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Ephel Duath "The Painter's Palette" CD
9/10 - [Elitist]
Hot motherfucking damn! This former duo from Italy is back with a new
(and thankfully complete) lineup and an entirely new sound that is leaps and
bounds ahead of their previous work, in my opinion completely erasing
everything they've done to date while solidifying them as one of the most
talented and creative bands out there right now. And to think, I almost
never listened to this record because their last album bored me so I didn't
care that they had something new out. Don't make that mistake! I don't care
if you hated their last record and thought it was the worst thing you've
ever heard - this is better, so much better in fact that I would state
without question that this is one of the best records I've heard all year.
Forget the quirky electronic-tinged black metal crap that they were plying
before: This is obscenely technical and creative progressive metal with a
massive dose of jazz and some of the best musicianship I've heard in ages!
The drumming is absolutely incredible, completely fluid and flawless, flashy
when it needs to be, laidback when the other instruments come to the front.
The guitar parts are complexly arranged so that multiple lines weave
together to form the whole, with intricate bass runs flying away just
underneath. And the vocalists unleash a blend of aggressive
screaming/shouting or beautiful singing, depending on the tone of the music.
(Sadly the singing vocalist has already quit the band, which is a damn
shame, but hopefully they'll find a suitable replacement.) Seriously, this
is just incredible, mind-blowing work. From smooth jazz breaks with funky
slap bass runs to wild time signatures and changes, to billowing solos or
distorted rhythms with plenty of tasteful dissonance and melody, everything
displayed on this record is interesting to me. I think the recording is
excellent as well, with lots of little nuances in the mix to keep things
fresh and interesting. It's a very dry and natural set of tones, not to
mention clear. There's a nice bass presence, superb panning, excellent
interaction between layers of different guitar parts working together, and
some additional electronic textures and trumpet are employed on occasion to
add extra experimentation to their already diverse bag of tricks. I might
mix the aggressive vocals a bit lower and give the bass more of a constant
presence, but these are minor possibilities. Nothing sounds too far off the
mark. There's also CD-Rom content that includes a photo gallery, lyrics,
pre-production audio of "Ruins" (though highly compressed), notes about the
new direction of the band, and a video - which is sadly from a track on
their last record, and therefore of basically zero interest to me,
especially considering the sheer brilliance of this record by comparison.
The layout is all in black and white, tastefully repeating similar paintings
that seem like abstract references to internal organs or something of that
nature. There are some individual band photos in the center spread, and all
of the cryptic lyrics are included: "Conceal this fool architecture from my
(singing) conviction. Blind my cyclopean, trifling dreads, and dethrone the
useless days from my infested eyes. Irony, my care." The lyrics often
reference painting or painting techniques, which is fitting as each track
title is also given a representative color (pearl grey, ancient gold, amber,
etc.) suggestive of its musical properties. Even though some of "the new"
Ephel Duath's riffing brings to mind a couple of other bands at times, I
absolutely refuse to compare what they're doing to any other musicians,
because I feel that this is a truly original effort and I would insist that
should the very notion of such music interest you in the least you should
acquire this CD immediately. All it took was the first 30 seconds of the
first track to hook me, and I ordered the CD literally within minutes of
checking out some samples. As much a jazz record as it is a metal record,
"The Painter's Palette" is the first release with which the Elitist label is
finally starting to live up to its name. Get this now. My words simply
cannot do the music justice.
Running time - 46:27, Tracks: 9
[Notable tracks: The Passage (Pearl Grey), Labyrinthine (Crimson), Ruins
(Deep Blue and Violet), My Glass Shelter (Dirty White), and all of the
others.]
Ephel Duath - http://www.ephelduath.net
Ephel Duath "The Painter's Palette" CD
9/10 - [Elitist]
Hot motherfucking damn! This former duo from Italy is back with a new
(and thankfully complete) lineup and an entirely new sound that is leaps and
bounds ahead of their previous work, in my opinion completely erasing
everything they've done to date while solidifying them as one of the most
talented and creative bands out there right now. And to think, I almost
never listened to this record because their last album bored me so I didn't
care that they had something new out. Don't make that mistake! I don't care
if you hated their last record and thought it was the worst thing you've
ever heard - this is better, so much better in fact that I would state
without question that this is one of the best records I've heard all year.
Forget the quirky electronic-tinged black metal crap that they were plying
before: This is obscenely technical and creative progressive metal with a
massive dose of jazz and some of the best musicianship I've heard in ages!
The drumming is absolutely incredible, completely fluid and flawless, flashy
when it needs to be, laidback when the other instruments come to the front.
The guitar parts are complexly arranged so that multiple lines weave
together to form the whole, with intricate bass runs flying away just
underneath. And the vocalists unleash a blend of aggressive
screaming/shouting or beautiful singing, depending on the tone of the music.
(Sadly the singing vocalist has already quit the band, which is a damn
shame, but hopefully they'll find a suitable replacement.) Seriously, this
is just incredible, mind-blowing work. From smooth jazz breaks with funky
slap bass runs to wild time signatures and changes, to billowing solos or
distorted rhythms with plenty of tasteful dissonance and melody, everything
displayed on this record is interesting to me. I think the recording is
excellent as well, with lots of little nuances in the mix to keep things
fresh and interesting. It's a very dry and natural set of tones, not to
mention clear. There's a nice bass presence, superb panning, excellent
interaction between layers of different guitar parts working together, and
some additional electronic textures and trumpet are employed on occasion to
add extra experimentation to their already diverse bag of tricks. I might
mix the aggressive vocals a bit lower and give the bass more of a constant
presence, but these are minor possibilities. Nothing sounds too far off the
mark. There's also CD-Rom content that includes a photo gallery, lyrics,
pre-production audio of "Ruins" (though highly compressed), notes about the
new direction of the band, and a video - which is sadly from a track on
their last record, and therefore of basically zero interest to me,
especially considering the sheer brilliance of this record by comparison.
The layout is all in black and white, tastefully repeating similar paintings
that seem like abstract references to internal organs or something of that
nature. There are some individual band photos in the center spread, and all
of the cryptic lyrics are included: "Conceal this fool architecture from my
(singing) conviction. Blind my cyclopean, trifling dreads, and dethrone the
useless days from my infested eyes. Irony, my care." The lyrics often
reference painting or painting techniques, which is fitting as each track
title is also given a representative color (pearl grey, ancient gold, amber,
etc.) suggestive of its musical properties. Even though some of "the new"
Ephel Duath's riffing brings to mind a couple of other bands at times, I
absolutely refuse to compare what they're doing to any other musicians,
because I feel that this is a truly original effort and I would insist that
should the very notion of such music interest you in the least you should
acquire this CD immediately. All it took was the first 30 seconds of the
first track to hook me, and I ordered the CD literally within minutes of
checking out some samples. As much a jazz record as it is a metal record,
"The Painter's Palette" is the first release with which the Elitist label is
finally starting to live up to its name. Get this now. My words simply
cannot do the music justice.
Running time - 46:27, Tracks: 9
[Notable tracks: The Passage (Pearl Grey), Labyrinthine (Crimson), Ruins
(Deep Blue and Violet), My Glass Shelter (Dirty White), and all of the
others.]
Ephel Duath - http://www.ephelduath.net
