""Threnody" by Swedish industrial act Engel strikes me as being more in the vein of melodic metalcore than industrial metal, although the electronic elements are still present.
There is plenty of melody here, and a bit of pop sensibility, too, without ever reaching the absurd levels of sticky, icky pop decadence of the likes of Dead By April. Engel are able to combine simple, but very melodic and catchy choruses with groovy and ripping guitar riffs, which ensures that there still is a lot of metal spirit to their music - despite the perhaps banal lyrics about heartache and unfulfilled love (then again, these topics are as good lyrical topics as any other).
Also, Engel are quite eclectic drawing on various types of heavy metal (I especially like the classic metal oriented riffs in many of their songs).
This album should appeal to fans of Ranchy, Mnemic and the like (although one is tempted to declare Engel better than both), fans of Dead By April and Sonic Syndicate might also like Engel, but be warned - Engel actually kick ass!
(review originally posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"
