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Showcasing a level of talent rare for a band only two years in, The Effigist is a promising debut album. Melding tech metal, symphonic elements and a sprinkling of progressive ideas, they show an understanding of groove, dynamics and restraint often lacking in bands so young and some seriously cool riffs on the likes of album highlight Lady Snowblood. But Embrace The Dawn aren’t the finished article. For all the promise shown here, there are too many occasions where they allow their ambition to run away with them and leave a perfectly good song hanging on until it starts to outstay its welcome. Get the editing process right and cut the right amount of fat out on album number two and we could be embracing Embrace The Dawn very tightly.

Since blagging his way onto the Hammer team a decade ago, Stephen has written countless features and reviews for the magazine, usually specialising in punk, hardcore and 90s metal, and still holds out the faint hope of one day getting his beloved U2 into the pages of the mag. He also regularly spouts his opinions on the Metal Hammer Podcast.