{"id":104541,"date":"2025-02-07T00:00:41","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T00:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=104541"},"modified":"2025-02-25T10:05:53","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T10:05:53","slug":"album-review-saber-lost-in-flames","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-saber-lost-in-flames\/","title":{"rendered":"SABER – Lost In Flames (2025) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

SABER
Lost In Flames<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nRPM-ROAR (2025)<\/span>
Rating: 6\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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So here\u2019s the sophomore full-length effort from a band who should have thought of a more original moniker. Anyway, this particular Saber hails from Los Angeles, California and they\u2019ve been rockin\u2019 since 2018.<\/p>\n

Four years ago Saber released their debut album Without Warning<\/em>, a steady effort packed full of steely designs, and the good news is that this quality continues with Lost In Flames<\/em>. However, the less than good news is that it\u2019s all rather generic. It\u2019s not a major flaw because most bands attempting this throwback metal style suffer the same issues. I don\u2019t expect startling originality and it is always good to see such bands living the metal life, but as the title track proves that after a few spins the novelty wears off.<\/p>\n

The run time of 29 minutes also means that while the album is brisk and energetic there\u2019s nothing here that really digs its heels in. But hey, let\u2019s focus on the positives as there are still many. Firstly, the production is clear and really does allow the instruments to breath and secondly, Saber are very good at what they do.<\/p>\n

\u2018Lost In Flames\u2019 kicks off proceedings and it\u2019s a track that sizzles with the expected retro metal electricity as elements of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest erupt from the fiery gallops. The main quality here though is the axe work of Joel Dominguez, a real talent whose solos effortlessly soar through the density of Jesus Delgado\u2019s drums and Dave Sanchez\u2019s bass. Vocalist Steven Villa is adequate enough, his range is relatively high and clear although he doesn\u2019t necessarily standout as a frontman. Even so, he leads us through some solid cuts, the best of the bunch being \u2018Phoenix Rising\u2019, with its busy axe work and pace, and \u2018Shadow Of You\u2019, with its steamy opening and eventual harder strikes.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, \u2018On The Hunt\u2019 and \u2018Steel Breaker\u2019 are standard rockers, both bristling with energy but some of the vocals seem strained, case in point being the upbeat although rather cheesy \u2018Madam Dangerous\u2019 with its poppy sensibilities. Lost In Flames<\/em> is an album that relies heavily on the talents of Dominguez to make it through; several tracks, including \u2018Shattered Dreams\u2019, would be rather mediocre without Joel\u2019s edge.<\/p>\n

There are a lot of bands around of this ilk, many of which have emerged from the depths of the Greek and Spanish underground, and I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll agree that a majority of them are of a far higher calibre than Saber.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SABERLost In Flames RPM-ROAR (2025)Rating: 6\/10 So here\u2019s the sophomore full-length effort from a band who should have thought of a more original moniker. Anyway, this particular Saber hails from Los Angeles, California and they\u2019ve been rockin\u2019 since 2018. Four years ago Saber released their debut album Without Warning, a steady effort packed full of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,5870],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-saber-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104541"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104542,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104541\/revisions\/104542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}