Skyfire

There has to be a point where the listener just gets burned out on hearing Maiden-influenced guitar melodies, or all the possible note/riff/chord combinations get used up. Something has to give, but no one told Skyfire, and it's a damn good thing, because not only are they the newest entry into the sweepstakes, they're also one of the best and, more importantly, unique. The use of two keyboards and two guitars that each play separate and intertwining melodies gives their compositions a nomadic, layered feel without coming across as suffocating or cluttered. From the opening strains of "Fragments of Time," you realise that something special is being experienced as the young Swedes combine majestic and hypnotic melodies, à la Bal Sagoth and Maiden with the Scandinavian scrawl of an amplified and souped up In Flames and Children of Bodom. Run the whole thing through a classical music wringer and top it off with the most throat-immolating black metal screech heard since Dead's Grandma found out her grandson blew his brain out in the name of metal, and you have a true masterpiece of songwriting, counterpoint melody and layered complexity.