EPHEL DUATH

This is a masterpiece for me, although maybe not for many others. The songs are completely obtuse and angular, seeming to mash up a combination of Henry Cow, King Crimson and jazz guitarist Ben Monder's work, yet somehow is still Metal. This is definitely not catching in any sort of conventional sense, but repeated listening will allow the material to sink its spectral claws into your gray matter. For a long time now, Metal has found away to break the chains of its self-imposed conventions. While most bands are still reliant on crushing guitars, screaming vocals and pounding drums, groups like Ephel Duath, Ulver and others prove sometimes it's more a matter of intensity than the standard cliches. I love Metal in all it's forms, but this album is definitely one of my all time favorites.

Not jazz, not metal, but both: 9/10

EPHEL DUATH (name probably inspired by Lord of the Rings' eponymous mountain range) has for a long time been mostly a duo that made blackish experimental metal. It's rather surprising to find out that in the band's second release, THE PAINTER'S PALETTE, not only they feature many more members, but they're also distinctively different from everything they've done thus far.

An exquisite mixture of SiktH-inspired mathcore moments and jazzy interludes with delicate solos accompanied by spectacular drumming, there's little to say about this other than "wow, I wasn't expecting that to work out alright", followed by some well-deserved headbanging. And boy it does! It does, because EPHEL DUATH's members are all accomplished musicians able to output some quality stuff from both sides of the spectre (metal and jazz). Now, to claim they've "amalgamed" aforementioned genres would be an overstatement and pretty much a blatant lie. The mathcore moments are starkly separated from the fusion interludes. What makes this work out alright, along with the quality of their work, is how they're able to smoothly transition from one moment to another.

And what's there to say about the drummer? Get ready to listen to some of metal (and jazz!)'s finest patterns and catchiest rhythms. He's not super technical and fancy nor crude and straightforward, he's -as I see it - a damn fine jazz drummer who was called to this weird metal band to do what he does best, jazz-drum.

Absolutely recommended for experimental/avant-garde/different metal fans, or for people who're CRAVING for some of that mythical "jazz metal" - so loudly spoken about but so hardly witnessed.

"Hemmed By Light, Shaped By Darkness" is the 6th full-length studio album by Italian (US based) avant garde metal act Ephel Duath. The album was released through Agonia Records in November 2013. It´s been a couple of years since the release of "Through My Dog's Eyes (2009)", but mainman behind Ephel Duath, Davide Tiso have kept himself busy with his solo project Manuscripts Don't Burn and the "The Breathing House (2010)" EP and with the "On Death and Cosmos (2012)" EP released under the Ephel Duath monicker. "Hemmed By Light, Shaped By Darkness" features the same lineup that recorded the latter mentioned. Karyn Crisis (vocals), Davide Tiso (guitars), Bryan Beller (bass), Marco Minnemann (drums).

Stylistically the music on the album also more or less continues down the same path as the music on the "On Death and Cosmos (2012)" EP. Quirky, dissonant, aggressive and progressive extreme metal, that´s very hard to describe correctly. Ephel Duath have always been a pretty unique sounding act, even though they´ve changed their sound quite a bit over the years. While some artists mellow and become more accessible over the course of their career, it´s like the exact opposite has happened with Ephel Duath, who since their early black metal beginnings have become more and more odd with each new release. Always challenging conventions and pushing boundaries.

"Hemmed By Light, Shaped By Darkness" is no exception and it´s overall an extremely challenging release. The music doesn´t feature many memorable hooks and the almost constant use of dissonance can be a bit hard on the ears. The musicianship are on a high level on all places. Personally I have a hard time appreciating Karyn Crisis raw, toneless and rather strained vocal delivery, but I´m sure it´s a case of aquired taste and she is as such not a bad vocalist. Maybe it´s simply the quality of the material, that´s making her performance stand out in a negative light. The word toneless actually describes the music pretty well and even when Karyn Crisis attempts to include a couple of memorable hooklines (like she does in "Tracing the Path of Blood") it all sounds more or less the same. And that is THE major issue with "Hemmed By Light, Shaped By Darkness". It might be professionally produced and powerful sounding and very well performed (the instrumental performances are outstanding), but it´s just not that memorable. Sometimes to a point where I don´t notice when one track ends and another begins.

So my criticism is a bit harsh this time around, but sometimes "Hemmed By Light, Shaped By Darkness" feels too much like art for art´s sake. An introvert release, that isn´t necessarily meant for the ears of an audience. In some ways it´s an intriguing experiment, but it´s simply too one-dimensional to be entertaining throughout the full playing time of an album. A 3 star (60%) rating isn´t all wrong.

I strongly recommend this to people who like a certain music that is the following: avant-garde, extreme metal, and having abrupt transitions in style. For me, the extreme metal moments are generally the weakest and the least compelling. The abrupt changes in musical style and time signatures-- this might be a highlight to some, but for me, it is jarring. I have found this approach to be taken my numerous avant-garde (e.g. Unexpect, some John Zorn, Mr. Bungle). It has never appealed to me. Random, chaotic changes are just that. Yes, they are impressive, but without an intangible musical flow to the changes-- without a intrinsic sense of appropriateness, it becomes a gimmick and nothing more. It is unfortunate because I like a lot this genre of music-- jazz-metal fusion with avant-garde tendencies. It is done well by precious few artists. This is not one of them in my opinion.

"On Death and Cosmos" is a 3 track, 19:43 minutes long EP release by Italian avant garde metal act Ephel Duath. The EP was released through Agonia Records in June 2012. For this particular release mainman and only constant member Davide Tiso (Guitars, Bass, Keyboards, Vocals) are helped out by a couple of rather prolific musicians in bassist Steve DiGiorgio (Sadus, Death, Charred Walls of the Damned...among others), vocalist Karyn Crisis (Crisis) and drummer Marco Minnemann (Necrophagist, Tony MacAlpine)).

The music on the EP is avant garde extreme metal with aggressive raspy vocals, time signatures changes and dissonant riffing. All three tracks are in a similar style even though the post rock start to "Raqia" stands out a bit, but the track soon moves into more familar territory again. There's a semi-jazzy fusion edge to the drumming, but other than that the jazz influence that was pretty strong in the some of the band's earlier work isn't that strong here. The musicianship is strong throughout the EP but that's really no surprise when you know the musicians involved. The tracks have a bit of trouble holding my attention though. I hear lots of potential and great ideas, but there are no real climaxes and after the EP is finished I'm left a bit frustrated. I don't expect an Ephel Duath release to be a hook laden hit parade, but a couple of memorable moments wouldn't have hurt.

Still "On Death and Cosmos" is a well produced EP and despite my reservations I still consider it a quality product and a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is deserved.

THIS is Jazz Metal

I love jazz. I love metal. I have been on a long long search for a true marriage of the styles, and I've ventured down some bizarre rabbit holes in the process. THE PAINTER'S PALETTE has actually been on my radar for several years, but the extreme elements initially put me off and I never really gave it the time it deserved. However, the album kept pulling me back for another peek. Now I feel it is one of the best examples of an album that has true sensibilities of both jazz and metal, rather than being rooted in one and toying with the other. (such as Atheist or Panzerballet) This is the kind of album that is the reward of exploring obscure paths. This is the good stuff we insane music nerds save for ourself.

The range of sound on this album is vast. The opener, "The Passage (Pearl Grey)" begins with a syncopated clean guitar line that quickly morphs into a metallic riff not unlike Opeth but with a chaotic trumpet screaming above. From there, we get a frenetic interchange of metalcore vocals, jazz drumming, clean melodies, and clean grooving breaks. There is certainly a Bungle-ish sense of juxtaposition, but the Ephel Duath makes the rapid stops much more coherent. As other reviewers have said, despite the immense variation, it just works.

If jazz rock had begun in 2005 instead of 1970, it would likely sound like "Praha (Ancient Gold)." Here, a mournful trumpet meanders and intertwines with an increasingly overdriven guitar over a distinctly swinging beat. The rock elements are more rooted in punk and metal than blues and psychedelia, creating a clearly modern, though very organic, sound. "Unpoetic Circle (Bottle Green)" sports a suprisingly memorable melody whose lyric is appropriately intellectual for the target audience. The guitar and drum tones are extremely natural, eschewing the over- production of many contemporary prog and metal acts. (Perhaps the band's black metal roots show a little there).

I am not a fan of -core vocals, and this was the main reason it took me so long to come around to loving this album. But they do make sense in context, and are not overused. Weaving in with the clean melodic singing, and prominence of the instrumental grooves, they become part of the overall texture of the music. The harshness is a bit frontloaded on the album, and by the end of the 9 tracks, the metalcore elements leave less impression than the jazz and proggy elements.

To be clear, this is a modern prog fan's paradise. Complex rhythm, harmony, high levels of musicianship, composed lines, all the things I love about the genre in general are here in spades. But Ephel Duath has put these familiar ideas together in a combination that exists nowhere else. It does take some time to really let the feel connect, but once it has, this is one of the jewels of extreme prog metal.

A very interesting job form the heirs of amazing prog rock italian scene. Definitely the best album of Ephel Duath (at least until now) it merges with success classic jazz progressions (notably with trumpet and sax), death metal riffs (the signature syncopated ones) and some other "experimental" stuff that ranges from funk to prog metal. Still, I have to say: this is NOT an avant-garde album at all. The jazz parts can be compared to most of the textbook classics of jazz (Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington or Bill Evans) which make standard chord progressions based on 9th and swing notes. But this is no impediment to rate this album as Good, but non essential; mainly because of the pretty weak work on the gutural vocals, makes the album loose a lot of interest if you are a musicianship fan or your main concern is to hear something new, i.e. something "avant-garde". Still, it is a must hear for every prog fan, especially those interested in the jazz/metal movement.

'The Painter's Palette' - Ephel Duath (9/10)

There are not many metal bands I know out there that integrate jazz fusion so well into their sound as do Italian progressive metal band Ephel Duath. Although they have been first brought to my attention as a black metal band, their second album 'The Painter's Palette' shows very little of this style, instead going towards a very forward thinking style of jazz metal that sounds often like a progression of what Atheist was doing in the early nineties. A highly inventive and quirky band, the band finds an energetic masterpiece with 'The Painter's Palette', that reinvents their sound greatly into something altogether unique.

Ephel Duath splits their sound evenly between abrasive metal and a more melodic, jazz- infused sound. To the band's great benefit, they manage to put the two together seamlessly, making a chaotic barrage flow into a classy jazz break as if it came naturally. Although Ephel Duath do both sides of their sound with great skill and talent, it is indeed the jazzy side of their music that distinguishes them and makes 'The Painter's Palette' an underground masterpiece. To make the jazz jump out even more, there are even a nice number of trumpet solos that almost make one forget that they are listening to what is otherwise an extreme metal record.

On the more metal side of things, Ephel Duath relies on some screams that sound more like they come out of metalcore than anything else, but noisy guitar textures and some beautifully organic drumming makes it all sound as if it is in place. The harsh vocals of Luciano Lorusso are nothing special, but help accentuate some of the album's heavier moments. Where the vocal work really compliments the sound however is with the clean vocals of Davide Tolomei, who takes point for most of the band's melodies. The melodies are not normally particularly catchy or memorable, sounding all over the place. For Ephel Duath though, it works fairly well, and instead the memorable effect of 'The Painter's Palette' is shifted over to the instruments, which are all not only performed, but also produced beautifully.

Ephel Duath's 'The Painter's Palette' is an album that takes a while to grow, but with each passing listen, the experience does ferment into a level of appreciation that I can only associate with a masterpiece. An essential album for jazz-metal fusion.

"RePhormula" is a re-release of the 2000 "Phormula" album by Italian black metal act Ephel Duath. "RePhormula" was released by Elitist/ Earache. The album is considered to be a seperate release though, with a new title, cover artwork and 5 additional tracks.

The eight first tracks on the album are the tracks from "Phormula". The next two tracks are remixes of "The Embossed" ( called "The Embossed (On the Corpse)" in this version) and "Instinkt" from "Phormula". "RePhormula" ends with the three tracks from the 1998 "Opera" demo.

The music on the album is experimental/ symphonic black metal with programmed drums. A band like Emperor often comes to mind because of the chaotic sounding swirling classical inspired synths. The programmed drums are an integrated part of the music rather than an excuse for real drums, which I unfortunately often find is the reasoning behind using programmed drums instead. There's good variation in the tempo on the album and you'll be exposed to both mid-paced and blasting sections. The vocals vary between harsh black metal rasps and clean vocal parts. The remixes aren't the most exciting thing if you ask me, but remixes are usually an aquired taste. The three bonus tracks from the "Opera" demo are pretty interesting listening though.

I gave "Phormula" a 4 star rating and there's no reason to give "RePhormula" anything less. It's not that the bonus tracks are the most nessesary additions to the original album, but they don't hurt either and personally I think it's pretty exciting to hear how innovative the band already were on their demo. A 4 star rating is deserved.

When i first heard this album i thought hmm.....who's trying too hard to sound like Frank Zappa? it really is, they sound like if Zappa went metal, and the concept is as barmy as anything Mr.Zappa would have made up, a concept album revolving round his dog, now as a guy who has recently lost a dog due to old age just a few days ago this release appealed to me, for some reason. Im not really gonna say too much else about this album only that i was really dissapointed, i thought it started good, interesting even but after a while the 'novelty' just seemed too stale and wasnt even funny anymore;

Gift - 8/10 Promenade - 7/10 Breed - 4/10 Silent Door - 5/10 Bella Morte - 4/10 Nina - 4/10 Guardian- 3/10 Spider Shaped Leaves - 7/10 Bark Loud - 4/10

My Conclusion? saying as this is the first album i have heard of this band im gonna let them off lightly as i think they can and maybe have done better than this, if you wana hear this band this is not a good starting point.

RIP Toady Payne 1997-2010