Band: Melancolia
Album: The Dark Reflection of Your Soul
Rating: 4/5
Link: http://www.megaupload.com/
Here is another one man black metal project for the metalheads to enjoy, except that this album is far too different from many Melodic Black metal works. Imagine delving deeper and deeper into the scenic melancholy of a dark and cold night amongst the mountains, the eerie yet emotional feeling that slowly sinks down into your very soul. Thats exactly the effect this album achieves through its brilliantly atmospheric Black Metal.
Now speaking musically there’s very few actually amiss in this album. Particular note has to be given to the ambient influences in this album as they have been extensively used in a lot of tracks. The keyboard work is another aspect worthy to be noted in this album, as Eric really seems to blend the keys to bring about a most dark and haunting atmosphere. The drums are also fairly impressive and interesting although here, there is a faint suggestion that perhaps Eric is using drum machine - but this is merely afterthought because in any ways the drumming does justice to the tracks. The beats are not too fast but keep up with pace of the songs and blend in well with the guitars roaring along.
The guitar work is also fairly impressive - nothing groundbreaking if compared with other Black metal bands. But impressively done, the riffs are technically sound, aggressive and just about diverse enough. There has been no pointless prolonging of the guitar playing in any track as most of it has been aimed purely to blend in to the atmosphere.
On first listen perhaps one may find nothing wrong with the album. But there is one fault which I find, some of the tracks sound a bit similar to each other, perhaps this impression comes off the fact that maybe Eric is creating the same dark atmosphere in each track. But be as it may none of the tracks disappoint if you’re looking Black metal with enticing complexity.
On a final note, I also think that it does this album a great amount of disservice to just stash into one genre, because a lot of elements from different sub genres such as progressive and ambient have been used. Then again the essence of music in this album really is difficult to describe in words so I suggest leaving it to your ear to get the feel of it. The album is certainly worth listening to, aggressive and yet emotional, simple and yet so intricate. A grand debut indeed by Eric Saumier.
Highlights: Rain, November, In My Memory
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