Been a while...

So yeah, has been a while since the last blog post, I will get back to posting them soonish. Sorry for the absence.


Cheers.

Checker's Corner: The Painter's Palette

A new addition to the blog, Checkers is one of my friends who has helped me expand my music library vastly, and without his musical insight I'd never have heard of half the stuff I listen to. I am not responsible to anything he says on here that may offend you. So hope you enjoy his reviews.  ~Soilworker

CHECKERS CORNER:

Italy has always had a prevalent Progressive Rock and Progressive Metal scene, but I think we've found a kicker here. EPHEL DUATH is a band from the boot country that has made itself known in the Avant-Garde community as one of the first bands to seamlessly fuse Jazz and Metal with Progressive stylings, all without being overly pretensious.

Unfortunately, I can't give anyone a line-up on these guys, because they've never stayed constant. Ever. Only one original member is still with the band, and he's currently the only member. However, I'm only reviewing one album.

Following general Prog-band tradition of first names, on THE PAINTER'S PALETTE, Ephel Duath consisted of:

Davide Tolomei doing clean vocals

Davide Tiso on guitar,

Davide Piovesan on drums,

Luciano Lorusso George doing screams and

Fabio Fecchio on bass

But enough small talk, on to the review.

DISCLAIMER: This review is purely opinion, and when I say "Heavy" I'm judging the heaviness by the standards of the album itself, not all metal. You won't find anything to upstage Scar Symmetry here.

An interesting note about this release is all the songs are represented by a name and an abstract color, following the theme of art. I actually find myself referring to the songs by their color more often than the actual title, I'm not sure why.

The Passage (Pearl Grey): 9.6/10

The first on the album, the first song I heard by the band; how great it is. We're introduced to the album with what would seem to be a calm sounding jazz intro, before bursting into a mental breakdown of unknown proportions, wailing trumpets and all. That's probably the most in-depth description of all the songs you'll get in this review though, I can't describe it much more than a great song that any fan of metal, jazz or prog should hear.

The Unpoetic Circle (Bottle Green): 8.5/10

Do you play drums? I don't. But I'm sure anyone who does would fall in love with this from the start if I'm the one being asked. Bottle Green's guitars seem to sound deeper when distorted than that of Pearl Grey, and the vocals much more ethereal. As usual, the backing during clean parts create a nice atmosphere. My favorite parts of the song are from about 2:00 to 2:53, it's a nice little funky section that ends sounding like a track managers play at Wal-Mart. A great song that builds both emotionally and musically, go listen now.

Labyrinthe (Crimson): 9/10

Do you play bass? I do. There's a little solo in the latter part of this song, but I won't be touching on that. You'll have to hear it for yourself. I can't really sum this one up accurately, it speaks for itself I think, but one section (The breakdown..?) is very nice. The song builds until a little freeform session before transitioning to a meditative riff that sounds like something I'd expect hearing in the halls of a fancy library that used to be a cathedral. It's at 2:50.

Praha (Ancient Gold): 7.9/10

THE TRUMPET RETURNS!! This peice (is what all true warriors strive for) isn't really a metal tune, or something you'd expect that punk who sits next to you in Geometry to have blasting from his earbuds-OH WAIT IT'S GONNA GET-Nope, it's still quiet. But if you're listening to Jazz-metal, you're probably more classy than that kid anyway. He's probably listening to Bullet for my Valentine. Uh...Enough of that little flame war (and appologies to BFMV fans.) The song does pick up, but I can't give you a specific time. It's almost always intense, but only heavy at some parts. It's like watching a suspenseful movie, the calm parts are probably more hardcore than the actively nerve-wracking ones yet you still know what's going to happen, just not where or when.

The Picture (Bordeaux): 8.4/10
INTRO IS LOVE. Here we are, this nice synth, sounds like we're gonna get thrown into something like Deathbox by Mnemic. But what do we get? MORE JAZZ!! YEAH!!!...To be fair thought, it's heavy enough. The Picture's heavier parts are more groovy than other tracks, which is always a bonus; there's more speedy, thrashy-type riffs and that ethereal presence is brought back for us, with some bass slapping and a lot of reverb. When the synth is present, it's the most unique selection from the album, areas lacking the keyboards are a bit...Lacking.

Ruins (Deep Blue and Violet): 8.9/10

The only title with more than one color. Good news for death metal fans, this is where you're immediately submersed in the heaviness these crazy Italians had to offer in '03. Clanky cymbals, spastic (Yet audible) bass, droning screams and all. Hard do describe, find the song on YouTube and have a listen.

Ironical Communication (Amber): 9/10

The Jazz is back, so are the synths...AND THE TRUMPET :D. Then heavy, lotta heavy. D:. So far, I'd say this is the heaviest on here. and even harder to tell about than Deep Blue and Violet up there...huh. It changes around enough and keeps moving to as many places as it needs to to keep things interesing, and not being annoying. Funny ending too.

My Glassy Shelter (Dirty White): 8.3/10

Heavy. Then not heavy. Then ascends to heavy. Yeah. The bass at some parts reminds me a bit of music from Sonic the Hedgehog, and the prog part of The Blacklight Machine by Frost*. Very nice clean vocal bounces, proggy bass supports, dissonant and doomy guitars where needed.

The Other's Touch (Amaranth): 9.1/10

I came.

OVERALL: 9.4; Excellent

This is the only album I've heard of these guys in its entirety, and I gotta tell you it's a treat. I wouldn't say it has universal appeal, it certainly doesn't. It's possible the 3 people who read this won't like any of these songs, but anyone who is already knowledgeable in the styles encompassed (and open-minded enough to receive it) should love it.

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The scores I give these songs will go UP over time, the more I listen to them the more I'll notice and start to enjoy them more. This is what I give them at current time.

            -Шашки (Checkers)