means a feeling of longing, melancholy or nostalgia supposedly characteristic of the Portuguese people, has both a mid-paced and thrashy verse and a wonderfully strong chorus. Rez's vocals are superb as he sings "I am Saudade" and he has a wonderful tone to his vocal. There's again some great lead guitar which makes way for a melancholic vocal over a piano refrain which reappears near the end of the song. The excellent atmospheric instrumental "Sarpanit" adds a Middle-Eastern flavour with sitar and chanting which segues faultlessly into the brilliant "Gods Of Babylon", one of my favourite tracks. It also introduces some Black Metal guitar and double-kick drumming before a heavy headbanging riff takes center stage. It has a very strong melodic verse and chorus, some great chugging riffs later in the track which returns to the atmospheric intro over which some tasty lead guitar plays over. Some Thrash metal/Black metal guitar follows before the powerful vocals of Rez dominate the song.

To be honest, there is no track that is filler here.  The consistency and variety keeps you engaged throughout. "The Reckoning" has a powerful chorus after a melodic verse. Later in the track it adds a darker vein with keyboards leading to thrashier elements. The vocals in part of the song reminded me of Jay Berndt from KILGORE. There are also gothic overtones to this track and it's another great track. It's a long track at over 7 minutes and ends on some great lead over Rez's powerful vocal. "Inferno Rising" adds a very mellow chorus which adds a different dynamic to the frantic verse but the chorus later is much heavier and it's the bands ability to switch between heavy and light which makes each song different to the last.

I could go on but I'll leave you to discover the rest of the album for yourself. The last three tracks are bonus tracks and are different versions of "Saudade" - the acoustic English version is engaging enough, but the Portuguese versions are the same song repeated except in Portuguese. I've listened to loads of Progressive Metal bands in my time and I have to rank SEVENTH STORM as one of the best I've heard. The musicianship, composition and production is first class. Rez's vocals are absolutely superb and he has amazing power and passion in his vocal. The production just transports you into the songs and is punchy, wonderfully clear and driven by the thunderous rhythm of Mark and Butch. The twin guitars are heavy and the lead is wonderfully clear and dynamic. Really production doesn't get any better than this.

In my view this album is an absolute masterpiece and as a debut album, this really deserves all of the critical plaudits it is sure to get. I can't wait to see what this band does next.