StormbounD – December

StormbounD
December
Label: Self-release
Out: August 05th, 2022
Playing time: 56:16

StormbounD were founded in Tel-Aviv in 2018 by bassist Pavel Kleiman and guitarist and singer Ofer Friedman. The line-up was completed very soon. All band members are experienced professional musicians. Shortly after, the songwriting began. With their first gigs, the band made a name for themselves in the local Metal scene. After a few singles, the debut album “December” was released in August.

Typical for the genre, the opener “Desert’s Roar” starts with an orchestral intro that could also pass for a Cinematic soundtrack. But after a short while, the guitar riffs kick in with full force, underpinned by a Symphonic sound carpet. The vocals of Yael Horwitz are versatile and are perfectly complemented by the voice of Ofer Friedman. Of course, “Altar Of Innocence” also starts with a Symphonic Intro. Spoken words can also be heard here. Heavy and gloomy guitar riffs dominate this song. Yael’s dark timbre sounds pleasant. Her partner Ofer contributes some growls. “Sacred Lies” seems quite like a Thrash song at first. Fast guitar riffs. Forward driving drums. Again, there are harsh growls, matching the thrash sound at high speed. Yael shows that she also masters nasty Metal-Screams. The whole thing is rounded off by a strong guitar solo. “Away From Here” with its calm piano introduction offers a strong contrast to the impetuous power before. A beautiful duet of the two singers. And just when you think you’re in the middle of a ballad, the tempo suddenly picks up. These tempo and rhythm changes continue until the end. The title song “December” is a ten-and-a-half-minute epic with an orchestral introduction. Catchy melodies with female vocals dominate. At least in the first half. From about the middle onwards there is a progressive, thrash-heavy impact, again with nasty growling, but also with partly strong, partly sugary, partly only breathed female vocals. But with “Shadows” it follows, the real ballad. Here the singer shows one of her best performances. If you think there are no more surprises on the album, you are wrong. “Flying High” offers an interplay of Symphonic Metal, Celtic sounds and Power Metal. Despite the oriental-like intro, “Fragments” is among the hardest and darkest that this album has to offer. The highlight is the filigree guitar solo. With just over nine minutes, “Child’s Play” is the second longest track. This gives enough space for extensive instrumental passages and various solos. A duet by Yael and Ofer can be heard one last time. The two show how perfectly they harmonise with each other vocally. And prove the changeability of their voices.

Another Symphonic Metal album, some might say. But StormbounD are indeed a typical genre band, but they also break the genre boundaries. For me, “December” is one of the better Symphonic Metal albums of the last few years. Especially because the bombast is not overused, but always skilfully combined with many other musical elements. Whether Thrash, Progressive or Folk. You can hear many influences. And it is exactly this mixture that makes the album recommendable.

StormbounD – Flying High (Official Video): https://youtu.be/_CDnqU1icT4

Lineup:

Yael Horwitz – Vocals
Ofer Friedman – Guitar & Vocals
Shani Friedman – Guitar
Rotem Sadia – Keyboard
Pavel Kleiman – Bass
Yuval Partush – Drums

Label: Self-release

Out: August 05^th, 2022

Playing time: 56:16

Track list:

• Desert’s Roar
• Altar Of Innocence
• Sacred Lies
• Away From Here
• December
• Shadows 
• Flying High
• Fragments
• Child’s Play