Aspirations & Reality is the second album from Arkadia, following on from 2014’s Unrelenting, and it’s a solid release that builds on the foundations laid by their debut. Aspirations & Reality is a powerful and substantial album, and although there’s nothing about the music that really sets the band apart from the crowd, that’s not to say that Arkadia haven’t delivered here because this is an album jam-packed with nine hard-hitting tracks that will get your head banging and your fist pumping.
There’s a lot of momentum behind the delivery on Aspirations & Reality, both from the instrumentation and vocals alike, and the way Arkadia power from one track to the next is truly something to behold – it’s great to witness so much energy on an album!
Highlights of the piece include the nigh-on frenetic piece The Luring Madness, which is certainly an apt title for the fast-paced track, and later track Spitting Image makes good use of keys/synths to add a great element of melody to the song, whilst still featuring a deliciously heavy wall of guitars for the most part.
Aspirations & Reality is a good album. It’s admittedly nothing new when you compare it to all the other metal bands out there, but it’s a decent enough listen and proves that Arkadia is certainly a force to be reckoned with.
7/10
