Album Review: UNDERKING - At Hell's Gate

 

01. Shadow I've Become
02. Embrace The Arcane
03. World In Flames
04. Oblivion
05. Whispering Death
06. Red Sun Rises
07. The Dream Is Over
08. The Nightmare Ends
09. No Mercy (Featuring Charlotte Corry & Two Eyes Open)
10. Halloween (Misfits cover)

For those unfamiliar with Underking, it's the project of singer/multi-instrumentalist Maxwell Jeffries. He released the first two albums at the same time, about a year ago. They were stylistically quite different, with one record even having a guest vocalist throughout, and Maxwell handling vocals on the other. Click here to read my review of those two. 

For many artists, their third album is often cited as their 'awkward one', but that's not the case here at all, as it has an air of an act that has found its feet. At Hell's Gate follows the path of his Ghosts Of The Past record, with some clear Black Sabbath and Ghost influences on display. Maxwell is also handing lead vocals again, which I think was a smart move. 

Opening with the Star Wars themed Shadow I've Become, At Hell's Gate is already off to a fantastic start. This is a great melodic metal track with plenty of twists and turns. Let's be honest here, If Iron Maiden had written and recorded this, it would be considered to be one of their finest tracks of the last few years.

Embrace The Arcane has some metal-core riffage spliced in with the classic rock vibe. It's heavy and hits the spot in the right places. 

Oblivion is a truly accomplished instrumental piece of classic metal with progressive influences, which wanders into different musical territories, staying interesting throughout.

My favourite track, aside from the killer opener is the epic No Mercy. The song is packed full of twists and turns, oozing creativity throughout the journey. 

Tagged onto the end of the record is an excellent cover of The Misfits' Halloween. Being one of my favourite bands, I really enjoyed that. 

Overall, this is a very well crafted, interesting Metal album. Considering At Hell's Gate is almost entirely the creation of just one guy, this record is a massive accomplishment. It will be interesting to see where Underking goes from here.