2005-06-24
The Israeli metal scene keeps on supplying us with hidden treasures, after this years release from Betzefer, comes another surprise, in the form of a band doing some serious Doom/Progressive/Death metal, very much in the vein of Opeth.
Though these young guys do not sound as seasoned as Opeth, they do manage to create a worthy, deeply somber record, with quite a lot of merit of its own.
From the opener, Glance Around Departure, the over whole taste of things to come becomes clear, an acoustic passage, followed by a heavy one, with an epic, grandiose feel to it, some excellent clean vocals, followed by a truly stellar growl courtesy of their vocalist, Eliran.
The progressive side is evident in the many rhythm breaks and change of tunes in the passages; they are so diverse in their choice of rhythms that they actually have more riffs then several songs by most other bands.
The piece de résistance here is the title track, more then 11 minutes in length, and containing some of the most ambitious doom/progressive e metal to date, with the acoustic passages accompanied by an hypnotic flute being one of the highlights, and another being the second vocal by Orphaned Land's Kobi Farhi.
Bass-lines are amazing, almost jazz-like, with a whiff of Iron Maiden thrown in on top, the usage of several guitars effects in the quieter parts also contributes to the colorful aroma of the proceedings.
Miles Of Rain is a quite acoustic bit, that really lets their vocalist shine through, carrying off the vocal melody with ease.
Between the Secrets and In The Edge Of The Hour are more of the same doom-laden oppressiveness that the band does so well, again, with the movement from clear, acoustic passages to heavy, rambling metal pieces.
This is certainly not an album to be taken light heartily, and though it sounds under produced at times, most of the time it actually contributes to the stripped-down deel if the affair, a good listen for cold nights, I think these guys are going somewhere, soon.
Alon Miasnikov
