WALK IN DARKNESS is a band that fuses Gothic and Symphonic Metal into a melodic harmony bound to please fans of both genres. There is a haunting feel to the melodies, the lyrics are somber and poignant, and the tone is ethereal. Leaves Rolling In time is their fourth full-length album, released January 20, 2023, via Beyond The Storm Productions. The album opens with "Ships To Atlantis," an epic track with beautiful orchestration leading off. The ebbs and flows in the song are like waves crashing over the soundscape, relentlessly washing over your ears with a calming noise that feels peaceful, even with the haunting tones. The choir and backing vocalizations are ethereal, ambient, and eerie, giving a darker tone to the track.

The title track, "Leaves Rolling In Time," is the longest song at almost seven minutes. It opens with peaceful acoustic guitar work that is demolished by growled vocals, only to go back to gentle plucking. The riff is heavy, but metered, slowly guiding the song through a number of shifts between the lighter acoustic and heavier vocal growl sections. The song never speeds up, just goes from one tone to another without losing any intensity. "Bent By Storms And Dreams" and "Get Away" both have heavier guitar riff, but also both have the ambient, melodic sections. The vocals are a bit darker in places, going into a lower register, almost weighing down the tone with the voice as well as the guitar tuning. The bass is used to punctuate the guitar riff, echoing the bass drum in some places, holding down the rhythm and keeping the whole song on track. The drums are not tremendously aggressive, yet still feel like they could attack at any time.

The song that really has me hooked is "No Oxygen In The West." Whether you listen to the album version or the Shaman version that is a bonus track, you get a song that has upbeat tones and haunted melodies combined into a darkly atmospheric composition. The drums are beautifully paced and the bass chugs with the rhythm guitar. The layering of the voices with the haunted vocalizations underneath gives the song a truly Gothic feel. Closing the album is "Elizabeth," another quietly melodic song that has the signature uptick using a killer guitar riff. This one has some excellent fills and leads scattered in, mixed together with the rhythm.

WALK IN DARKNESS are really good at writing complex songs that use some Progressive Metal techniques with the Gothic and Symphonic Metal elements. The female vocals are all clean. Nicoletta uses her excellent range to maximum effect. She has a rich lower register and powerful upper register that combine to be one of the better voices I've heard this year. Shaman has written and arranged an epic album that is very appealing. The mix is awesome and the overall effect is beautiful.