Track listing

"Deathlike Overture (Intro)"
"Esoteric"
"Rise and Decay"
"Let the Old World Burn"
"Darkness Descending"
"Seclusion"
"Misery's Supremacy"
"Under a Pitch Black Sky"
"Linger in Doubt"
"The Legacy of the Defeated"
"Within Reach" (bonus track)

Line-Up

Joakim Karlsson – vocals
Martin Hanner – bass guitar, keyboards
Andreas Edlund – guitar, keyboards
Johan Reinholdz – guitar
Joakim Jonsson – drums

"Esoteric" is the latest album by Swedish metallers Skyfire. The music that Skyfire plays can best be described as progressive melodic death metal. Melodic death metal is a sound not unfamiliar to the Swedish metal scene with Gothenburg being home to In Flames, At the Gates and Dark Tranquility, the creators of the sound.

Esoteric is the band's fourth studio album and the first that I have listened to. Subsequently, I will be basing my opinion completely independent of the band's past works. Melodic death metal has it's own signature sound and style. What Skyfire have done with Esoteric is to take that basic template and add to it, elements of other melodic genres of metal. One can see progressive tendencies from bands like Dream Theater and Symphony X being melded together with power metal elements of Kamelot, Axxis and Iced Earth. Out of all the bands mentioned, Symphony X is the closest comparison.

What the band have attempted here is no mean feat and they must be applauded for that. Courage and Innovation is all good but without good music, all it amounts to is overconfidence. The first song (ignoring the orchestral intro) is the album title track and boy is it a real humdinger. A really strong track with a great melody, it sets the bar high for the rest of the album.

'Seclusion' is another really strong track along with 'Misery's Supremacy'. What Skyfire bring to the table with these songs are really powerful melodies with dynamism within the songs and diverse song structures. There are tempo changes aplenty and in these songs they just tend to fit.

However, all this praise does not mean a perfect album, in fact far from it. Besides the songs I mentioned, some of the other songs tend to become monotonous and one dimensional. While the progressive elements are well utilized in the good songs, on an average they are over-utilized. The songs tend to lose their identity amidst all the galloping double bass and riffs.

The instrumentation is decent. There is no particular aspect that blows your mind away but there is very little to fault as well. The vocals could do with some sprucing up more than any other aspect.

To summarize, there is some good songwriting talent at work in Skyfire and "Esoteric" is by no means a bad album. Some tighter and more concise songs with a little less wankery will help add some focus and identity to their compositions.