Blood Dynasty is neither a reinvention nor a return to form - it’s something far more rare: an impeccably professional, laser-precise refinement of a sound forged over 30 years of melodic death metal. The current lineup is a unit made up of elite professionals, each a master of their craft, capable of delivering 10-out-of-10 technique on demand. Alissa White-Gluz, as ever, is a force of nature. Her scream is among the most technically impressive in metal, male or female, due to the sheer pitch control she brings to what is normally a blunt instrument. They may be dealing in well-worn tropes - galloping rhythms, harmonised twin guitar leads, theatrical breakdowns - but the band uses them as foundational architecture for a story being told at immense scale.

The opener Dreamstealer sets the tone with a feral snarl, while elsewhere Alissa’s phrasing brings out the theatricality buried in the band’s DNA, animating the lyrics like she’s performing on a cathedral stage. For all its thunderous drumming and galloping tempos, Blood Dynasty often feels like a rock opera in the true sense: grand, symphonic, melodic metal performed with operatic flair, at times transcending the boundaries of metal entirely, reaching the kind of scale usually reserved for grand theatrical productions. The melodies soar, and the emotional crescendos feel designed for spotlights and smoke machines. This is metal of extreme scale - not just in volume or technicality, but in compositional ambition.

The band itself may be five members, but the sound they produce has the force of an orchestra. It’s a masterclass in making a band sound like an army.

March of the Miscreants is one of the best examples of how Arch Enemy handle dynamic shifts. By moving into a totally different groove mid-track, the final chorus hits like a truck, blown wide open by the journey you’ve been taken on. Many of the songs are structured in multiple movements, stories told in chapters, with deeply satisfying tempo changes. The title track arrives with real ceremony, heralded by the 47-second instrumental Presage before dropping one of the most instantly classic metal riffs in recent memory. Just six notes, landing with such melodramatic grandeur you can already hear the roar of an arena crowd. It’s not cliché - it’s vocabulary, deployed fluently. After a stretch of rapid-fire, double-kick intensity, this one moves with the ominous, thunderous pace of a marching army. Every track on this album conjures a different kind of battle - some lightning-fast and chaotic, others slow, majestic, and crushingly heavy.

Guitarist Joey Concepcion’s first album with the band is a triumph, effortlessly shredding all over the record. Blood Dynasty is triumphant, defiant, and bold. The gallops, breakdowns, and sudden changes in tempo all evoke battlefield grandeur, surging like a tide of swords, and it never drags or lapses into self-indulgence. When it comes to delivering colossal, melodic, hook-filled metal that will slay on any main stage - this is elite tier.