Illusions: Between Truth And Lie is the third album by an energetic metalcore band Haven Denied from Braga (Portugal). The band was born for more than 11 years ago and Illusions is their third full-length record.

Despite of numerous line-up changes, the band sounds very professional and mature. The band has undergone a musical evolution; where the first album (released in 2006) was characterized by keyboard parts, blend of male and female vocals and more of a Rock/Power sound. Nowadays, this Portuguese quintet is known for a bit different approach, sounding much like a hard-hitting Killswitch Engage, Lamp Of God, System of a Down (mostly vocally) and similar modern acts.

Their metalcore has this dirty and thrashy edge to it and it sounds just awesome. The vocal range of their singer Luís Cerqueira is wide - delivering all sorts of vocal variations. The drumming is intense, while the riffing is varied, unfortunately sometimes sounding monotone and repetitive. Furthermore the band makes some strange breaks and pauses that were unexpected on my part. Finally I don’t see the cover image portraying an Islamic monument Mosque having any connection with the lyrical content and therefore seems misplaced.

Despite of the fact that the progress on Illusions is very limited compared to its predecessor I still highly enjoyed these 10 intricate compositions, just because Haven Denied manages to stay stable and one knows what to expect from them. Worth of your attention esp. if you’re a fan of a modern metalcore and bands mentioned above.

Contact: http://www.havendenied.net/ or/and http://facebook.com/havendenied


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