Ephel Duath - Painter's Palette

Year of Release: 2003
Label: Elitist Records / Earache
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 00:00:00

Evaluation:

What it is supposed to be:

If you believe the hype, this is the new wave of death metal: musically rich, aggressive, category defying and impossible to pigeonhole. Stark, almost monochromatic packaging, contrasting with the "painter's palette" notion, the implication being that the musical contents of this package provide the color and texture.

Analysis:

What it is:

Okay. I've had enough of this. I am going to wax eloquent on a subject that has been the source of constant frustration for me, as a buyer of heavy progressive music, for the past ten or more years.

Why, why, why, why, why, do talented musicians RUIN their music with screamed, shouted, growled, grunted, whined, gutteral, RIDICULOUS, LAUGHABLE, antithetical, COOKIE MONSTER/COOKIE CUTTER vocals?

Someone, PLEASE, tell them... no, the heck with it, I'LL DO IT.

STOP IT. NOW. I MEAN IT.

If you can't sing in a natural human voice, it's either because the music needs to be instrumental, you CAN'T sing (or shouldn't), or you don't have the wherewithal to write vocal music. If you have a lyrical point to make, it needs to be made vocally by SINGING it. If you want to shout, go into politics. That's why you have lyrics ... so they can be sung and understood (especially now as the print on most CDs is impossible to decipher).

Ephel Duath needs to do this. Their music is dynamic, challenging, very engaging harmonically, and deserves to have the clean vocalist on the disc as the only singer. This music would have had twice the impact if the clean vocals prevailed, and the harmonies introduced were developed throughout.

These type of vocals appeal to pubescent teens who really only like them because they tick off their parents. Music is aggressive or heavy when it triggers a gut response harmonically, or invokes an emotional response musically or rhythmically. The hoarse or shouted vocal styles only serve to detract from the overall impact and ultimately the respect with which heavy/progressive music is treated with by the consumers and the reviewers.

NOTE TO BANDS: You want to make a living with your music right? You need to be able to sell it to a wider audience than just the disenfranchised. You can make aggressive, challenging music that has appeal without having to sacrifice the intensity you're striving for.

I like Ephel Duath's music. They have a broad harmonic and rhythmical sense of direction, and they understand the need for dynamics. Now, if they could tie it all together with some melody...

Rating: 4-/5. The minus is for the vocal treatments, primarily the use of the unintelligible caterwhauling, but also for the under use of the cleaner vocalist and the harmony arrangements that would have saved this disc from the ignominy of the bargain bins.

Tracklisting:
The Passage (Pearl Gray) / Unpoetic Circle (Bottle Green) / Labyrinthine (Crimson) / Praha (Ancient Gold) / The Picture (Bordeaux) / Ruins (Deep Blue And Violet)

Musicians:
David Tiso - guitars
Fabio Fecchio - bass
Davide Piovesan - acoustic drums
Luciano Lorusso George - screams
Davide Tolomei - skimming vocals

Guests:

Paso - synths and electro-noise
Maurizio Scomparin - trumpet

Discography:
Opera (demo tape) (1998)
Rephormula (2000)
Painter's Palette (2003)
Pain Necessary To Know (2005)

Genre: Death-Black Metal

Origin IT

Added: June 14th 2005
Reviewer: Jan-Mikael Erakare
Score:
Artist website: www.ethelduath.net
Hits: 2493
Language: english