The Halo Effect

Nattradio – The Longest Night Review

By Andy-War-Hall on December 9, 2025 in Reviews, Ambient, Doom Metal, Gothic Metal, 10 comments

“It doesn’t seem to take long for the “wee hours” of the night to kick in these winter days. With them comes a very specific, almost hypnotic sadness that anyone who sleep has forsaken knows well. That tag-team of coldness and isolation brought on by the night just can’t be beat sometimes. Swedish goth/doom duo Nattradio know this sensation intimately, as their new album The Longest Night was written and shaped exclusively in the latest hours of the night. Injecting their Katatonia-inspired Gothic doom with elements of ambient music and noir jazz, Nattradio crafted their sophomore record to reflect the somberness of wakeful late nights, framing its ideal listening time in those hours.” Music for a midnight dreary.

Record(s) o’ the Month – January 2025

By Angry Metal Guy on March 8, 2025 in Blog Posts, Record o' the Month, 130 comments

The tradition at Angry Metal Guy has been the strong start to the year where, like so many people with New Year’s Resolutions, you stick with ’em for a while, and then they taper off, sliding later and later as the year goes on. But this year, even the dopamine kick of listing everything in some kind of ranking order and getting lots of positive feedback from readers didn’t help me shake my funk. Yet, I have dragged myself out of funk in order to make a minimal effort for the greater good. APPRECIATE ME!

The Halo Effect – March of the Unheard Review

By Steel Druhm on January 9, 2025 in Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, 95 comments

“It seems like only yesterday I was writing about a supergroup helmed by Mikael Stanne of Dark Tranquillity fame. That’s because I just covered Cemetery Skyline, his Goth rock project that dropped the very successful Nordic Gothic release late last year. Now in the blink of a Mind’s I, he’s back with the sophomore outing from The Halo Effect. This star-studded collective features various past members of In Flames. It’s essentially a salute to the early days of the Gothenburg sound, with an approach that conjures nostalgia of the glory days of both Dark Tranquillity and In Flames equally.” Perish in the flaming tranquillity!

In Flames – Foregone Review

By Angry Metal Guy on February 7, 2023 in Reviews, Eurocore, Melodic Death Metal, 201 comments

If you had told me three weeks ago that we were going to get a new In Flames record I would have asked you “Who cares?” But after listening to Foregone for a few weeks, they’ve got my attention.

The Halo Effect – Days of the Lost Review

By Steel Druhm on August 17, 2022 in Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, 106 comments

“Longtime readers of the AMG Diaries will know my opinions regarding so-called “supergroups.” All too often these star-studded vanity vehicles promise much and deliver little, generally falling way short of anything truly super. With this jaded but entirely realistic worldview, I approached the debut from The Halo Effect, the project composed of Dark Tranquillity’s Mikael Stanne and four former members of In Flames. That lineup makes The Halo Effect a supergroup for Swedish melodeth purposes if nothing else, and on Days of the Lost, they largely stick to what they know best, dropping an album’s worth of material that sits roughly halfway between the members’ main acts.” Heroes and halos.