(EchO) – Witnesses
Release Date: 25th November 2022
Label: Black Lion Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Atmospheric Doom, Melodic Death Metal, Gothic Metal, Progressive Metal.
FFO: Draconian, Swallow the Sun, My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost.
Review By: Rick Farley
Atmospheric doom band (EchO) from Brescia, Italy is about to release their fourth full length album since the bands inception in 2007. This doomy melodic death metal four piece unleashes new album Witnesses on Black Lion Records. Like many other bands releasing this year, this album was born as a result of the global pandemic. Barely able to spend any real time together, some of the songs weren’t even rehearsed prior to arriving in the studio. Despite all the obstacles, the band themselves state that quite surprisingly, the material still turned out good.
Witnesses is a shot of different textures, heavy and looming, yet quiet and sombre. Depressing, and moody, but also hopeful and uplifting. The doom metal elements are big walls of distortion that engulf the listener while anguished gutturals tell the story of despair. Guest female vocals from Heike Langhans, accent the quieter moments with beautiful expression on tracks My Covenant and Chemical. Vocalist Fabio Urietti goes from beastly low growls to gothic cleans often in the same song, giving the sense of darkness and light. The album production is mostly good. At times it sounds a little uneven in terms of dynamics. Depending on what’s happening in the song, the bass guitar and drums are so thick, they can create a bit of muffled sound.
As a whole, Witnesses is cohesive and flows well, but in my opinion, the first half of the album seems to be the stronger group of songs. Don’t get me wrong, the second half is decent, but four of the first five songs are the ones doing the most heavy lifting, for me at least. Track one is an instrumental, less than a minute long, with little significance. Laudanum gets things moving with a slightly up-tempo beat and massive chorded melodies that ring out. The verse is heavy chugging style death metal riffs that partially mimic the starting melody and push the song towards a catchy groove with beefy growls. Memorable lead melodies, over the starting chords, bring everything full circle into fruition. Fate Takes its Course starts with a menacing clean guitar, driving low end from bassist Agostino Bellini and slow building drums from session drummer Francesco Bassi. A gigantic groove laden riff with headbanging appeal crushes everything. Backed by a slow heavy chug, the track sounds more death than doom, but the sombre atmospheric elements are always lurking around the corner. Clean vocals, and sinister guitar melodies create a hooky chorus that leads back into pulverizing heaviness. Both guitarists, Simone Saccheri and Mauro Ragnoli, shine with brutal riffs, creative leads, and masterful clean guitar passages. Previously mentioned, My Covenant is a drenching of gloominess that spends half its seven-minute runtime in gothic rock territory, slightly proggy and a nice contrast in styles.
A few tracks are weaker than others and seem slightly disjointed from the rest. It’s not a huge issue, but they definitely feel less fleshed out. This could be a result of the band having so many issues with the writing process and their lack of rehearsals. Overall, It’s still an enjoyable album that many fans will love. I personally don’t feel like there’s a lot of replayability for me, but again, if (EchO) is your jam you’ll mostly be happy. Solid and likable is still a good thing.
(3 / 5)
