Borealis - Purgatory

Published June 21 2015

*=Staff's pick	Past The Veil From The Ashes* The Chosen One Destiny Darkest Sin My Peace* Place Of Darkness Welcome To Eternity Sacrifice* Rest My Child Purgatory* Revelation

Genre	Semi-Progr. Heavy Metal	Matt Marinelli	Vocals
Tracks	12	Matt Marinelli	Guitar
Running time	52 Min.	Mike Briguglio	Guitar
Label	AFM Records	Jamie Smith	Bass
Release	June 19, 2015	Sean Dowell	Drums
Country	Canada	Sean Werlick	Keyboard
Producer	Sean Dowell
Similar artists	Evergrey

Borealis essentially plays heavy metal with rather distinct progressive elements and Purgatory is this outfit's third record and actually the first one I've ever heard of these Canadian metallers. The band is able to bring forward a comprehensive atmosphere through its basically powerful and determined performance and personally I think that this album comes without any evident weaknesses.

The record definitely has some variation, but apart from the 2 ballads, it is still pretty much set in a fixed, yet ample and spacious, room. Which in this case I find attractive and it proves that music with progressive components doesn't always have to include immensely detailed structures, nor does it have to be characterized by some kinds of constant activity changes.

The music as an entirety is pretty fast and intense and it's also full of emotions. It contains a mixture of heavy riffs and more laid-back deliveries, suitable on its own to each song. It consistently has good songs and even though they maybe can't manage to come out with those super awesome and perfected moments, the songs are all throughout the record still undeniably solid enough to make me keep up my attention.

Matt Marinelli is perhaps not an extremely talented singer, but his tone of voice seems to be created in the sole purpose of singing to this type of music. His appearance comes out very emotional and affectionate and it arguably puts additional effect to the songs' outcome. I'm positive to most things on this record and I'm glad that I decided to check it out, because in the end it's definitely a massive effort.

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
7	6	7	7	8

Summary
8 chalices of 10 - Tobbe