Band: Horizon Ablaze
Title: Spawn
Label: Mayhem Music
Distribution: Metal Revelation
Release date: 28/01/2011
Review: CD

Norwegian band Horizon Ablaze was created in 2008, and 2009 saw the light of a first mini-album, Deconstructive Portrait (self-released). Because founding members Stian and Kevin wanted to compose and perform their material as organic as possible, they decided to go on in the vein of the 2009-EP. And indeed, Spawn comes with a comparable approach.

Spawn has become a concept album, an unusual yet ingenious fictive story based on WWII-subjects. It shows human’s predetermination, narrated in a war zone-setting, if you want to, defining man’s struggle(s) during life versus the will to unleash self-destruction. Am I correct? Anyway, Spawn was produced, mixed and engineered at MayhemMusic Studio (Kristiansand, Norway) by Imperia’s Audun Grønnestad in summer 2010; the mastering took place at Cutting Room by Mats Lindfors.
The fourteen tracks clock one hour and bring very grooving and pulsating mid-tempo Death Metal. Unfortunately, the diversity on the album is somewhat limited. Luckily the average quality is satisfying – otherwise this would be an extremely dull recording. Also the lack of originality stands in contrast with an acceptable performance. But it’s sure these guys have the best intentions to do it the right way. These guys are inspired yet they are not always capable to translate this energy into the hammering songs. And so on…

Consider it a mixture of Hate Eternal, Bring Me The Horizon, Bolt Thrower, Changer and The Monolith Deathcult, but the deconstructive way…

71/100

Ivan Tibos.