Time Signature Land of the midnight sun...

Genre: some kind hybrid of power metal and modern metal

"Ravengod" is the second full-length release by the Swedish metal band The Embodied, whose debut full-length was released back in 2011.

Style-wise, this albu is hard to pin down. The Embodied has been classified as a melodic metal band, a power metal band, and even a melodeath band. In a way - at least on this release - they are all of the above and neither of the above. There are melodeath elements in the riffage and the overall energy which are particularly prevalent in passages of tracks like 'Praetor Sorrow', 'I Suffocate of Anger', 'Battle of the Mind', and in particular 'Death By Fire'. Still, this is way too "undeath" to be melodic death metal (apart from a couple of screams every now and then, the vocals are clean and more rock-oriented). Maybe, it's post-melodeath, which can be applied to those bands who have taken the Gothenburg sound and extrapolated it into other metal genres, removing the death elements but retaining the other elements (other bands who have done this are Amaranthe and Evergrey among several others); this is essentially, in my opinion at least, what characterized modern metal. In this case, the Gothenburg sound has been combined with power metal elements, and it mostly works quite well without being overwhelmingly original or mindblowing.

The production is crisp and well-defined, as it should be with this particular type of music, and The Embodied are definitely good songsmiths who understand the power of melody.

Overall, fans of more modern metal, including melodeath and melodic metalcore, as well as power metal fans should find this album a satisfying listen.