Eden's Fall review on Sea of Tranquility

[batmura]

Hello,

Murat Batmaz from Sea of Tranquility here. I just reviewed your CD at our website and thought you might be interested in taking a look:

http://www.seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=3239

I hope you enjoy the review and it helps spread the word a bit.

Thanks!

NP: Eden's Fall - Harmony of Lies

 

[Eden's Fall]

Thanks Murat!!!

Here is the text version of the review:

Source: http://www.seaoftranquility.org


Eden's Fall: Harmony of Lies

After a lot of hard work, Illinois-based heavy metal band Eden's Fall have released their debut album titled Harmony of Lies. They caught my attention a few months ago when I heard Dan Swano was mixing their album. Later on, it was also announced that another musical genius, James Murphy of Death and Testament fame, did the mastering on the album. Needless to say, my curiousity was piqued. But what's best is, the album lived up to my expectations, as an excellent thrash metal meets darkened US power metal effort.

Most of the songs on Harmony of Lies are highly old-school thrash metal influenced, as traces of Overkill (particularly in the vocals) and Exodus are detected in their songcraft, but there is also a good dose of 90's US metal here. I had to think of Nevermore circa Dreaming Neon Black on "Bleed" and the ambitious album finale "Nothingheart". Starting with dark acoustic guitars that quickly transform into bone-crushing riffs with thrashy drum attacks, the former has great Warrel Dane type of singing by John Barr, who is otherwise more of a Chuck Billy meets Blitz kind of a vocalist. "Nothingheart" also contains some acoustic guitar in its intro but the tune develops into an outstanding piece with soaring guitar harmonies and angry vocals. The shred guitar riffs that open "Blur the Lines", at first, suggest Eden's Fall is one of those self-indulgent acts playing endless leads that segue into other extended interplay. Thankfully, that is the only shredding on the whole album, as Harmony of Lies is mostly mid-tempo thrash metal with classic Iced Earth style power metal elements. When I say Iced Earth, I'm strictly referring to their stuff up to Burning Offerings though. The drumming on "Planet Haste" matches the raw Blitz-gone-mad vocals of Barr, while "Lost Again" is filled with a lot of interesting scales (mostly Egyptian), intricate thrash riffs, and Iced Earth style calm acoustic sections. The drumming on "Chemical Dreams" brings to mind Exodus circa Pleasure of the Flesh. "Liquid Christ" is crunchy power/thrash a la Enertia, another ambitious US band worth checking out, and I really dig the spoken vocals while guitarist Rob Aquino and bass guy Dan Gronowski throw out chunks of headbanging riffs.

A successful debut with a great artwork and sonic quality. Fans of slower thrash metal and dark power need to check Eden's Fall out. They may be pleasantly surprised.

Track Listing

1. Blur the Lines
2. Planet Hate
3. Lost Again
4. Chemical Dreams
5. Bleed
6. Dead Thought Matrix
7. Liquid Christ
8. We Betray
9. Nothingheart

Added: February 5th 2006
Reviewer: Murat Batmaz
Score: 3.5/5

 

[batmura]

The publisher at Sea of Tranquility, Pete Pardo, has also written a review for the album. It's at the same link.

Thanks!

 

[Eden's Fall]

Thanks for another great review.... I knew that there was something that I really liked about the Sea of Tranquility website!

Here is the text version:


Eden's Fall: Harmony of Lies
Posted by Pete Pardo, SoT Staff Writer on 2006-02-08 18:20:28
My Score: 3.5/5

Talk about a throwback to the glory days of 80's American thrash. Eden's Fall's debut Harmony of Lies is a crushing display of speedy, sometimes technical guitar riffs, melodic and intricate solos, piledriving rhythms, and strong lead vocals. Hints of Testament, Exodus, Metallica, Megadeth, Overkill, as well as modern day Iced Earth and Nevermore, will pop into your mind while listening to this kick-ass CD. Mixed and mastered by none other than Dan Swano and James Murphy, Harmony of Lies is a great sounding collection of songs that are intelligent yet brutal.

It's hard not to like the groove and thump of songs like "Planet Hate" and "Chemical Dreams", both ultra heavy thrash numbers but containing plenty of chunky bottom end. The riffs of guitarists Tony Gronowski and Rob Aquino pound most of the time, and they also do a nice job of weaving melodic harmony lead passages around each other, like they do on the enchanting "Bleed", which instantly brings to mind Iron Maiden, In Flames, or Megadeth. Then again, if you like pedal to the metal, head crushing stuff, look no further than "Liquid Christ" or "Dead Through Matrix", both which see singer John Barr spewing plenty of aggressive venom. Barr actually has a perfect voice for this type of material, never really trying to hit too many high notes, staying mainly in a mid-raged shout or growl that doesn't ever dip into the death metal style. Check him out also on the fist pumping "We Betray", a great mosh-fueled metal anthem that sounds like it was ready made for the stage.

Overall, this is a very strong and enjoyable debut from a band that will surely raise a few eyebrows. We could very well be hearing much more from Eden's Fall in the near future, so I'd keep your eyes and ears open.