Wall of the Eyeless: Wimfolsfestta

Does anyone else think that there are too many albums that include rain sound effects? I mean, I understand that certain kinds of metal want to convey a gloomy atmosphere, but there's just an awful lot of rain out there lately. When does it become a cliché?

Fortunately, Wall of the Eyeless rises above the sound effects pretty quickly and jump right in to their sonic assault. Wall of the Eyeless is a brand new Swedish death / doom metal band that is putting out short recordings to see what sticks with audiences. Although Wimfolsfestta is basically another of these demos, it tries to connect things together thematically and musically, as though it were an EP or the first half of a full-length release. In any event, this short release sounds strong and well produced.

The music here is a little hard to pin down. It's mostly drawn from death metal, but it has other elements that some people have called progressive. I'm not sure I agree. What I hear on these songs is an attempt to blend death metal with something more melodic, something softer, to see how it will blend with the larger gloom and doom. I didn't mind these forays into melody, but they sometimes felt out of place, especially since they don't necessarily develop over the course of the song. They are more like little surprises. Some of the other tracks—"Revulsion Fever," for example—are more deliberately mellow and melodic from the start, stirring in the darker material after a calm introduction. I liked that approach a little better since the melodic passages seemed to have more purpose.

There's a good band here, but I'm not sure they've found their own voice quite yet. The music is played well and seems solid, but it is sometimes a little too crowded with ideas. The guitar solos, for example, are consistently strong and impressive, but they don't always fit the overall mood of the music. I'd like to hear more from this band in the future. I'm especially curious to know what they'll do with all the styles they draw from in future compositions. For now, all I can say is that Wall of the Eyeless is a young band to watch. Check out the closing track on this one—"Piercing Mist" for the best of the selection.

Track Listing:
1. Flicker
2. The Longest Winter
3. Revulsion Fever
4. Piercing Mist

Added: June 19th 2013
Reviewer: Carl Sederholm
Score:
Related Link: Bandcamp Page
Hits: 1855
Language: english

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