This was my #6 CD of 2009. Excellent stuff.
6. Eminent - Death of the Pilgrim
This is the third independently released album in my list so far (after Exivious and Heaven Below), and it came out of nowhere for me having never heard of the band before a reading a post on the ProgPower USA message board. I am very thankful for that introduction, as Eminent came on strong for me during the latter part of 2009. I liked the CD more with each listen until I realized it was easily a top 10 release for me. The music on Death of the Pilgrim is best described as a mix of melodic American power metal in the vein of Archetype with some Antithesis in there as well and, to a lesser extent, Into Eternity circa Dead or Dreaming. Yes, there are some gruff vocals on the majority of the tracks, but they are not prominent at all. More metalheads should know about Eminent. If you like any of the bands I mentioned as benchmarks, you should definitely give Death of the Pilgrim a chance.
