Angelflayer
My Fallen Angel

March 2013
Released: 2012, Self Released
Rating: 4.0/5
Reviewer: Aaron Yurkiewicz

Angelflayer is a melodic death metal project helmed by German multi-instrumentalist Heiko Lange and fronted by Swedish vocalist Daniel Friberg, who happened to meet via Soundcloud. With Friberg layering his guttural snarl atop of Lange’s compositions, the pair have recently released their first full length demo, MY FALLEN ANGEL. A throwback to the classic gothic melodi-death sounds of early Dark Tranquility/Sentenced/Edge of Sanity, it’s a competent collection of tunes that’s surprisingly polished for a self-released demo.



Anyone who grew up with this genre in the 90s (or who just has an affinity for good music) should immediately gravitate towards Angelflayer. Lange and Friberg find that perfect balance between devastating heaviness and emotive ambience, avoiding the pitfalls of pretentiousness by keeping the synths to a minimum and maximizing the atmosphere through guitar harmonies and thoughtful melodies. There’s a great balance to the tracks that keep the album’s progression interesting, and keeps the listener invested. Where the sweeping notes of the title track fully embrace the melodrama, tunes like “Invented Flawless One” and “Scum of the Earth” are full on death grinders and “The Tomorrow People” and “The Devil and the Priest” straddle the line of both worlds (the latter being my favorite track on the album). MY FALLEN ANGEL also features cover versions of Megadeth’s “Hangar 18” and Illdisposed’s “There’s Something Rotten in the State of Denmark”, which feel awkward and unnecessary. I’m guessing that their inclusion here was more an issue of fanboy homage over creative flow, but stylistically they just feel out of place and distract from the quality of the original compositions.



But I digress. As mentioned, MY FALLEN ANGEL is being promoted as a demo, but the overall audio quality and presentation are still pretty damned respectable. Given a proper production budget I’d love to hear some of the supporting instruments punched up in the mix and some added vocal dimensions, but at face value, I’ve heard professional releases that don’t sound half as good as what’s offered up here. Lange and Friberg create a worthy and formidable musical presence with Angelflayer, and hopefully MY FALLEN ANGEL marks the beginning of a long creative collaboration between the two. For the old schoolers and the romantics, this is one you’ll want to check out. Visit Angelflayer’s website for samples and more info.