Divine Ascension: LIBERATOR

Classical musical elements? Check. Helluva lot of noise thanks to some serious drumming and guitar riffs? Check. The opening track ‘Dawn Brings No Mercy’ seems to meet all the criteria for a progressive metal release, but in this track there’s a slight disjoint between the vocals and the instrumental. They seemed to be created separately and remained that way even when they were put together in a track.
Long openers are quite possibly my favourite thing in this kind of genre as they often do it so well, and in ‘Stronger’ that is certainly the case. This time around the vocals match up to the music and it stands as a pretty stellar track. It’s a bit of a slower number but there’s so much strength behind Jennifer Borg’s singing and the instrumental layout of the track.
‘My Contender Lies’, ‘Crystal Tears’ and ‘The Final Stand’ are also tracks that you should check out, there are a few more long instrumental intros in there for those who, like me, are a bit of a fan. Liberator certainly checks all the boxes for the genre it sits in a comes out with some pretty great compositions, I’ve really got to mention the killer keyboard talents of David Van Pelt, he is insane. There are a few moments where there seems to be a bit too much going on, but these moments are fleeting and overall it’s a pretty good release.
Written by Alexander Lightfoot