| ...When The Dead Boughs Will Awake From The Dreams (CD) | 2001 | None |
This release finds the band playing a fairly straightforward, no-nonsense style of death/doom, with a mix of clean, and grunted vocals, and the occasional use of keys as backup in some areas. The clean vocals, especially, remind me quite a bit of early Anathema... well, perhaps what early Anathema would've sounded like, had they sung in Russian. The grunted vocals are nice, as well... very easy on the ears, and not muddled in the mix, or otherwise unintelligable. A 'grunt lite', if you will... but it works extremely well.
Overall, Ekklesiast do everything very well... only problem is, I find that some of the songs aren't exactly original. A lot of this album has the whole 'been there, done that' feel to it. Normally, this would turn me off a band quite a bit, however, the songs on this release are still interesting. I found myself enjoying their familiarity. For more information on the band please see: ok.novgorod.net/ekk.
1. Grief Of This Days
2. Prophecy Of Doom
3. Countdown Point
4. World's Autumn
5. Cover Me With Snow
6. The City
7. Stars Of Your Sky
8. Awakening Among The Warm Days
9. Step To Eternity
10. Reflexes Of Heaven
Approx. 55 minutes
| Cold (CD) | 2003 | None |
The first thing which is evident, is that the band have softened up their sound considerably on this album, what with the addition of acoustic passages, and female vocals. This works very well, and gives nice breaks to the usual death/doom. They've also sped up a little bit, and some black metal elements can be heard in some songs... especially the track 'Microcosmos'.
My main complaint about the last album, the lack of originality, is certainly not a factor here. The songs on 'Cold' do not have a 'been there, done that' feel to them... in fact, they are all quite original, and interesting. The various additions, have certainly spiced the music up... and I found myself looking forward to each new track, wondering what I was going to hear next.
So, if you're a fan of straightfoward death/doom, get '...When The Dead Boughs Will Awake From The Dreams' first, then pick this disc up. However, if you would prefer something more varied, and softer, skip the first release, in favour of this one.
Reviewed by: Matt Zuchowski
This Russian band plays a sympathetic mixture of various melodic dark/doom metal styles. Fans of bands like Katatonia, My Dying Bride and Anathema will without any doubt recognize many of the typical characteristics of their favourite bands: harmonic, melancholic guitar leads, beautiful acoustic intermezzi, and a careful balancing out of male/female clean vox, spoken parts and deep grunts are some of the familiar elements that can be found in this record. However, Ekklesiast don't just copy their idols.
The band don't hesitate to speed up here and there, incorporating some more aggressive, menacing metal parts that fit very well with the rest of the music, which is definitely a bonus in this otherwise quite tame genre. Another plus point are the Russian lyrics, which bring an extra exotic dimension to the sound of this melancholic congregation.
All in all this is a well-crafted, balanced work that deserves to be heard by fans of melodic dark metal. The band can be contacted at ekklesiast@mail.ru
Reviewed by: Kostas Panagiotou
1. Flower Of Dismay
2. Microcosmos
3. Flame Of Desires
4. The Eyes Of Other Worlds
5. Seasons
6. Step To Eternity
7. Turning To Ice
Approx. 35 minutes