Apex
The bass and drums give Apex a firm foundation straight away. Above them, Brittney Slayes can let her voice expand without reducing the rest of Unleash The Archers to backing players. The guitars are sharp, the melodies are large and the sound remains clear. This power metal has enough weight to make an impression beyond the choruses.
The Matriarch shows how direct the band can be. It has pace, powerful singing and little need for diversions. The instruments stay active around the melody. Slayes sings high and strong, but her control matters at least as much as her range.
Cleanse The Bloodlines brings out a rougher side. Fierce guitar parts and harsh backing vocals provide a contrast to the clear lead voice. The band makes those approaches work well together. Ten Thousand Against One then depends on its driving rhythm and large group vocals. It is easy to understand why that particular song makes such a convincing battle anthem.
The ambition extends beyond short, direct songs. The title track opens with acoustic guitar and develops into an expansive closer. Its scale fits the album's fantasy setting, but also has drawbacks. Some longer and quieter passages lose a little direction. Every melody does not carry the same force, and those differences become clearer across an hour of music.
Even so, Apex mainly succeeds as a strong combination of melody, firm riffs and convincing singing. The careful production leaves enough room for the bass and guitars to contribute. Unleash The Archers use technique to make the songs bigger. A tighter selection would have made the whole record hit even harder, but the highlights already provide plenty of reasons to give it your time.
