Album Review: Byzantine - "Harbingers"

Cutting to the chase, there’s a sentiment surrounding this Byzantine album that seems to be a common trend across the metal spectrum in 2025.  The listener may find themselves wishing this was just a little bit more.

Byzantine has been toiling for nearly twenty-five years now, having at one time been discovered by Lamb of God’s Chris Adler.  They’ve added a fifth member for this, their seventh album, “Harbingers,” and the band returns with their usual flavor of strong melodic metal that intersperses with singalong choruses and just a touch, just a touch, or prog at the edges.

We’re going to start halfway down the album with “The Clockmaker’s Intention.”  This is the perfect example of both everything that’s right and everything that’s wrong with “Harbingers.”  There’s a big, chunky, Candlemass riff that sets a great scene, and this get juxtaposed with the clear, airy guitar of the chorus, creating a rather enjoyable duality…but that’s it.  The song spends nearly six minutes going back and forth between those two things, but never adventures farther, and in the end the riffs and the chorus wear out their novelty.

Two songs down, “Harbinger” brings it with this really cool outro riff/solo combination, and for ninety seconds, the skill and musicianship of Byzantine shows in a tangible, impressive way. [Editor’s note: “Harbinger” is not technically a title track.  The album is plural, the song singular.  I had to check ten times to make sure I wasn’t going crazy.]  But that last ninety seconds doesn’t extend to the rest of the song, which is fine, but is a totally boilerplate modern metal song.

Same goes for the last three songs on the record, “The Unobtainable Sleep,” “Kobayashi Maru,” and “Irene.”  That last is particularly notable, as the middle section of it breaks into this proto-Ghost breakdown, with ethereal vocals and a heavy, undercutting riff, but again, the same issue - before too long, we’re back to basics.

“Harbingers” is a frustrating record because there are these little moments of brilliance tucked away within, but they don’t stack on each other or build together into something more cohesive and enjoyable from beat to beat.  The talent is there, Byzantine shows that without issue or hesitation, but in the end, six or ten compelling minutes of music on a forty-five minute record does not for necessary listening make.