Review: The Halo Effect - Days Of The Lost

I remember back around 1996, I first heard In Flames. My mind was blown. It was like Iron Maiden playing death metal. It was all I wanted at that point in heavy music. This lead me to further look into melodic death metal, namely that from Sweden and I was hooked. In Flames went on to do some style changes around Reroute to Remain. I didn't mind that album, but I definitely checked out on all of their albums after it. 

Why am I spending so much time talking about In Flames? Well, The Halo Effect is formed by members that all spent time in In Flames. When I heard this, I was immediately interested to hear what riffs Jesper was bringing to the table with Mikael Stanne of Dark Tranquillity on vocals, Daniel Svensson on drums, with Peter Iwers holding down bass, and Niclas Engelin rounding out the lineup on second guitar. A bunch of these guys have played on some of my all time favorite albums. Needless to say, the hype was instant. 

Did Days of the Lost scratch my unknown itch for the heyday of melodeath? In a word, YES. Immediately, I was transferred back to the late 90s. This sounds like it could have come right after Clayman, but also stands on its own two feet. This is what anyone would want from classic Swedish melodeath and done so by some of the people that helped create it. While they're not treading new ground here, they don't need to at all as it's the ground they helped create. 

While the In Flames mentions will be rampant on this release, it doesn't necessarily need to be. Yes, the line up reeled me in, but their quality is what kept me. This is a matured release by seasoned vets of the genre. It's not to be looked at as a rival of In Flames, but as long time friends getting together to write music they love. 

Top to bottom, this album hits all of the checkmarks for a classic melodeath release. High energy, great melodies, big hooks, head banging good tunes all capped off by Stanne's powerful voice. He has to be one of the most powerful and consistent vocalists to come from the genre. 30 years into the game and he's still crushing it. 

The Halo Effect have stated this isn't a one off, they're highly focused on the band, and I certainly hope so as Days of the Lost left me wanting more. That's a good thing because the album isn't lacking in any way. 

Rick
Gotten Out By
Rick

Rick has been writing off and on for a couple sites for years now. He is glad to give his opinion of music via Getting It Out. Born and raised in Lancaster, PA, he is not Amish, he is still vegan and still straight edge. He is a loving father and husband. Rick also used to play guitar and growl like an idiot in death metal band Defleshuary.

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