There seems to be a shortage of newer metal bands
with a truly unique sound. Often I will hear a new band
and immediately make the connection as to who their
influences are, but usually the comparisons are to
maybe one or two bands. Chicago's Eden's Fall are a
band whose influences are fairly evident, but so
plentiful that their own sound is quite
multidimensional and satisfting to metalheads of
varying tastes.
Eden's Fall's basic sound is a mixture of thrash
and traditional metal, with a little melodic death
thrown in for good measure. Harmonized leads and
melodies are plentiful, as are some strong double bass
grooves. They have an early 90's
Testament-meets -Nevermore-meets -Metal Church-meets
Iced Earth sound, but they never end up copying any of
those bands. In fact, Eden's Fall have remarkably forged
a style of their own on Harmony Of Lies.
From the strong opening groove of "Blur The Lines"
to the anthemic, sing along choruses of "Planet Hate"
and "We Betray", I was quite surprised that this is
Eden's Fall's debut album. They show a mature sense of
songcraft and arranging that bands with ten times the
experience don't often achieve.
The one thing that might turn some people off is
the vocals of John Barr. He uses several vocal
styles, including the traditional melodic style, but
sometimes he uses a sort of gruff sneer that has
traces of melody, but isn't quite tuneful. He also uses
some growls sparingly and tastefully. The man can
sing, but I wish he would belt it out a bit more.
Where "Harmony Of Lies" really shines is in the
production department. The band produced the CD
themselves, but with some help from two metal
journeymen. The mixing was done by no other than
jack-of all-trades Dan Swano (Edge Of
Sanity, Bloodbath, Nightingale, etc.), and the mastering
was done by virtuoso guitarist James
Murphy (Death, Obituary, Cancer, Disincarnate, etc.). The
result is a wonderfully tight, clear and warm
sound. Kudos to the band for achieving such a
professional sound on an essentially independent
relase.
If your tastes lean toward American-style
power/thrash metal, Eden's Fall is just your cup of
tea. It's heavy without being harsh, and the band sounds
familiar without sounding stale. In this day and
age, that's a rarity.
