It's never easy to review a debut EP, by a band, as there is absolutely no reference to look at. In the case of the Swedish duo WE ARE TO BLAME we have a Heavy Metal guitarist and songwriter who has paired up with a Pop vocalist, who has never been involved in Metal one way or another. On November 1^st 2022 they released "Duality I", and as soon as the opening song "Breathe" has come into play, you are worried that this is gong to be one of those many boring female fronted Metal projects. Sorry to disappoint those who actually love that, but that feeling swiftly disappears when the same song makes it very evident that we are not taking the Gothic route, but the pure Metal one. Thank Deity for that.

You might doubt my words, as there are the obvious keyboards involved, but once you really start to listen to "Duality I" you can only conclude that Alice Hartvig is the perfect vessel to carry the vocals on the music of WE ARE TO BLAME. The music was written by Johan Karlsson together with guitarist Urban Granbacke, and it is powerful and heavy, but also melodic, due to the almost angelic voice of Alice. You will hear parts that come from all over the Metal spectrum, like Heavy, Power, Symphonic and even Melodic Death. With the latter you will hear John grunt.

Whatever you might think of women in Metal, they are just as vital as men nowadays. And to bring someone new into this distorted world of ours is very brave. I am extremely grateful to Alice Hartvig for coming in and going at it full force. The result is that WE ARE TO BLAME have been able to make it into a cohesive structured construction that will have you sitting and listening with interest. My personal favourites have to be "My Release" and "The Change", as this is where WE ARE TO BLAME sound most impressive. The vocals and the music just gel in a way as if it had come together by magic. But no, this is all pure hard work. And it shows. I am quietly quite impressed by "Duality I", and I am very much hoping that these two will stay together and continue on the path they have started to take. I would very much look forward to any new releases in anticipation.