Rage Of Light – Redemption

Rage Of Light

Redemption

by Thomas Kumke at 23 January 2022, 9:43 PM

RAGE OF LIGHT were formed in 2007 by Jonathan Pellet as a Trance Metal project in Switzerland. It took several years to establish a line-up and it was finally completed with vocalist Melissa Bonny (AD INFINITUM) in 2015. The debut EP was released in 2016 and a full-length album followed in 2019 when RAGE OF LIGHT signed a record deal with Austrian label Napalm Records. The band received much attention with their AMON AMARTH cover “Thunder Of The Twilight Gods” as well as with the LADY GAGA cover “Judas”. Melissa Bonny departed in 2021 and the new album “Redemption” is the first one with new vocalist Martyna Halas. “Redemption” is an independent release and it was produced by the band and mixed and mastered at Swiss Conatus Studios. It has a length of more than one hour.

RAGE OF LIGHT call themselves a Trance Metal band, but what exactly does it mean? After a first listen to “Redemption”, I still had problems with that term. The Metal Archives call them electronic Groove Metal which is something, I rather would agree, although it does not really classify the interesting sound of RAGE OF LIGHT appropriately. With “Redemption”, the band provides a mix of melodic Death Metal, symphonic Metal, Groove Metal, Modern Metal, among others. Some of the songs, such as the opener ,”Iciness”, or “Crusade For The Sun” use sound sequences for their intros that are typical for Trance or Techno, but those sequences are rather marginal.

The opening sequence in “Iciness” provides an atmosphere, before it transitions into a mix of melodic Death Metal and symphonic Metal with powerful guitar riffing mostly a bit faster than mid-tempo, a lot of double-bass drumming, and electronic arrangements which are at times in the background, but also dominate some parts of the eight minutes' track. The vocals are a mix of clean vocals and growls at the medium end of the guttural range. “Iciness” has a bombastic sound and it is a very good opener. “2.0” is a rollercoaster with classical symphonic Metal sequences and aggressive melodic Death Metal parts where the keyboard arrangements keep the track together.

A five seconds long Techno sequence opens for the fast “Crusade For The Sun” and sets the tone for this mixture of Power Metal, Melodic Death, and Modern Metal. The melodies have some neoclassical vibes. The rhythm and tempo in “Crusade For The Sun” changes frequently and the textures are pretty complex. The song includes a very contributing lead guitar solo and the while the verse sections are dominated by aggressive growling, the choruses are almost anthem-like sing-alongs. “Lead The Riot” starts with a piano-driven intro and with the clean vocals, before it transitions into a heavy, dark mid-tempo and head-banging part with powerful guitar riffing while the vocals switch between the growls and the clean vocals. As the track progresses, the tempo switches between mid-tempo and up-tempo. “Lead The Riot” is perhaps one of the most representative songs in terms of the RAGE OF LIGHT sound and it is the official video release with the YouTube link given below. The song is one of the album highlights for me.

While “Chasing A Reflection” is another rollercoaster of different styles and frequent tempo changes, “Exploder” is a short outburst of blast-beat attacks, brutal growls, and great lead guitar work. In many songs on the album, a simple structure and a bit of catchiness is missing, but “Breaking Infinity” and “Aspiration” are welcomed exceptions. “Breaking Infinity” delivers epic melodies and heavy, powerful, but catchy verse parts. The middle part includes once again a number of tempo switches, but it transitions into a melodic sequence at high pace. “Aspiration” is perhaps the best mix between the DELAIN and occasionally AMATANTHE inspired parts and the ARCH ENEMY vibes. For me, “Aspiration” is another highlight of the album. “Redemption” closes with “Beyond” which adds the missing piece to the album: the ballad. However, it comes with a surprise at the end of the track which is actually easy to guess.

RAGE OF LIGHT deliver a good album with an interesting sound. While there is nothing ground-breaking new in the sound of “Redemption”, the way how the different styles and inspirations are mixed together requires some creativity. The addition of new vocalist Martyna Halas made things look easy, since she had outstanding performances and keeps all the tracks seamlessly together. Also, Noe Schüppbach on the guitars did a fine job, even though the guitars were frequently dominated by the keyboards. Overall, there is a lot of complexity in the songs which did not always work out well. Sometimes, less is more. The album is very well produced. Metal fans who like a lot of different Metal styles and who are open to experimentation will like the album. It will be interesting to see, how RAGE OF LIGHT will develop their sound in the future.

Songwriting:  8
Musicianship:  8
Memorability:  7
Production:  9