adg211288 The Inception of Darkness is the fifth full-length album release from Australian progressive metal act Eyefear. The album was released in 2012. It is their first album since 2008’s The Unseen and is new keyboardist Seb Schneider’s first work with the group. The remainder of the line-up is unchanged. The standard album contains eight tracks but versions exist with bonus tracks, usually orchestral versions of other tracks on the album, although a radio edit of the opener Redemption also exists.

Generally favouring the more song-based approach to progressive metal, The Inception of Darkness can also be noted for the strong presence of power metal’s fast riffs, although the music in no way feels typical of melodic power metal and that’s mostly because of the rough edge vocalist Danny Cecati has to his voice. Symphonic elements are also used within the album to a lesser measure. At a glance the album may not appear as much progressive but once you dig into it a bit the creativity of the band quickly becomes apparent. Redemption kicks off with what is an otherwise power metal rhythm but then layers it with piano while Shadowdance features audible bass lines in the place where another band may have played a lead guitar or keyboard melody. The album also manages to feel somewhat dark. Not quite as much as another recent progressive metal release that uses similar elements, Warnot’s His Blood is Yours, because The Inception of Darkness lacks the theatrical doom metal elements that album had, making it slightly more accessible.

The highlight of the release though has to be the two part title track, The Inception of Darkness. Part 1 is called Transcending and part 2 is called Reborn. The latter is one of the songs which gets a bonus orchestral version. While the former adheres to more or less what you’d expect from the album having heard the first three tracks, Reborn stirs things up by introducing some new elements, including growling and female vocals. I’d say it’s also the most openly progressive track on the album, and also the best. Every element the band uses during the course of the album comes together perfectly here. That’s not to say the rest of the album is lacking, it is most definitely not, but this one is something special.

The Inception of Darkness was the first time I heard Eyefear but I know now that I’m definitely going to have to make the effort to check out the group’s other releases. If they are anywhere near as good as this one, then they’ll easily rank among Australia’s best metal exports. An exceptional grade rating is deserved.

92/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org/eyefear-the-inception-of-darkness-t2751.html))