{"id":104764,"date":"2025-03-28T00:00:54","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T00:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=104764"},"modified":"2025-04-23T11:15:39","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T10:15:39","slug":"album-review-passage-passage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-passage-passage\/","title":{"rendered":"PASSAGE – Passage (2025) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

PASSAGE
Passage<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nSteel Gallery (2025)<\/span>
Rating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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If the current European heavy metal scene was the Eurovision Song Contest then Greece would receive the most votes when it comes to quality and popularity. Steel Gallery Records has been issuing some good stuff and Passage is the latest group to bring the heavy metal flavours.<\/p>\n

Recorded and mixed at Sound Symmetry Studios in Athens by Bob Katsionis, who also produces the album along with the band, this debut full-length has an enticing dark tone to its existence. When \u2018Tempter From Heaven\u2019 slithers forth one is immediately struck by the crisp musicianship and Gothic nature. The drums of Pepper D Koll are tidy, fluid hits and the axe work of Chris Schizo and a fellow named Mimis boast a melodic stance reminiscent of a fusing of King Diamond and Fates Warning. I\u2019d also throw a slice of Helstar into the mix too.<\/p>\n

This is very much engaging heavy metal led by the vocals of Markos Darko whose calls don\u2019t quite cut the mustard but he does his best to hit the highs, although at times there\u2019s a fragility. Even so, he\u2019s a fine storyteller who lures the listener into the dark depths of humid citadels, ancient cracked ruins and formidable fortresses guarding mystical kingdoms. Musically, the album flows nicely, sometimes channelling a power metal ethos as Spyros Gold\u2019s bass rumbles with ominous intent.<\/p>\n

Excluding the intro (\u2018Passage\u2019) there\u2019s only seven songs presented but they all make an immediate mark. \u2018Into The Abyss\u2019 is a personal favourite with its moody melody and seriously dark guitar work. Again there\u2019s that marrying of a Fates Warning style of colourless yet clear heavy metal and King Diamond. \u2018Eternal Frost\u2019 is somewhat archetypal galloping trad\u2019 metal hinting at a Euro power metal vibe which tends to grate on me, but for the most part the album simmers nicely, engaging its audience with steely if somewhat predictable frameworks (\u2018Fates Reveal\u2019 and \u2018Devoid Of Reality\u2019).<\/p>\n

There\u2019s more variation on the expansive and epic \u2018Her Desolate Land\u2019 where the instrumentation is delivered with clarity and the vocals have a soulful conviction. Darko is still an accomplished main man even if his style soars with coldness, but he really comes into his own on the finale of \u2018Dawning War\u2019, a slow-build of a tune with descriptive lyrics, a dash of organ and militant percussion. As Darko croons \u201cnothing left to live for no one to fight for,\u201d<\/em> I\u2019m there among the smouldering buildings and bloodied corpses hoping that the band\u2019s follow-up may feature more of this steadier, brooding style of metal because when Passage resorts to such dynamics they are quite the force.<\/p>\n

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

PASSAGEPassage Steel Gallery (2025)Rating: 7\/10 If the current European heavy metal scene was the Eurovision Song Contest then Greece would receive the most votes when it comes to quality and popularity. Steel Gallery Records has been issuing some good stuff and Passage is the latest group to bring the heavy metal flavours. Recorded and mixed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,5897],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-passage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104764","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=104764"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104765,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104764\/revisions\/104765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}