Ephel Duath - On Death and Cosmos

Ephel Duath

On Death and Cosmos

by Vasilis Odontidis at 25 June 2012, 9:56 AM

Seeing the name of EPHEL DUATH on the list of the available promos something clicked in my mind. It was the same band that has released somewhere around 2003 “The Painter’s Palette” record. I really loved this record because of its complexity and diverse styles that were infused in a very intelligent way. Fast forward to present I have no idea about the whereabouts of the band after that record and here I am with a three track EP in my hands. The cover of the EPis awesome, the title of it is also awesome, living legend and bass slayer Steve Di Giorgio is included in the lineup and that is more than awesome and thus I can’t wait but listen to it.

“On Death And Cosmos” runs for approximately 20 minutes and has 3 songs of equal length. Unfortunately, in my ears it is not only of equal length but of almost the same style, pattern and tempo. No change, no differentiation. Nothing. Just slow pacing Death Metal infused with the Jazz - Prog style of the band. If I could skip between the tracks in random places “On Death and Cosmos” I think nobody would understand that there is any difference in the track as it is as flat as it gets.

I have missed the evolution of the band but I for sure I do not find any interest in this kind of direction. There is nothing to enjoy here. The vocals of Crisis are just annoying, DiGiorgio bass lines are lost from time to time in the production, the riffs are repeating same patterns over and over again and while the drums are decent I still can’t understand why I have to listen to this kind of music. I was expecting totally different kind of music “On Death and Cosmos” and in the beginning I was really excited about this EP but in the end I was totally disappointed by the result. I am sure there are people that appreciate this kind of music but for me I will pass as fast as possible.