What I look for in melodic death metal is two very specific things: creativity in melody and riff writing, and rhythmic intricacies. Scandinavian melodic death metal tends to follow certain predictable tropes, all of which we've all heard before, so for current releases I look to evolutions in the areas that ought to be evolved for how I judge the contemporary melodic death metal scene. With that in mind, it's with a heavy heart that I reveal that March of the Unheart has none of that - at least, not really. The Halo Effect very much continue to be an homage to early 2000's melodeath, and I love them for that, but for the intrepid new melodic death metal fan, it's not providing any new experiences. It's a good, solid album that is enjoyable throughout it's 44-minute runtime, and one any metal fan likely won't regret.