Following up on their debut 2012 EP, "ACT 1", The Russian based, Post Black Metal, Screamo band, TOLUCA, have recently released their first full length album: "Memoria".

This heavily Occult sounding album starts off with some beautiful sounding clean guitar work, gently picking the chords to set a peaceful yet dark mood. Then with the introduction of a second guitar quietly tremolo picking another melody in the background, and the drums slowly building some momentum, suddenly the song blooms to reveal the true dark beauty behind this band. With the piercing vocals now in place, the full spectrum is observed and the listener is thrown into the world of darkness and despair which is so prominent in TOLUCA's sound.

As I progress through the album, I experience a grim journey through emotions of happiness, anger, depression and hatred, all of which are so well portrayed in the varying compositions, making use of Black Metal, Screamo, Occult, and even elements of Doom. "Memoria" was definitely written with plenty of emotion, and this can be felt throughout the entire album, which to me is a wonderful thing, because it is REAL.

The overall sound of the album is good, with simple yet effective drumming, melodic clean picking guitar parts, classic Black metal style tremolo riffs, intense vocals, interesting bass runs, and even elements of Spoken Word! With all the above mentioned characteristics, the songs are never dull, and there is always something to hold onto.

A good quality album, "Memoria" is a must listen if you are a fan of bands like DEAFHEAVEN, LUDICRA, CELESTE, and ENVY. I could easily recommend any track on this album as they are all great, however "Purson" seems to stand out to me.