VAELMYST hailing from Los Angeles, California were formed in 2017. They are a melodic Death Metal band and so far they released one EP in 2018. "Secrypts Of The Egochasm" is their debut full-length album and it is an independent release. The album was mastered by Arthur Rizk and mixed by axeman Ronnie Lee Marks. It has a length of more than 40 minutes.

VAELMYST walk along the melodic Death Metal pathway that has been created by a lot of European melodeath bands before. However, "Secrypts Of The Egochasm" as a result of this journey is different from traditional melodic Death Metal albums, since it is affected by a number of styles and influences. As many melodeath releases, it is very much driven by the guitars and their melodies and everything around this, bass, drums, and vocals, are fit onto it. It all starts with "Espirit De Corps", a track with a catchy melodies and riffs in mid-tempo. The lead guitars are almost hyper-dominant and leave everything else in the background. The growling vocals are around the medium to higher end of the gutturals. The break halfway through the track includes powerful riffing and melodies played at a nice head-banging tempo. There is almost a seamless transition into "Dawnless" regarding rhythm and melodies. There are a few crunching bass lines and most of the melodies have a neoclassical character. One feature which is characteristic for the whole album is that there are a lot of vocals, even for a melodeath album. Unfortunately, they all sound a bit subdued. The lead guitar solo is very comprehensive and contributes very well to the track. "Dawnless" was released as lyric video and the YouTube link is given below.

"Spineless Throne" is one of the faster tracks on the album and the texture is relatively complex. There are a lot of tempo changes throughout and especially Wyatt Bentley on the drums has to work really hard to keep the song together. Another feature on "Spineless Throne" is that there are less vocals involved and the instrumental breaks are longer. "The Ghost Of Ire" is a dark song with powerful riffing and an almost stomping head-banging rhythm. The break mid-way through the song has more traditional Death Metal patterns especially with the drums, and it transitions into a short, highly paced part. It is one of the most aggressive tracks and one of my favorites on the album.

"Ghoulish Delight" sounds a bit different compared to the other songs on the album. It is a mid-tempo track with a galloping rhythm and the leads are less dominant. The song is built around the break and Tyler Splurgis (XOTH) provides here a great lead guitar solo. "Envenom The Sea" is another fast song which sounds almost a bit chaotic, since the overload of melodies is maintained. It has also a number of tempo changes and comes, similar to "Spineless Throne", with a relatively long instrumental break. "Envenom The Sea" seamlessly transitions into "Into The Egochasm" which is a two minutes dark instrumental interlude. "The Coin Of This Realm" is the final and the longest track on the album. Besides all the playful melodic components, it includes some rather unexpected breaks, a few very heavy and powerful parts including double-bass drums, and also some parts with epic melodies. The lead guitar solo is the final act of the song. It is a bit more straightforward compared to the other solos and it transitions into a piano-driven sequence before it slowly fades out.

"Secrypts Of The Egochasm" is a good melodic Death Metal album, especially as it is a debut album. It is very much centered on the guitars and there is at times an overload of playfulness and melodies. Less is often better than too much. However, at the same time it gives VAELMYST something special that distinguishes them from other melodic Death Metal bands. It is definitely an aspect, the band might want to explore in their songwriting. The production of the album is okay. I felt that the guitars on the album are very dominant and the production intensified this which went to the expense of the vocals. VAELMYST deliver a full-length album that is definitely very promising and asks for more. Fans of melodic Death Metal should definitely give it a listen, they will not be disappointed.

Overall: 8