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I've been following Canada's Antioch from the very beginning with album number one, and it has been fun watching their growth and progress over the years. They play traditional heavy metal which comfortably fits within the modern scene alongside acts like Traveler, Riot City, Enforcer, Metalian, and the like.

When looking at the band's entire catalogue of releases, it is hard for me not to acknowledge that this release follows along with the band's tendency to always release a stronger album than the last. Antioch VI: Molten Rainbow is quite solid and such an improvement over their previous work because it is so focused on the strengths of the band and their abilities, especially vocalist Nicholas Allaire, whom I believe delivers his strongest performance by far on this record. One of the areas in which I have felt the band improved on greatly over their releases is their ability to edit down tracks that may have run on too long, and on VI: Molten Rainbow I can say that this does not appear to slow them down.

The ballad of the album, "Imps in the Coal," shows Nicholas's low range more. This track may be a bit more polarizing for listeners due to the change of pace and depending on one's preference of vocal styles, as it is different from other tracks. However, I feel it works well, and the track is very dynamic, picking up pace greatly midway through to galloping pace before lowering back into the starting tempo, with a punchy guitar sound and more intense vocal delivery to accompany. "Temple of Black Fire" follows and is a highlight with dynamic writing that has bouncy, heavier riffs meeting with nimble riffs in alternating fashion before greeting listeners with juicy guitar solos. The ending has singer Nicholas at what is possibly the maximum height of his vocal range over a tasty lead riff in a very satisfying finish. "Lucifer in Chains" and "Hold my Heart" both serve more as anthemic numbers, which is a strength of the band's writing style. You will want to shout along with these tracks. My personal favorite track, "The Harvest Tale," is a real treat. A galloping track from the start, met with engaging guitar leads that engage in conversational dialogue with the vocal lines before meeting a contrasting song section which contains more great leads and dynamic vocal delivery. The last minute of the song is packed with flavor and shout-along energy.

I'm very excited for the band with this release being such a strong album. There are plenty of bands out there who can release six albums within ten years, but how many of them can do that while maintaining a steady rate of growth and progression? Antioch V may have had some weak points, but it also presented some excellent qualities which were carried over to Antioch VI: Molten Rainbow. Perhaps my favorite quality of the whole release is that not a single song here would fall flat in a live setting. In fact, the record feels built for a live setting, something I would kill to experience. I say put this album way up there in the top region of the best traditional heavy metal albums of 2023 along with Enforcer and Kerrigan, among a short few other releases.