ECHOES OF EDENSONG

Two years after their well received debut, which was largely a recording effort by James Byron Schoen with help of some guest musicians, Edensong is a full blown band again. Again, because they were a band under the name Echoes of Eden in the late '90s. That band was a trio, consisting of Schoen, Anthony Waldman and Benjamin Wigler. After a reunion on stage during 3RP in 2009, Waldman became the permanent drummer for Edensong, and an old Echoes of Eden track, Beneath the Tide was re-arranged and re-recorded by Edensong. The track is indeed a nice piece of progressive metal, in the vein of some of the tracks of The Fruit Fallen but with more metal influences, consisting of interleaving metal riff driven parts and more melodic (acoustic?) guitar parts. Toward the end, the metal riffs disappear for a while, in favour of a melodic piece that is carried by guitar and keyboards akin in sound to older Genesis material, with Barry Seroff's flute appearing as a nice contrast to the closing riff. The second track, Lorelai is a ballad, played on acoustic guitar and sung nicely. It might have fit better on a full concept album, now it gets a bit lost amongst the heavier tracks. It's a song with a good cause though, it was written to support the fundraising and support for victims of the Haitian earthquake in January 2010. After Lorelai, it's back to the more metal akin side of Edensong, with the complex, multi layered To See but not Believe. The potential of guitar, keyboard, vocals and the availability of flute is put to good use here. Here I have to mention that Mike Lunapiena is the cello player for Edensong, but it takes a while to spot his sound when listening to the album the first couple of times. After the three new tracks, we find well played live renditions of Beneath the Tide and the tracks Reunion and The Sixth Day from the band's debut. These three allow those who haven't seen the band live to enjoy the sounds of different line ups and additional guest musicians. It's good to know that the band can deliver on the promise of the debut album in a live show, and as with The Fruit Fallen, I keep waiting for the day the band does make the trip across the Atlantic. If not, I can only hope my vacation in Canada goes through next year and Edensong plays close to where I am then. As far as judgement of this album goes, it's nice to know the band is still there, and that new things are underway, but overall I think The Fruit Fallen will get more playing time than this one.

The US outfit EDENSONG started out as a band back in 2002, but by 2006 it had become the creative vehicle for musician and composer James Byron Schoen. Following the release of Edensong's debut effort "The Fruit Fallen", the band was back in action, however, and while crafting a new album's worth of material, they decided to provide their fans with a tidbit in 2010. Cue "Echoes of Edensong", sporting 15 minutes of new material, an official release for the hidden bonus track on their first CD and three live recordings, clocking it at just under an hour in length.

While I can't really see this hybrid album recruiting many new fans for Edensong, their existing fans will most likely find this production to be a nice acquisition while waiting for a sophomore effort. The live takes of their previous material are arguably the main points of interest, but ardent fans might want to get this due to the previously unreleased material anyhow.