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Heathen Foray formed from the ashes of various small time bands in 2005, and after multiple lineup changes, they've finally solidified their group enabling them to release their debut album in the form of The Passage.

I don't know what it is about this album, but even with a 4 page bio sheet (which even includes a detailed track by track breakdown), I just don't have much to say about their music at all. With all the professionalism, tightness and impressive musicianship, there's just not much in the way of substance to back it up. There are a lot of folksy sounding riffs to be heard throughout the album, albeit minus any notable usage of actual folk instruments - in fact, if it weren't for the gaiety of some of the riffage it'd be a lot easier to classify this as Melodic Death Metal. The biggest downfall is the fact that there's quite a gap in quality between songs (with opener "Fading Tree" being the best on offer, and mid-album feltch monsters like "Ancient Secrets" being total bore-fests).

Unfortunately, The Passage doesn't do it for me at all. With all its constant galloping riffs and melodic hooks, you'd expect it to at leave some sort of a mark on your memory. But no, it mainly passes you by without even so much as a tickle of enthusiasm. Thus, even the great artwork can't make up for the generic musical toil that awaits the unsuspecting listener encased in the CDs plastic shell. Walk on by!