What is metal? A compilation of heavy sounding music styles… does anyone even realize how vague that is? It’s like saying that my hometown of Tegelen is somewhere on this bloody planet. Thing is, Florida’s Seven Kingdoms is a metal band whose music style is indefinable. That their first full-length Brothers of the Night is indefinable yet still metal, is proof of the versatility of this American band. What do you think it sounds like, then? Well…

Even though not many people will recognize the name Camden Cruz, this young bloke from the US is quite the guitar player. He draws his influences out of all regions of the metal genre, which is hard to imagine, yet becomes clear when you’ve heard a few songs. Strums are rhythmic and speedy, melodies are recognizable and the faster songs are just plain kick-ass. There’s death and black metal, mainly recognized through the usage of guttural and mid-ranged distorted vocals. Then we have thrashy parts, mainly incorporated in the battering drums which sound tight, yet a little too straight-to-the-point sometimes. Brothers of the Night also features plain, clean vocals that could use a little more daring versatility and power.
The choir parts sound epic, but the fast guitar leads and solos that are subtly woven through these parts of the tracks took some time to grow on me. It’s ‘a whole lotta metal’ to digest at once, and there will be certain aspects that could initially sound a little out of place, like the clean vocals.

The production was good, yet the cymbals and hi-hat of the drums – as the clean vocal parts - could have used a little more fine-tuning. No problem though, because the talent of this band is rapidly growing beyond the borders of this album, as the versatility of the tracks already shows. It’s only a matter of time until Nuclear Blast decides to turn this young band into a fully grown metal act.