I'll be the first to admit: when writing a review, personal bias is a huge factor. I happen to love djent. And I also happen to be on a big melodic/electronica kick since my entire life. Now comes along THE BROKEN HORIZON with their debut full length "Desolation", out June 15th via Art Gates Records. What the fuck am I even listening to? Holy shit. I've never heard anything quite like it before. It combines elements of some of the best metalcore bands out there like ARCHITECTS and AUGUST BURNS RED with intricate lead guitar riffs laced between punishing breakdowns and epic melodies. The mix is crisp, the bass is present, the guitar is heavy, and to cap it all off: death metal harsh vocals. Goddamnit. This is some of the best metal I have ever heard. Just, flat out. Sadly, I missed their debut EP "Prologue", released in 2015. But I'm here now, and I'm ready to party. Please buy all their shit so they can someday afford to come tour in Seattle. My body needs that mosh pit. My body is ready.

First let me just say, when you listen to this album, you HAVE to listen to track 1 "Desolation" and track 2 "Oui" properly in that order the first time you hear them. It just has to be that way. The aesthetic transition is bizarre and amazing and absolutely perfect. This album is 11 tracks long and 10 of those are punishing and unrelenting tour de force demonstrations of what modern metalcore/djent/death metal(?) can be. It doesn't stop, aside from a somewhat tamed beautiful middle in track 6 "Farewell".

I can't pick a favorite, every single song does something different than the last and takes metal to a fresh and new place. It's so fucking good. If I absolutely HAD to pick a favorite song, my early gut instinct tells me track 3 "Rotten Blood" simply because of the sheer creativity and originality, combined with how punishingly chunky and heavy it is.

But the middle of the album also holds some beautiful more melodic pieces that are as heavy as ever. "Miss Ladark" succeeds in pushing breakdowns and melodies to their opposing extremes, and track 6 "Fairwell" is a beautiful and more technical middle piece. The back half gets even heavier, and even crazier. There's some vocal features, and overall sees TONS more vocal experimentation and layering, all while pushing the breakdown chunk to even further extremes, and it's all really, really good. One song does feature some cleans, I wasn't a huge fan, but they fit in well enough. If I had to pick a favorite song from this lot in the second half, it would be a dogfight to the finish between "Haunting Me" and "Depression".

Look, the thing is, this is some of the best metal out there right now. If you're into the djenty/experimental/slightly electronic side of metalcore that is heavy as fuck, you're going to love this. I'm all in on THE BROKEN HORIZON, it will be on repeat. They do not "technically" have a single out yet, but when they do it will be posted here. In the meantime enjoy the released album preview below, which is just track 1 "Desolation", and tells you absolutely nothing about what the album sounds like, but is somehow still the perfect hype song.

Well done boys. I would give it an 11/10 if I could.

UPDATE: Music video for lead single "Oui" linked below!