THE BOREAL FLAME

Yes. There's everything here, if epic power metal that is also "extreme" and progressive is your cup of tea. You can drink it with ultimate pleasure. The singer Daniel Heiman is absolutely one of the best vocalists in the metal genre. His high notes are extremely powerful and performed with perfect precision. There's virtuosity here in the keyboards, guitars, and arguably in the drums. The sound is very balanced. The mixing and mastering; both are neat. The songwriting is really good. Some parts that feel like disjointed, or not that elegantly tied together can also be easily forgiven. This is an epic album. In epic adventures, such parts are perfectly OK. There are some really atmospheric and haunting parts in this album too. Yes, it is a perfect album. So, why 3 stars?

Hmm... The music here can be likened to Bal-Sagoth's, albeit with clean vocals and progressive tendencies. So, in terms of instrumentation and songwriting, there's nothing noticeably original here. Hey wait... Did I say clean vocals? So, let's look at the flip side of the coin. Yes, the singer is a monster. But, his style is too flat. Someone equally talented (they are rare, mind you) can easily replicate his singing. One cannot tell the differenece! No subtle nuances, no stylistically unique use of the voice here. This is an issue which is far away from one that is ruining The Boreal Flame. Actually, a Jorn Lande would be the wrong choice for such an album.

To sum up, Dimhav's first and yet only output is really a magnificent album. It can receive 5 stars from lots of metalheads that are not allergic to progressive music. If you don't like metal music, you can safely ignore this one. Or if you want to punish the band for being exposed to their music, don't withhold your 1 stars!