Review Summary: A debut that deserves the type of praise that places them among the elite.
Melodic Death metal is a hit or miss genre. For the most part, a very small percentage of the genre is perfect or done right, while the rest has mediocrity written all over it. Bands like Sonic Syndicate and In Flames (from 2002 to present) are great examples of what not to do within the genre. The current incentives within the genre are to utilize melodic clean singing, melodic synths, wimpy ass screams that have drawn influences from metalcore scenes, and virtually nonexistent melodic guitars. Having that said, Words of Farewell are a perfect addition to the trve part of the genre. Instead of contradicting the unnecessary additions that plague the melodic death metal genre as being total sh*t, Words of Farewell incorporate traditional melodic death metal elements during these modern times creating a debut that can stand side-by-side with the current elite without any embarrassment.
Immersion starts off with “Project: Daybreak” which has a pseudo-djent moment in the beginning, but that shouldn’t be a precise reason to write them off just yet, because that musical aspect is short lived and will never be heard of ever again. Shortly after that pseudo-djent moment the song quickly progresses into melodic guitar lines/bridges (whatever you want to call it). About a minute and a half in the song, the listener finally hears the vocalist, and it’s great because he doesn’t sound like a metalcore pussy! Not to mention the melodic shredding also comes in quickly afterwards and has transitions into a prog section before some other solo section. Basically, “Project: Daybreak” sets up the standard for the rest of album, and that standard is trve melodic death metal that consecutively builds up with every proceeding song.
After the first song, every song afterwards is more guitar oriented than the album opener. However, there is a very limited synth addition as backing melodies, which gives a far greater quality in the songs. Thankfully, when the synths are being used as the main source of melody in “The Great Escape” it isn’t too overwhelming, compared to when bands use synths as the dominate source of instrumental melody that gives some sort of overall radio pop vibe. Besides the synths, the album also has a gothic quality to it; even though the gothic influences are shy, it does have a definite melancholic atmosphere that gives reminiscence of Insomnium.
(Do not worry it’s not a rip off, even if Insomnium’s sound has had a huge impact on the overall tone of the album.) Another reason why I claim it has a gothic quality in some of the song structures has to deal with soft, melodic piano sections that generally have soft-spoken passages included. But the main part of the album that gives the album its character is the immense guitar work that makes the album worth the listen until the very end.
As a conclusion, Words of Farewell inevitably will become a powerhouse of melodic death metal, because
Immersion is an outstanding debut by a promising act in the near time future.
