The Halo Effect's 'March of the Unheard' - Album Review

Following a break of a couple of weeks to see 2025 in and get back to normal following the Christmas holiday, business as usual returns to this blog. When it comes to new music and concerts, January can be a bit unpredictable. I did not get to any gigs last January, and it was also fairly quiet for new album releases, but the second half of this January promises to be quite busy. I have four gigs coming up, which I am very much looking forward to following a relatively quiet December, and there are also a few new albums which I have earmarked to cover. I think that new music releases will really kick off in a big way in February, along with my concert calendar, but I have already picked up two 2025 releases which I have been enjoying. Expect another album review to follow sometime next week, then, but up first for 2025 is March of the Unheard, the second album from the Swedish melodic death metal supergroup The Halo Effect. The band can seemingly trace their history back to 2019 - but I think it was 2021 when news of their arrival became common knowledge, and they released their excellent debut album Days of the Lost (which I reviewed here) the following year. Supergroups can often disappoint, but I enjoyed Days of the Lost from the off. I am sure that some had higher expectations for The Halo Effect, particularly given the pedigree of those involved, but the band just have the feeling of a group of old friends coming together and writing music for their own enjoyment - in the style which they all collectively helped to pioneer in the 1990s. To re-cap, all five members of The Halo Effect have been involved with In Flames at some point - with four having been members of the band, whilst frontman Mikael Stanne sang on the their 1994 debut album Lunar Strain on a session basis. Stanne, of course, would find fame on his own terms fronting Dark Tranquillity - so The Halo Effect is very much a meeting of the sounds of In Flames of old (particularly 1997's Whoracle through 2002's Reroute to Remain) and Dark Tranquillity. Days of the Lost was not exactly a massively original album, then, but it was packed with well-crafted and performed songs which stuck in the brain. It is an album that I have listened to quite a lot over the past couple of years - and I also saw the band live opening for Machine Head and Amon Amarth in 2022. I did wonder if the album would end up being a one-off, but March of the Unheard proves that there is more life in The Halo Effect yet - and the band recently kicked off their debut headline tour in support of it. Stanne clearly wants to find the time for this band, alongside Dark Tranquillity and his many other projects, and the others are happy to come along for the ride when he has the time. In many ways, March of the Unheard picks up where Days of the Lost left off - with the classic Gothenburg melodic death metal sound very much present. If there is a point of difference, though, I would say that the Dark Tranquillity vibes are stronger this time. This album feels a little more atmospheric than the debut, but the plentiful harmony guitar leads from In Flames' DNA remain, and, conversely, Stanne's clean vocals are heard less. The overall songwriting style is similar, though, and there are a number of memorable cuts here - building nicely on the good work done on Days of the Lost.

The synth work of Örjan Örnkloo (Misery Loves Co.), himself a contributor to many of In Flames' albums, is perhaps more important this time than it was before, then, but March of the Unheard is still very much a guitar-driven album - with Niclas Engelin and Jesper Strömblad teaming up throughout for many excellent riffs and leads. A warm synth melody does kick the album off, though, with Conspire to Deceive opening slowly - but once the band join in and the synth melody is replaced with a guitar lead The Halo Effect's core sound roars from the speakers. This album might be a touch more melodic overall than the previous album, at least in terms of guitar leads, and the overall production feels a touch warmer - thanks to the increased synth presence. Conspire to Deceive is certainly not as heavy as some of the tracks here, though, and it reminds me somewhat of Dark Tranquillity's last few albums - with dense keyboards and a bit more space in the mix with the rhythm guitars somewhat in the background. Stanne's growled vocals have plenty of space to shine, then, and he sounds as good as ever during the verses and the memorable chorus - whilst Engelin and Strömblad constantly lay down hypnotic guitar melodies, backed nicely by Örnkloo. It is certainly a song which eases the listener into the album as it is not as hard-hitting as it could be - but the band's core sound is still very much on display despite a slight lack of overt heaviness. The song remains dense thanks to the ever-present synths and the knotty guitar leads - and Stanne's vocal hooks shine. Detonate, which follows, is different, though, and kicks the heaviness up a notch. It was the album's lead single, released last year to introduce it, and I loved it from the off. It reminds me of some of the best anthems from the first album - with tougher guitar rhythms throughout and a tighter overall sound. Guitar leads kick in when they need to, such as during a heroic pre-chorus, but the verses here feel much faster and heavier overall - with the thrashy drumming of Daniel Svensson keeping the overall energy levels high. Where this song really shines, though, is during its chorus. There are a few strong choruses on this album, but Detonate showcases the really anthemic side of melodic death metal - and Stanne's ability to craft a memorable vocal hook. It is hard to get the melodies out of the brain and the track is sure to become a live favourite as a result - whilst a screaming guitar solo ups the heaviness further later on. Our Channel to the Darkness is somewhat similar, but the song opens slowly with some of its later core melodies being played on an acoustic guitar - before Svensson's double bass drumming kicks in and the track becomes another pretty heavy anthem. Structurally, the song is quite similar to Detonate - but it feels a little punkier overall, particularly during the verses which feature some frantic drumming. Whilst there is a bit of a smoothness to the album overall, which was also present on the first album, there are still plenty of heavier moments here - and the spiky verses here mix nicely with the chorus, which is another pretty soaring melodic feast with strong vocal hooks and a piercing guitar lead. The melodies are easy on the ear and the riffing is full of energy - which is always a good combination.

Cruel Perception does not stand on ceremony, opening with a hard-hitting guitar riff - built around a tough backing from the rhythm section and a memorable guitar hook. The track is not as fast as parts of the previous couple of songs, but the mid-paced vibe gives the song's opening a heavier feel - before the first verse kicks in to strip away some of this feel and present a more atmospheric sound. There are strong Dark Tranquillity vibes during the verses, with the synths more prominent and the bass playing of Peter Iwers pushed more to the fore, whilst the chorus is faster overall - returning to the opening barrage of the song's intro with Stanne's barked vocals sitting nicely atop it. In some ways, then, the song is the opposite of many of the others here structure-wise - with a heavier chorus and more melodic verses. This change works well, though, particularly given the more intense couple of tracks which came before. What We Become returns to the heavier sound of tracks like Detonate - with a pretty thrashy opening riff, although synths are also used to double the main guitar hook which helps the song to stand out somewhat and give it a different edge. There is a bit more of a synth presence throughout the song despite its overall heaviness, which gives it depth, and the later chorus features a flashy synth hook instead of a more traditional guitar melody - which contrasts nicely with Stanne's growls. Elsewhere, the song feels a bit more mid-paced and crunchy. The opening riff and the chorus up the pace a little, but the verses have much more of a tougher approach - the band slowing down a little and riding on something more groove-based. The band are not the grooviest in general, so this change is noticeable and welcome - and it creates a heavier sound overall which is then tempered later on by the hooky chorus and the more prominent use of synths. The brief instrumental piece This Curse of Silence follows, which is essentially an extended intro to the title track which comes after. Marching drums, wordless vocals, and guitar melodies slowly build towards what follows - which then explodes with Svensson's double bass drumming and one of the hookiest guitar leads of the album. This title track was another single which dropped last year - and it is likely one of the album's most straight ahead pieces, harking back to the sound of the last album in a big way. The opening guitar lead is very much classic Gothenburg in sound, which is later repurposed during an anthemic chorus, whilst the slower chug of the verses is sure to get heads banging live. There are some slightly slower moments, which feature more of a bass-heavy sound for a brief period, but these moments are short-lived, with the track generally more focused on melody - including an instrumental mid-section built around some guitar leads. Forever Astray returns to a bit of a heavier sound, at least initially, with a thrashy opening riff and some extreme metal-adjacent tremolo guitar leads, but the song as a whole is a real mix of feelings. A big guitar melody is never too far away, but the verses are pretty thrashy - containing some of the album's heaviest and fastest riffing. These parts of the song are a real throwback to the 1990s, then, but the chorus is sung clean - and it is one of the few times on the album where Stanne does so. This helps the song to stand out - and the mix of thrashiness and gothic melodrama is one works well.

Between Directions opens in a grander fashion, with some strings backing the main riff - doubling up with the guitar hook within. Whilst not exactly turning the song into a symphonic metal anthem, it nevertheless gives it a different edge to many of the others here. The opening guitar melody really soars, then, whilst the quieter verses are given a string backing to set them apart from the rest - with synths utilised less here. The mix of Iwers' grounding bass and the strings during the verses provides a strong backing for Stanne's throaty growls - whilst the chorus goes for a lusher overall sound with the strings soaring in a big way, whilst Stanne sings clean. It does seem strange that Stanne waited until the album's final half to introduce any clean vocals, and then utilise them on two consecutive songs, but his clean vocals always sound great - and they fit in with the string backing introduced here, whilst his growls during the rest of the song still sound as biting as ever. A Death That Becomes Us opens with some hypnotic guitar and synth lines - which are then expanded upon when the rest of the band kick in, creating a strong mid-paced feel with hooky melodies sitting side-by-side with heaviness. This is another song which is somewhat similar to the more anthemic feel of Detonate - although there is a slight smoothness here thanks to a strong synth halo which surrounds everything. There is a good mix of mid-paced metal and thrashier sections, though, whilst the slower chorus is very much out of the modern Dark Tranquillity playbook - with mournful guitar leads backing Stanne's rumbling growls. There are essentially guitar leads throughout the whole song, with the thrashier moments introducing some faster leads - whilst more melodic ones are present elsewhere. Guitar leads are such a big part of the Swedish melodic death metal sound that it is great to hear them so represented during this song - and it makes the track a late album highlight as a result. The last 'proper' song here is The Burning Point - a thrashier song overall which opens with plenty of double bass drumming from Svensson and duelling guitar leads. Much of the song is very reminiscent of old In Flames, then, with the faster verses in particular harking back to that sound, and the old-school feeling of the riffing with subtle guitar leads included never really gets old when it is executed well. The chorus does slow everything down, though, introducing the mournfulness of Dark Tranquillity and the more crooning end of Stanne's growls. In some ways, then, this song is a perfect mix of the two bands which feed into The Halo Effect. There are perhaps more interesting songs here, but as far as pure influence goes The Burning Point is a great representation of the band's core sound - so it fittingly acts as something of a closer, with strong melodies and a thrashy, heavy vibe landing nicely. The album then comes to a close with the instrumental Coda - which takes melodies from some of the album's songs and plays them acoustically with a string backing. It works nicely as a fade out to the album as a whole and it does not outstay its welcome despite it being longer than a typical outro. It ends the album on a gentle note - and allows for some reflection. March of the Unheard builds nicely on the core sound of the last album whilst introducing some variety and a few points of difference without reinventing the wheel. It is nice to see a bit of progress here despite many of the real high points here just being anthems - but The Halo Effect is clearly a band with legs and I am looking forward to hearing some of the these songs live next week in Bristol.

The album was released on 10th January 2025 via Nuclear Blast Records. Below is the band's promotional video for Detonate.