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| Echoes of Eon released their debut, Immensity, on April 30. |
Instrumental metal has arrived at something of a crossroads
lately. A few bands have gained recognition as pioneers in the past – Pelican,
Gordian Knot and Buckethead come to mind – but several groups are beginning to
lend credence to the idea that heavy music without vocals is not only a viable
art form, but one with a bright future. Fans of the prog scene may recognize
names such as Animals as Leaders, Scale the Summit, Behold…the Arctopus,
Dysrhythmia, Cloudkicker and Chimp Spanner — while these are perhaps the best
prospects in the genre, there are plenty of other talented acts worldwide waiting
to break through. This is where Echoes of Eon comes into play.
Echoes of Eon was founded in 2011 in Dobre Miasto, Poland. After
some initial lineup shifts, the band settled on their current quartet and hit
the road. Echoes landed second place at Poland’s National Alternative Music
Festival, earning them a record deal for the next year. After six months of touring and briefly entertaining the idea of having a singer, Echoes entered
the studio with the material for their debut, which would become Immensity. Featuring elements of electronic
music and progressive metal, Echoes’ debut is an exercise in artistic restraint
– the ebb and flow of its delicately assembled songs is paramount to the
overall experience. In keeping with the planetary theme of Immensity, there is a futuristic and spacey feel to much of the
album, largely due to the open arrangements of clean guitar and synthesizer
that grace each track.
Echoes of Eon makes no secret of the fact that their music
is designed to transcend. It describe its songs as “compositions that are
beyond the form, dimensional sound contrasts forming large, quiet melodies
punctuated with a bang. Echoes of Eon is the sound that travels and breaks the
space-time.” Perhaps a bit grandiose, but the music itself is convincing. Immensity features top-notch musicianship
from all members, particularly the rhythm section. Bass players, in particular, are often lost on metal recordings, but Raphael Korecki has some killer lines throughout
the album and often takes center-stage during what would otherwise be lulls in
the music.
Highlights of the album include its single, “Kallisto,” and
the last third of the album; “Tytan,” “Rea,” and “Japet” arrive in succession and
showcase the album’s diversity. “Tytan” rides swells of tremolo guitar and
builds steadily to a pair of more metal climaxes, while the second features
thrumming double-kick work and a triumphant finale underscored by a definitive
bass line. The last track on the album is the only one with vocals, and quite
good ones at that. Mixing clean singing with a hardcore-style shouted middle
section, “Japet” is a fitting finale full of growling bass and wavering
guitars. It all adds up to a very promising debut, and one that ought to gain
Echoes some attention among fans of the more accomplished bands in its sector.
Should that happen, you would be doing yourself a favor to bookmark Echoes of
Eon as a band to see and pick up Immensity
asap.
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