Emblas Saga is the second album of a Swedish power metal band, Brothers of Metal. The band’s unique fact is that they consist of 8 members including 3 vocalists (1 female and 2 males) and 3 guitarists, but most notably, the battle of female’s beautiful mezzo-soprano voice and males’ dirty thrash metal voice like Slayer. Their vocal combination is way, way odd. Angel’s voice and the devil’s voice. The voice of Ylva Eriksson, the sole female member, is super crystal clear like Scandinavian frost, sometimes Celtic, too. Her expressive high voice attracts listeners to the band’s dramatic music and fantasy of the lyrics. Ylva’s vocal is not metal. She doesn’t scream but it never means weak. Even her voice is sensitive like a crisp wine glass, Ylva’s magical voice isn’t thin and doesn’t bend against their high-power heavy metal. Honestly, I’d remove the guys’ heavily raspy voices if I could keep listening to Ylva’s beautiful vocal performance though the trio vocal is necessary for Brothers of Metal to be original and masculine.
Emblas Saga‘s music is, just like imaginable from the band’s photo, dramatic and brave European power metal like a heavy iron arm from the dark winter sky crushing earth. If you imagine Vikings, medieval warriors, battles with beasts, and “Thor” film while listening to their music, you’re all correct. They are the album’s themes. Thus their music is the symphonic heavy metal like a soundtrack matching with the world of lyrics. I imagined Manowar, Judas Priest, and Blind Guardian from Germany rather than same Sweden’s Yngwie Malmsteen while listening to Brothers of Metal.
But imagine when those similar bands were more active (well, all of them are still active though). 1980’s. Symphonic heavy metal is close to extinct today.
It’s a miracle that this type of music is still available especially in the U.S., the land symphonic metal was never popular (also, who was the last time a Swedish musician was popular in the U.S.? Avicii?). And the members of Brother of Metal are young, unlike those veteran bands above.
Emblas Saga doesn’t betray the expectations of symphonic heavy metal fans who wept good ol’ melodious power metal was long gone. All songs are expressional like watching 3D fantasy in the pure northern air without 3D glasses and screen. The thick sound wall of triple guitars and triple vocal effectively enhances the series of invisible motion pictures with adding thrills. 55 minutes with 13 songs feel short with the medley of good songs richly contain full of beautiful Swedish rock melodies. Emblas Saga is also like a textbook of European (not American) symphonic metal. If you aren’t certain about symphonic metal, this album will beautifully explain with a variety of examples. The principle is the combination of fast gothic guitar riffs, the riffle-like drum that makes triple hits per second, and thick choruses like hailing on the ground over the classical-music influenced heavy metal melodies. Gothic metal (“Powersnale”), thunderstorm metal (“Hel”), relatively normal speed metal (“Chain Breaker”, “Brothers Unite”), solitude slow metal (“Weaver of Fate”), heavenly soundtrack metal (“One” and “To the Skies and Beyond”), so similar with German speed metal with bullet striking drum such as Helloween (“Ride of the Valkyries”), etc. And again, Ylva’s beautiful voice is the key to the album’s rich expressionism. Her angelic voice dominantly controls listeners’ euphoric mood swings depending on the songs.
I’m not certain if Brothers of Metal’s magnificently dramatic heavy metal will be accepted even in their motherland, but I’d like to send a pure complement to the come back of beautiful Swedish symphonic metal. Are they coming to the U.S. for their tour?
RELEASE DATE (US): 01/10/2020
OVERALL POINTS: 91/100
- Songs: ★★★★+3/4
- Originality: ★★★★
- Thrills: ★★★★★
- Song orders: ★★★★★★
- Vocal: ★★★★+1/2
- Background: ★★★★+1/2
- Production: ★★★★
- Strong songs: “Powersnake”, “Hel”, “Kaunaz Dagaz”, “Weaver of Fate”, “One”, “To the Skies and Beyond”
EXTRA (NOT COUNTED TOWARD THE OVERALL POINTS)
- Title: B
- Album cover: D
