This is a two-song, eight minute single. And within those eight minutes, Sarah Halter crams more ideas than most bands manage in an album. The simple way to describe this would be Fear Factory with Yngqie Malmsteen on guitar and non-affected singing to go with a fairly traditional modern metal approach. But that would also be missing just about everything.

Sarah Halter A Clockwork Destiny single (self-released)

Halter sings in both melodic and black metal styles. I can't imagine that she is able to shift between the two as seamlessly as these songs might have us believe, but considering the technical brilliance of the music (she plays everything except drums), who knows?

There's nothing particularly new about Halter's writing or arranging, but both are extremely sharp. Largely drawing from symphonic and black metal palettes, she has crafted these songs exquisitely, and both are among the best songs of any genre I've heard this year.

I don't usually review singles because they rarely say enough on their own. In my thirty years of A&A, maybe four or five rise to the level of Sarah Halter's effort. Truly breathtaking.

Jon Worley