Reflection, one of the oldest bands of the Hellenic heavy-epic metal scene, have released this year their second full length album through their new company “Cruz del Sur”, entitled “When Shadows Fall”. In 2003 they had released their previous concept album “Odyssey”, which had left us with the best impressions musically, with an exception regarding the vocals.

In this album, the vocals are taken over by Leo Stivala of the doomsters Forsaken and the improvement is more than visible. As far as the compositions are concerned, most of the songs are mostly mid tempo, as the band has followed a more doom orientation, comparing to their previous work. In their majority the songs are relatively slow, with heavy and prevailing guitars and lyrical choruses. There are also some prog influences here and there in the songs. The band sounds tight, with a good rhythm section and very well-worked guitars by their guitarist Stathis Pavlantis, while the keyboards add a lot to the atmosphere of the compositions. The songs that stand out in my opinion is the self titled “When shadows fall”, with the very interesting central riff and guitar solo,  “Lost”, with the cutting guitars and its many changes during the song and the lyrical theme of the refrain lines, as well as  “Kingdom of Fire”, which is the most epic of the album. Interesting are also the melodies of “Desert Land”, with its prevailing refrain and somewhat “oriental” rhythm. In “Soul Salvation” we have lots of intense doom influences, reminding us a lot of Solitude Aeturnus in guitar parts and vocal lines. In “Serpent’s Eyes”, the doom feeling is also present in the vocals and the guitar tunes.

In general, this album is very satisfactory and all the fans of the band and also of the epic/doom metal genre in general will be pleased. Personally, I would prefer some faster and more dynamic direction. I am waiting for their new release with a growing interest, hoping that it will not take them another 5 years!