ECHOES OF ETERNITY — As Shadows Burn (review)

ECHOES OF ETERNITY — As Shadows Burn album cover

Album · 2009 · US Power Metal

4.5/5 · 2010-12-07
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Echoes of Eternity (EoE) first appeared on the metal scene in 2005 with a demo, which they followed in 2007 with their debut album, The Forgotten Goddess, which was a solid enough album for a first attempt, though it had its faults. As Shadows Burn, released in 2009, is their second offering, and I'm pleased to report that what faults appeared on the debut have been addressed and as such, As Shadows Burn is all the better for it.

Branded as gothic, symphonic or progressive metal by most, EoE is actually more of a US power or traditional metal band at heart, though there is some prog in their sound, which has come to the fore a bit more with As Shadows Burn. It's still not as prog as in your typical Dream Theater track, but it’s much more so than on The Forgotten Goddess, especially on the instrumental closer Funeral in the Sky. However I maintain that Progressive Metal is a poor description for the band, since much of their music follows standard song structures, and sticks with the typical metal sounds of heavy guitars rather than going dabbling with keyboards or otherwise odd ideas.

The only atypical element to the typical traditional or power metal sound is the use of very melodic female vocals, which I guess may cause some to stereotype the band as being gothic or symphonic due to the association female fronted metal has with those genres. I do admit that the vocals do remind of those styles to a point, but it is only the vocals, the actual music has no bearing on gothic or symphonic styles, not least because the band does not use keyboards, making any symphonic metal labelling downright laughable really.

Well now that I’ve got that out of the way let's address those faults that I found with the previous album shall we? The first was the guitars. What was being played was always good but the tone wasn't overly great for the style that they were playing. Here, however it suits much better. The album has a generally heavier feel than its predecessor and I personally think they've found their sound in this department. It actually has some of the intensity of extremer metal styles.

Secondly there were the vocals. Francine Boucher has always been a good singer for them but there were times on the first album that it sounded as if she were just singing the same note all the time. While the vocals here are still distinctly her, the tone of her voice is much more varied and works with the music more than ever before. It’s certainly a big plus for the album, and she carried the vocal lines brilliantly, especially in tracks such as Memories of Blood and Gold, Descent of a Blackened Soul and Buried Beneath a Thousand Dreams.

All issues that I had with their already good debut have all been worked on and improved greatly. The end result is a really great semi-progressive power/heavy metal album, which with its heavy guitar riffs and superb female vocals can be very hypnotic at times. I definitely feel that As Shadows Burn is a highlight of its year, and that the band is underrated in general, mostly due to the poor labelling by the media.

If there's a fault with As Shadows Burn it’s the fact that the band don't exactly break their own mould throughout its nine songs. It's not that the songs don't have their own identity from each other because they do, but this is definitely an album that has a formula which is pretty much stuck to the letter throughout. As Shadows Burn is an excellent album though, but I can’t see it converting any non-believers that weren’t convinced by The Forgotten Goddess. My personally wishes for the band would be to expand their sound on their next album, drawing out those progressive ideas that they hint at and to surprise me a bit more. This is a rewarding listen yes, but a predictable one. It still comes highly recommended however.

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven, scoring 8.6/10)