Imagika ‘Only Dark Hearts Survive’
Album Review By Adam McCann
Dissonance Productions/Thrash/Power Metal
It has been just short of a decade since Imagika called it day, but last year, the Californian band finally announced their return. Imagika have always been a band which have released decent and consistent albums, thus, this year, the pressure was on when the band announced their comeback album ‘Only Dark Hearts Survive’.
As anyone would expect from a band of this calibre, ‘Only Dark…’ is another huge slab of decent heavy metal; an album which drives along with riffs that are as good as any contemporary thrash band. But, as always Imagika add a huge power metal sheen across the album, interlacing it with soaring melodies and just enough of a touch of progressive metal to continue to make ‘Only Dark…’ interesting. This means that this latest offering from Imagika already has everything that has come to be expected from the band, but also has all the appeal of Iced Earth and Eidolon, as well as just a fleeting glance towards Symphony X and Savatage on the broader horizons that is demonstrated during tracks such as ‘Prisoners Of Fate’, ‘Suffocate On Hate’ and ‘Fireflight’ which are some of the best work Imagika has ever put their mind to.
Clocking in at just over 35 minutes, ‘Only Dark…’ doesn’t waste any time, it knows exactly what it wants to do and because of that, what Imagika have delivered is another excellent album to add to their already superb discography.
Rating : 82/100
MHF Magazine/Adam McCann
