ALBUM REVIEW: Collapse – Babylonfall

It’s alleged that Finland is home to more metal bands per capita than any other country, and some of those bands have gone on to superstardom or at the very least have become very respectable in their genres. BABYLONFALL are the latest Finnish act to try and step up to the plate and break out into the world with their debut album Collapse via Inverse Records. But can they add something of value to an already incredible Finnish melodic death metal scene?

Collapse starts off at a mid-tempo pace with Murder of Crows, which is an interesting choice for an opener, with sludgy stomps begging the question as to why BABYLONFALL didn’t opt for a track with a great deal more pace to get this record off to a flying start. A low deathly growl greets us over the riff and leads on into the AMON AMARTH sized chorus. This one will no doubt go over well in a live setting. Awakening is where the album truly begins with faster drumming and a deathly swagger. The audible bass of Matti Huopainen is a thing of beauty and rumbles clearly through the album thanks to the remarkable production of Saku Moilanen at Deep Dive Studios. Clean singing makes its first appearance during the chorus and shows the range of vocalist Okko Solantera. Unfortunately, the clean vocals aren’t quite as strong as his growls and tend to occasionally overstay their welcome during certain sections with an over-reliance on the power he aims for. They could have easily been scaled back slightly to allow them to become more effective when they were given the spotlight.

Blood Will Be My Crown is a perfect example of their talent for writing solid tracks and is one of the more memorable moments on the record with it’s rolling groove and strong vocals. While We Become One is home to some very catchy riffing and introduces tapping elements into the guitar work which shows the capability of the guitarists. The drumming throughout is always tight but never feels like it’s shining through into the spotlight, which is a shame considering there lies obvious talent there behind the kit with Mikku Huopainen.

Released as single, Celestials opts for the mid pacing speed again but aside from the Bass skills on show, feels like a misstep and feels generally quite bland and doesn’t add anything notable. Thankfully, Stars and Constellations picks the album back up again and is one of the more exciting tracks on the album along with next track Wrath, with the latter being the most death influenced on the entire record. It has speed and power that some of the middle section of Collapse was missing. There is a LAMB OF GOD groove to its sound and a drive that sounds like old school MACHINE HEAD. It smashes through like an unwavering force of nature and makes you wonder where this fire was for the first half of the album. It comes to a close with a clean vocal refrain that, this time, doesn’t outstay it’s welcome and is a great way to end the track.

Lyric wise, the band states are based around collapsing on a personal and societal level that can be interpreted by each and every individual listener in any way they see fit. There is also a tinge of Sci-Fi thrown in and while it isn’t a concept album, there is an opportunity to perhaps build on this idea in the future with a story that drives the lyrical themes. By the time the slow burn of album closer Distant Call of Innocence is a mere ember, you can be sure that you won’t have heard the last of BABYLONFALL. The solo featured here and those scattered amongst the 10 tracks are always well written and are well placed within the confines of the songs.

While Collapse can be dismissed as another generic melodic death metal album, there is a lot to like about BABYLONFALL’s debut record. The impressive range of vocals, spectacular production and well-constructed songs are enough to hook in any fan of the genre. However, it does suffer from being a linear and at times uninspiring fare. BABYLONFALL have created a sufficiently decent album that they can easily build on in the future with the talent that their clearly have.

Rating: 7/10

Collapse is set for release April 24th via Inverse Records. 

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