Looking for trivia for this review, I came to the obvious fact that The Halo Effect only has two albums (counting March of the Unheard), which honestly is shocking given how seasoned some of its members are. I always wondered if The Halo Effect would just follow whatever Dark Tranquillity or In Flames were doing and if it’d even be capable of competing with the OGs of Swedish MeloDeath. But not everything is about competition; sometimes you create a band to hang out with your friends, right? Sometimes, you just want to dive into music with the same excitement you once had for life, back when you were too young to own your mistakes.
Well, that playful feeling is what I felt during most of March‘s run. It was a bliss of melodies and electronic experimentation that flew by, leaving me wanting more. As someone who’s also seen the band live, I can attest that The Halo Effect are a charismatic act, which is also reflected in their songwriting. I’d almost dare to say that this is happy MeloDeath. What? You think that’s a contradiction? That MeloDeath has to be sad music that gets mellow here and there? No! You’re wrong—not about the mellow part, but about the sadness; life can be more than that, kid. And this album shines with a child-like sense of wonder.
March takes everything that works from the late Gothenburg sound and makes it more compact and accessible. I know this sound is already easy to get into for most Metalheads, but The Halo Effect creates songs that are fast, catchy, brief, and full of melodic lines, with vocals ranging from haunting growls to ethereal and sentimental singing. It’s like extreme Metal condensed into a meal. Honestly, I shouldn’t like this, but it’s just relaxing somehow. If you liked the latest Dark Tranquillity, then March is similar but more Metal. That has to be good, right?
In general, yes! However, the album does have the issue that covers the entire philosophy of the late Gothenburg sound. The tracks get lost within each other because they basically follow the same formula and are practically independent of each other. It’s the kind of album where you can pick your favorite tracks and ignore the rest. There’s no forced need for coherence between songs. You might think, in this era of convoluted extreme music, that that’s a good thing, but I enjoy my albums acting as one single piece of art working cohesively.
Either way, I think if you love MeloDeath, this is a must. It might be too melancholic for some or too simple, but March shows mastery in its craft. It shows how much experience these guys have and how easy it is for them to find the right places to take you, without needing 10 minutes per song or a 60-minute long album (fingers crossed for a year where albums have more reasonable runtimes!). I can see myself coming back to The Halo Effect‘s debut and EPs now. It’s a safe bet; you can’t go wrong with these veterans!
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Release date: January 10, 2025
Website: https://www.thehaloeffect.band/
Country: Sweden
Score: a rebellious and young 3.2/5.0
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