{"id":88810,"date":"2021-03-05T00:00:24","date_gmt":"2021-03-05T00:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=88810"},"modified":"2021-03-24T14:06:00","modified_gmt":"2021-03-24T14:06:00","slug":"album-review-thorium-empires-in-the-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-thorium-empires-in-the-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"THORIUM – Empires In The Sun (2021) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

THORIUM
Empires In The Sun<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nFreya (2021)<\/span>
Rating: 5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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It\u2019s been three years since their 2018 self-titled debut full-length album, but Belgian metallers Thorium (who feature former members of Ostrogoth) are certainly back with a bang if you like straight-up rattling metal.<\/p>\n

Yes, it does all feel rather squeaky clean \u2013 glossy almost \u2013 and at times sickly melodic, I guess, but maybe I\u2019m just being critical? Then again, that\u2019s what I\u2019m meant to do.<\/p>\n

But take a step back to a time when the likes of Helloween, Scanner, et al were out in full force and you\u2019ll see where Thorium is coming from with their racy, rollicking anthems in the form of \u2018Exquisite\u2019, the frosty \u2018Winterfall\u2019 with its nice chugging melody, and the brooding 13-minute \u20181302: The Golden Shadow\u2019. So here\u2019s a band then that likes a plot and a concept, although admittedly I find some of it a bit cringe worthy, but then again I\u2019m the guy often bored by Iron Maiden\u2019s history lessons. <\/p>\n

Even so, Thorium\u2019s new album borders on power metal, although without too much \u201cpower\u201d. The production at times feels thin and that does affect things when the band opts for the epic, as with the aforementioned \u20181302: The Golden Shadow\u2019. The solos throughout the record are crisp, but the percussion needs more depth and booming. Instead, due to production, they feel too crisp and too tepid.<\/p>\n

However, all can be forgiven when you hear an anthemic bellow such as \u2018Powder And Arms II\u2019 (another history lesion) and \u2018Where Do We Go\u2019 with its spiralling axe work and steady drum thuds.<\/p>\n

Thorium is a very good band, they play blazing metal riddled with stories and passion, but it\u2019s often a style that leaves me cold as \u2018The Old Generation\u2019 gallops in with a rattling bass. It\u2019s probably the band\u2019s fastest track, a real powersurge of a tune full of descriptive lyrics and all propelled by the bolshy, soaring vocals, but it\u2019s rarely enough as Thorium becomes just another overblown metal act dripping in more gloss than the skirting boards I\u2019ve just painted.<\/p>\n

At times there\u2019s something Teutonic about the compositions, but the whole thing lacks oomph and meat. Only \u2018Winterfall\u2019 delivers, especially with that dark, booming Gothic chorus that reeks of Candlemas, but as bass and drum rattle and toil I\u2019m crying out for some extra layers to pad the record out.<\/p>\n

The title track feels grandiose and recalls something akin to old Running Wild as again the axe flexes its muscles, but once the song fully spreads its wings I\u2019m left unfulfilled by what is essentially a tepid opera or lukewarm play.<\/p>\n

If you like your metal bombastic, sprawling and apt at storytelling, then you can throw this one alongside the likes of Visigoth. But for me, Empires In The Sun<\/em> is just not heavy enough, too polished and generic. Sorry guys, it\u2019s just not for me.<\/p>\n

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

THORIUMEmpires In The Sun Freya (2021)Rating: 5\/10 It\u2019s been three years since their 2018 self-titled debut full-length album, but Belgian metallers Thorium (who feature former members of Ostrogoth) are certainly back with a bang if you like straight-up rattling metal. Yes, it does all feel rather squeaky clean \u2013 glossy almost \u2013 and at times […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,4624],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-thorium"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88810","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=88810"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88830,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88810\/revisions\/88830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}