Each member gets to showcase their talents by ensuring the melodic content is full of hooks. The musical direction and the characteristics of the album revolve around the genre of modern death metal, however the work of the guitars is very catchy and memorable on the opening songs “Conspire to Deceive” and “Detonate”. There are elements of In Flames‘ “Clayman” and Dark Tranquillity’s “Fiction”, however, this retrospective doesn’t offer much for fans of Gothenburg sound.

The album is very engaging with plenty of hooks to enjoy. The catchy guitar work provided by Niclas Engelin and Jesper Strömblad, and almost every song features a catchy lead guitar and solo. The sheer heaviness brings some hooky-driven guitars in “Our Channel To The Darkness”. Mikael Stanne’s vocals are infectious and aggressive, and the dynamic vibe of these songs suggests that The Halo Effect combines the trademark of modern melodeath metal.

The drumming of Daniel Svensson is quite dynamic with massive riffs driving the songs between heavy and melodic sections you can’t help but sink into the uniqueness of the song and the rhythm guitar grabbing you with the modern fragments of Dark Tranquillity and In Flames.

You will be effortlessly vibing to the punchy guitar lines and the killer bass guitar of Peter Iwers, the drumming is thunderous, but Mikael Stanne‘s vocals maintain the fury of the pace. For example, “Cruel Perception” delivers a variety of ideas on how to utilize the formulas.

The aggression keeps on rocking driving a flair of energy with the guitar leads and solos, although the album is pretty polished from start to finish the riffs are mostly chunky and grooves are added to the mix. The fast riffs bounce heavily in “What We Become” and show a degree of mastery and engaging modern death metal that harkens back to the heydays.

Both the songwriting trademark and the high-pitched vocals reach a kind of climax but not at the expense of diverting off of the coherence, it is unique how The Halo Effect maintains the show throughout the album without losing the focus. The songs showcase the melodies of Dark Tranquillity and present a polished and melodic essence and these great examples are found on the album’s title track “The March of the Unheard”.

The songwriting is extremely catchy and energetic adding a unique formula to the songs, the guitars deliver heavy-boosting riffs and there are plenty of great guitar parts that go unnoticed because the guitars opt for chuggy and groovy riffs to flavor up the songs. “Forever Astray” and “Between Directions” feature fast dynamical riffs and clean emotional vocals in the chorus Mikael Stanne finds the balance to represent the old and new treat for fans.

Despite the heavy and catchy offerings on the second album, you get to hear a balanced mixture of creativity with more experimental tunes surfacing as the latter song is very much reminiscent of Dark Tranquillity‘s “Character” album. Beautiful orchestral work is woven with clean and soulful vocals, the enchanting guitar lines and the high-pitched vocals bridge the elegance of the singing and the atmospheric melodies.

The infectious melodies and the heavy guitar chugging surface again on “A Death That Becomes Us” offer the same sense of dynamics, the drumming truly conveys a defining quality that keeps the songs powerful and energetic.

“The Burning Point” brings a mix of captivating melodies with a fair amount of catchiness, there are no clean vocals to undermine the chorus just straight-up heaviness transitioning between atmospherics, and the ballad instrumental song “Coda” adds another variety to the album that conveys what fans should perceive from the members of Dark Tranquillity and ex-In Flames in their second outing.

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