UMUR "On Death and Cosmos" is a 3 track, 19:43 minutes long EP release by Italian avant garde metal act Ephel Duath. The EP was released through Agonia Records in June 2012. For this particular release mainman and only constant member Davide Tiso (Guitars, Bass, Keyboards, Vocals) are helped out by a couple of rather prolific musicians in bassist Steve DiGiorgio (Sadus, Death, Charred Walls of the Damned...among others), vocalist Karyn Crisis (Crisis) and drummer Marco Minnemann (Necrophagist, Tony MacAlpine)).

The music on the EP is avant garde extreme metal with aggressive raspy vocals, time signatures changes and dissonant riffing. All three tracks are in a similar style even though the post rock start to "Raqia" stands out a bit, but the track soon moves into more familar territory again. There´s a semi-jazzy fusion edge to the drumming, but other than that the jazz influence that was pretty strong in the some of the band´s earlier work isn´t that strong here. The musicianship is strong throughout the EP but that´s really no surprise when you know the musicians involved. The tracks have a bit of trouble holding my attention though. I hear lots of potential and great ideas, but there are no real climaxes and after the EP is finished I´m left a bit frustrated. I don´t expect an Ephel Duath release to be a hook laden hit parade, but a couple of memorable moments wouldn´t have hurt.

Still "On Death and Cosmos" is a well produced EP and despite my reservations I still consider it a quality product and a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is deserved.

Time Signature Stardust rain...

Genre: Ephel Duath metal

"On Death and Cosmos" gives us a peek at what Ephel Duath anno 2012 sounds like. Joined by Steve DiGiorgo, Karyn Crisis and Marco Minnemann, Ephel Duath main man Davide Tiso is in etremely good company, and that shows in the three highly unique tracks on the EP.

Drawing on a post-metal experimentalism combined with the dynamics of jazz and the heaviness of sludge metal, the EP is definitely interesting, and Karyn Crisis' harsh vocals add a black metal feel as well.

The opening track "Black Prism" is based on a stomping rhythm which is contrasted with a certain weirdness that, for some reason reminds me of both King Diamond and "Aqualung"-era Jethro Tull. "Raqia" starts out with clean guitars and a heavy drumbeat and actually quite pleasant and mellow to listen to, but when the distorted guitars kick in, the tracks turns in a more doomy direction, and is perhaps best described as something in between sludge-doom and jazz-inspired avant-rock, characterized by a dynamic that challenges our sense of cohesion in music (as a matter of fact, the track is actually very coherent and focused, but it is just that it features many elements that are unusual to the average listener of mainstream music). The third track "Stardust Rain" is rich in dynamic drumming and, du to the dissonant guitar figures, has a general almost volatile or brittle texture to it which constantly seems on the verge of collapsing or breaking apart, held together by DiGiorgio's bass and Crisis' raw vocals.

Needless to say, the musicianship is top notch - it has to be with that line-up. the drumming is dynamic and often has a sort of jazzy feel to it, while DiGiorgio's bass provides a good bottom and is also allowed to do some of the acrobatics he is known for, while Karyn Crisis' vocals provide a certain rawness and extreme metal fell. And everything is masterfully blended together under the watchful eye of Davide Tiso whose guitars challenge several conventions of rock music.

Personally, I find this EP a very interesting listen, but also one that challenges the listener; "On Death and Cosmoms" should be appreciated for the piece of art that it is.