16. April 2025
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Media Review

De Arma – Strayed In Shadows

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

De Arma - Strayed In Shadows

De Arma - Strayed In Shadows
3.8

Rating

 3.8/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Great and very wide sound
  • Great variety of atmopshere

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Very long tracks have a monotonous touch here and there

Seven songs, but 54 minutes – one stat which illustrates what metal and gothic tracks typically differs from mainstream music. The album with that data is Strayed In Shadows by the band De Arma. I ran into the album – and just felt it is a good one to review on Flyctory.com. Release date is 25th June 2021.

 

De Arma – About The Artist

De Arma is a Swedish Gothic rock band. In fact it is just a duo consisting of Andreas Pettersson (vocals, guitars, bass) and Johan Marklund (keyboard, drums), who founded this project in 2009. Despite they are active since twelve years, Strayed in Shadows is only their second album after the 2013 Lost, Alien & Forlorn.

 

De Arma – Strayed In Shadows – Track by Track

The seven track album lasts 54 minutes.

1. Pain of the Past

If you wonder about how seven tracks could sum up to 54 minutes: the opener Pain of the Past is already 8:05 minutes – and it is just the third longest song of the album. In fact, of course, the song is telling a long story, varying through different styles. The song starts a bit like a Depeche Mode song, but then turns into a very mystical atmosphere. Towards the end of the eight minutes, the song is a nice rocker with a slight alternative touch. Cool.

2. City Vultures

Like Pain of the Past, City Vultures begins with a guitar riff- and vocal-driven part. There is a break and a slow down of the song towards the middle, while drummer, guitarist and singer have an intense time at the end of the song – which is just 6:46 minutes long.

3. Illusions of Love (feat. Maria Oja)

The third song has been released before the album to tease Strayed in Shadows to the De Arma fans. This time, the band is joined by a guest artist, Maria Oja. Oja and Pettersson lead to a nice vocal collaboration. Especially her solo part leads to a lovely atmosphere in the rather slow song.

4. Funeral in My Brain

Especially the beginning of Funeral In My Brain comes with a strong gothic touch. The song has quite a lot of different parts – partially, with rather sudden breaks. This leads to an entertaining listen.

5. Horror in the Dark

The last three songs of the album sum up to some 26 minutes. I struggle a bit with Horror in The Dark. The songs really live from the stories they tell – but songs like this one, which is 8:20 minutes, are just giving me a tough time (in the summer heat…) to concentrate on the song. I definitely feel guilty about that

6. Days of Judgment

Days of Judgment feels to be a bit of slower. It has excellent work in the instrumental parts. Especially the guitar riffs are driving the track nicely. One of my favorites.

7. You Were Blood

The final song of Strayed In Shadows will accompany you for more than ten minutes – if you are a brave person and don’t feel to tempted by any forwarding. The first some five minutes are really powered by smashing lips, before the sound cools down a bit. Lovely plot – and even though it is the longest song on the album, it is the most entertaining one to me.

 

De Arma – Strayed In Shadows – Spotify

Here is Stayed In Shadows on Spotify:

 

De Arma – Strayed In Shadows – My View

Hard to imagine that De Arma are in fact a duo. Their sound is so versatile, using different moods, creating so many different feelings and kinds of atmosphere, just in one song. The super-long songs always come with the risk of being a bit too monotonous and boring. Unfortunately, I have to admit that I had this feeling for some of the tracks – even though the album overall is a nice (but not excellent) listen.

 

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