Shield of Wings - neosymphonic Chicago band returns with lush, elegant heaviness

Shield Of Wings

Unfinished

Elderpath Records

11 February 2022

According to Metal Archives, Shield of Wings made an EP in 2011 and then there was studio silence for ten years. Of course, to us on the outside, it looks like ten years of silence, but once a person hears the album it would be entirely reasonable to assume that there has been years of work going on behind the scenes. For example, only James Gregor (guitar and orchestrations) and Patrick Eulitz (drums) remain from 2005 from when they launched this entity in the Chicagoland area. Can you imagine all the thankless work that has gone into building, and then after things fall apart, rebuilding? Then there is another problem: There may be written a bunch of good songs, but it’s necessary to find the right personnel to make the music come to life. Since 2020-2021, says Metal Archives, Pat and James have found the people they needed: Aliyah Daye (support and harsh vocals, and keys), Alex Luke (bass), and Lara Mordian (lead vocals). Credit to the band for getting all pieces together and giving Shield of Wings another life in another time.

The album is something along the lines of contemporary neosymphonic with elements of extreme metal. It is mostly melodic, lush elegance, but they may throw in some growls and have some more pronounced moments of intensity, when the drumming and guitars launch into more intense speed. There is a component of movie soundtrack, the type that these musicians imagine when they watch the Lord of the Rings or Gladiator and other movies like that. Naturally, they do not have the resources to hire the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, so they do it with computers, software, applications, keyboards and whatever else they can get their hands on to simulate an orchestra. In my opinion, the album shows a serious effort in the songwriting. While it is expected that some songs may seem catchier, depending on the day that one is listening or on one’s mood, I do not get the sense that the album features a bunch of lower-quality filler pieces, but rather a consistent work with individual pieces that can stand on their own if heard by themselves. Readers may like to know that the singing is not operatic, not super high singing. The main singing voice is a pleasant, melodic midrange female voice, sometimes going a bit lower or rising in a noticeable but not irritating manner. The listener gets the feeling of good singing. There are background voices in some places, for that sense of grandiosity, and there is some growling in small doses. If a listener doesn’t like growling in this type of elegant heaviness, they may find the limited quantities of it to be to their satisfaction.

Unfinished by Shield of Wings

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