This is an introduction for me of one of the most intense and surprising Metal bands to come out of Italy in Potenza which is located in the Southern region of Basilicata that formed in 1996 and the group is called Ecnephias. And from the moment I’ve listened to their self-titled fifth album, it took me by surprise of the sounds of Melodic, Death, Doom, and Gothic Metal like something that made me jump out of my chair for the first time listening to the album from start to finish.
Again, this is my first time
listening to the band’s music and if you are ready to embark on the three
genres, it’s going to be a ride you will never forget. The opening track, Here
Comes the Chaos is an ascending
guitar introduction between the riffs and solo to get you going for what’s
about to come as it segues into the terrifying The Firewalker.
It is a growling and intense
beat as Mancan goes into the vocal area of the roaring and clean touches on who
is terrorizing our dreams and the truths it will discover. Field of Flowers has a slowed down rhythm that the beats per minute
goes from 109 to 124 as the compositions has a melancholic background thanks to
the vocalizations. Sicarius brings in a moody keyboard part in to go into a
darker atmosphere.
Mancan really carries those
vocals into those two directions both of the evil and calming moments and when
he sings the melody between him and the guitar on Born to Kill and Suffer, it’s almost a perfect harmonization in the
midsection. There is also a mourning atmosphere on the Organ sound that
something terrible had happened underneath the sewers as if they are ready to
attack while the lead guitar comes in with a powerful crunch to close the piece
off.
On Chimera, it begins with an ascending guitar solo introduction
followed by a pumping drum section in the rhythm as Sicarius goes into a darker
cavernous place of living inside of the underground world. His solo gives him a
chance to come in front as the band lets him go into a heavier and clean moment
while on The Criminal, he shines
through the melodic touches with the major and minor feels as Nikko’s solo goes
into town.
As I’ve mentioned before in
the introduction, Ecenephias have
some of the melodic ideas in their compositions, which is alongside the genre
of Death, Doom, and Gothic sound in there. The song, Tonight has this melodic section featuring a clean guitar sound
between the lead solo and the rhythm helping out between Nikko and Mancan.
Lord of the Stars has this spoken word between both in English and Italian that has an
elegiac vibe in a dystopian touch with an immense rhythm from the guitar riffs
while Wind of Doom and Nyctophilia has this scenery that this
picture of you driving into this ghost town with no one there and you could
almost feel this pin drop at any second. But this gives Miguel a chance to come
in front also as he and Sicarius share a thumping beat between the Bass and
Keyboards for 30 seconds and I just wish there was more for them in about a few
minutes.
Nia Nia Nia
has this introduction with a gentle acoustic lukewarmth sound and there is this
twist of a Metal Waltz of a ballad. Also Sicarius does something wonderful on
his keyboard in which he makes it sound like a string quartet in the midsection
as the guitar solo helps out before it goes into finale from the Grand Piano
and the Guitar that gives it a haunting atmosphere.
Vipra Negra, shows the band going into the darkness of a woman's soul and the left hand path. The piece is hypnotic and also, an alarming
sinister composition that features both in English and Italian lyrics.It has this
pumping harmonizing sound in the melody that can be alarming in the different
sections and ominous in the midsection as well. During those parts of the melody, you could tell that the woman is pulling the final
trick up her sleeve for the person to fall into her trap as the last few
minutes between Demil’s rapid drumming and Nikko giving it the final trapping. And it’s intense to see what happens next.
The closing track Satiriasi, is very much an ‘80s
electronic avant-garde horror-like score of the dystopian future as if they
were doing for the movie of The Terminator and not to mention the gothic piano
piece for a brief second. I’ll be perfectly honest Ecenephias music is not easy
to get into. But after listening about two to three times of their fifth album,
its interesting and very good to go into those areas of the Metal genre and I’ve
enjoyed it so far.
Now, if you are ready to embark into the world of Ecenephias music, be prepare to buckle up because the ride is going to be a terrifying and melodic adventure you will be at first hard to listen to, but also, experience the sound as well.
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