Monday, February 10, 2014

"Canto III" by Eye of Solitude

This is the latest release by a band who's been around for nearly four years. The band was started in 2010 and has released a bevy of records, but this is only their third full length release.

They are considered to be Orchestral Funeral Doom Metal. There is a part of me that really loves considering the thousands of metal subgenres, because it just gets ridiculous.

Eye of Solitude is a super group of sorts, featuring members the bands: Unfathomable Ruination and Sidious.

This particular release is a very ambitious six track project. Please read that again, and ensure that you read it without any sarcasm. This is a very ambitious record.

One of these things is not like the others.
Lyrically, this album is based on Dante's Inferno. Frankly, that is about the coolest thing I have heard in a very long time. It's kind of a policy around here to not discuss the lyrics, but here we are and that's just far too cool a thing to mention.

I can also say for the first time ever, that not all of the lyrics are in English. There are some interludes in Italian.

Lets' continue to blow my personal convention and discuss the vocals first. This album has a diverse set of vocal deliveries. There are full on doom growls, beautiful emotive singing, and the standard metal screams. This all adds up to one thing: Dynamics.

The guitars are full and thick. The tone is just spectacular. It would appear that Eye of Solitude has heard a few Electric Wizard albums. The guitars are played very economically with a bit of sparseness. In some interludes, single chords are held for unfathomable amounts of time, but this allows the other parts of the music to shine.

The drums move from blasting to mellow and spartan.

The violin and piano, yes violin and piano, both arrive at what seem to be unscheduled times and beautify the music.

I will sum up this record in two words: Dynamic. Beautiful.

Year: 2013
Genre: Metal
Run time: 66:30
Label: Kaotoxin Records

Tracklisting:
1) Act I: Between Two Worlds  (Occularis Infernum) 14:07
2) Act II: Where The Descent Began 10:20
3) Act III: He Who Willingly Suffers 13:03
4) Act IV: The Pathway Had Been Lost 8:59
5) Act V: I Sat In Silence 10:41
6) Act VI: In the Desert Vast 8:57



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