Ecnephias - Ecnephias

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.