Forsaken

The fourth full-length release from Malta's epic doom metal band Forsaken has its good and bad moments. After The Fall is instrumentally a great album, but where it falls short is with the vocals. Leo Stivala pursues the operatic power metal style of clean singing, somewhat like Ronnie James Dio, yet his performance isn't as strong as it should be. But there's a reason why Forsaken have been a success in the Maltese metal scene for ten years and that's the band's instrumentation. The guitar work is their strongest point, with excellent solos and catchy riffs throughout the nine-track album. "Aidenn Falls" is heavy and has a sludgy sound, while "Sins of the Tempter" contains chugging riffs. The release also has a dense down-tempo sound that makes tunes like "Vanguards of the Void" sound very Black Sabbath-influenced. And although the vocals are After The Fall's weakest point, the lyrics are quite compelling, with religious and allegorical themes.