Riverside - Left Out (9/10)

 This song has such good dynamics and evolving soundscapes. The unique sounds that Riverside manage to make, especially with the bass and keyboards, just bring out so much emotion. The drums and guitar are also great, and the guitar is slightly more dynamic than in most Riverside songs. The usual slow solo guitar with delay can get a bit boring, so it's good that they at least have some catchy riffs in there.

The vocals are really emotional and use dynamics quite well, but there isn't any belting and hardly any harsh vocals, which disappoints me a bit. The lyrics are very well written and extremely relatable.

My last point about this song is the ending. It's very long and has a quite disappointing abrupt ending. Now, I get that it fits into the EP, but I usually like songs that can work both in an album and in a playlist, so that brings it down slightly for me.

In summary, I think this song has some great sounds and dynamics, slightly similar to that of Wolverine and the 90s era of Queen, but with the addition of some awesome synth and organ sounds.

Wolverine - Your Favourite War (7/10)

 Wolverine truly are masters at incorporating synthesizers into metal while keeping it emotional. Most other artists that try the same thing usually sound too "epic", fantasy-like or just end up sounding like a film score. But Wolverine really do it well.

Although the chorus in this song is a bit boring in my opinion, the rest of the song certainly makes up for it. The harmonised vocal lines in the pre-chorus are just beautiful, and as opposed to other modern bands, you can hear and feel so much emotion in them.

I also like the dynamics of the song and how the instrumentation changes. I especially like additional guitar near the end of the song, which adds a feeling of despair. It's also worth listening to the entire album, Communication Lost, because the song fits in quite nicely with the previous song.

Regarding the lyrics, they aren't really anything special if you ask me, but they are certainly relatable in one way or another.

Welcome to The Introspective Metalhead!

 This is where I will post reviews and recommendations of metal songs and albums that actually make you feel something, not the “epic” or “evil” war metal or bland songs with overproduced vocals. I care about vocal dynamics, the emotion behind riffs, unique instrumentation, etc.