Vandalheart has released their tantalizing debut album LOW, packed with daring sounds that push the boundaries of what we expect from metal bands. Enticed into a very different journey we might have expected, blissfully we are swept away by this composition’s laid-back tone beaming with beautiful choruses, rock fills, and R&B beats.

Seventeen is the first track on the album and one of the singles we could enjoy before this release. It sets the tone with its upbeat and invigorating build-ups and searing melodies cascading over the explosive and soaring vocals.

The album never veers far from this formula but keeps it interesting with the degree of the unfamiliarity of elements that are incorporated. Left Behind is a prime example. The choruses carry a similar vibe as the rest of the record but ease us in and out of the mood with R&B beats to soothing effect.

Last Chance and Awake kick into another gear with much higher intensity but keeping true to the recipe with ambient melodies whisking us through a cacophony of hard-hitting whimsy.

Castaway is a special song. It comprises all the best from the album. Slower than most of its peers, it brings intent, accompanied by the ever-present ambiance to produce a powerful song that had me singing, dancing, screaming, and headbanging.

The vocals do a lot of heavy lifting in establishing the atmosphere, but no more so than on the final song, Speak to Me, where the talent and tone are on full display and bring the curtain down on this magical thoughtful compilation.

The best word I could use to describe LOW, as a record, is ‘Graceful’. I think of this work as the perfect soundtrack to kick up my feet and end a hard day’s work with a glass of whiskey.

–  Franco Rootman (The Basic Human Principle)

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