This is the third album from Finnish metal band Atlas.
Atlas play a contemporary form of metal that borrows from a few different styles. Although the rather generic tag of modern metal is probably an apt one, it’s also just as misleading as it is useful. There’s 29 minutes of material on Sunder, but what it lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality.
Sunder reeks of quality and professionalism, but also deeply felt emotion. The tracks basically exist to crush the listener with massive guitars and draw them in with impassioned singing, all packaged into short, impactful songs. Alongside the heaviness, it’s music that drips with feeling, and Atlas do their very best to saturate the airwaves with dark atmosphere. This combination of aggression and emotion/atmosphere is obviously not an uncommon one, but here it’s done well, and is endearingly more succinct than most. Sunder doesn’t overstay its welcome.
Musically, it’s modern metal given a high definition cinematic overhaul. You can detect influences from progressive metal, metalcore, melodic doom, and a touch of post-metal, all wrapped up in a contemporary bow and delivered with skilled ease. Think a mix of bands such as Cabal, HIM, Orbit Culture, and Katatonia, and you’ll have a rough idea of where Atlas are coming from. It’s a compelling formula that’s as effective as it is by virtue of the band’s high quality songwriting and delivery. Interestingly, despite how polished it is, it avoids coming across as plastic or overprocessed, much to its credit.
It’s frequently a heavy album, but that’s not the point of it. There’s rolling groove, harsh roars, the occasional blast beat, and the slight whiff of something blackened about their sound, yet Atlas also deal in the sort of melancholic mood-focused songcraft and affecting clean singing that many a band would kill for, especially those in the melodic doom/death metal subgenres.
Given Sunder‘s atypically short duration, the well-written music has hooks to spare. An album like this is usually much, much longer, with a great amount of filler. On Sunder though everything feels optimised to not only entertain and engage the listener, but to leave them wanting more. There is little in the way of filler, and the eight tracks each give the listener a good opportunity to get to know them well. There’s even that rarest of things, a good intro track.
Atlas have produced a record that’s easy to like, has a lot of replay value, and achieves its stylistic and atmospheric goals admirably well. If you’re partial to this sort of style, then you’d be foolish to pass up on Sunder.
Wonderbox Metal 