Year : 2021
Total Τime: 41:08
Label: Inverse Records
From the country of 10,000 bands and after releasing several singles, Finland’s EPHEMERALD present their first complete release in the symphonic Melo-death idiom, titled “Between the Glimpses of Hope”. Five are the ingredients of their musical formula: Symphony, melody, melancholy, folk elements and extreme musical outbursts. By wandering somewhere between WINTERSUN, ENSIFERUM, INSOMNIUM, FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE and (to a smaller extent) CHILDREN OF BODOM, they mix in different amounts of these ingredients in order to find the right recipe for success. Following the Finnish doctrine, which states that in Melo-death there must be a certain amount of symphonic orchestrations or epic elements (at least in recent years), it seems that the band has put in hard work in each one of the tracks. The result? The listener realizes that there is not even a single second dismissed in this effort. The music is quite dark and the main lyrical theme revolves around the pessimism and the difficulties of moving forward, while being trapped at haunting past situations. It is also important that they add some extremely well done and melodic guitar solos.
On this record, one can hear some extreme a-la C.O.B. Metal outbursts, as in “Servant” (what a great scream there by Vesa Salovaara at 10.43 to 11.02!). Even this track, however, contains the awesome key-orchestrations of Tuomo Sagulin in the background and right after the aforementioned scream, it leads to a melodic passage with clear vocals and a beautiful pure chorus. In fact, these alternations on the disk are quite common. More specifically in the mid-tempo a-la ENSIFERUM “I Bear Fire”, which mostly exhibits extreme (and always symphonic) inclinations but it goes on revealing one of the most beautiful pure chorus I have heard in recent memory and a melodic acoustic passage as well. A purebred a-la WINTERSUN (at the beginning of some of their tracks) acoustic ballad, “All There Is” with minimal electric guitar manages to portray the feeling of melancholy residing in us, when various situations of the past haunt us and never let us move forward. The Finns introduce a lot of folk elements in tracks like “Reborn”, while “No fall is Too Deep” can be nominated for the best Melo-death track of the year barging with extreme guitar riffs and plenty of key symphonies before the awesome bridge to an AMAZING chorus with clear vocals , which will just sent shivers down the listener’s spine. Next, we meet “Till the Sea Swallows Us Whole”, which would be envied by ENSIFERUM , as it reminds them intensely without trying to copy them. The end comes with an even more symphonic, intensely orchestral and melodic track, “Into the Endless”, which somehow manages to give a sense of finality to the aural experience.
The production, the execution and the overall feeling this release exudes are all impressively structured and the same can be said for the performances in the instruments and the vocal department. In fact, while split vocals stick with music producing some long-winded growls, the striking thing is that the pure vocals stick even more. The audible bass stands out, as there are moments when it comes out quite ahead. An album ends up being a milestone for an idiom, when it succeeds in taking over the listener completely by rendering him breathless and unable to spot any flaws. Even if one can understand in some parts that this is the first attempt of a new band, this album has all the potential to characterize the Finnish scene and EPHEMERALD likewise.
Rating: 8/10
Editor: Giannis Michailidis
Related Link: EPHEMERALD – Bandcamp Page
