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Embrace Depart - Promo 2004 review



Reviewer:
8.0
Band: Embrace Depart
Album: Promo 2004
Release date: 2004


01. Coming To An End
02. Walking In A Dark Path
03. Melancholy Breaks
04. Soul Of Shaman

Embrace Depart is a band hailing from Edessa, Greece and they are moving in melodic/atmospheric gothic metal soundscapes and I have to say that they are an interesting act!

During 2005 they released "Promo 2005" which consists of 4 compositions in which they tend to harmonize melody, upbeat and groovy passages and inspiration, showing that they are a band that has a lot to offer and if they work more and more they can achieve more things in the musical scene.

The first good impression comes from the light-coloured cover of their promo which features a female angel holding the sun or a sphere of light or something in her arms, preparing the listener of the intense emotions and atmosphere he will cherish as the album will start echoing in the room. Their music, as I said above, is melodic and atmospheric and it seems that they can evoke either a more intense and powerful or more fragile atmosphere in a good way, keeping a balance between intensity and tranquility.

The guitars are heavily distorted and they rely mainly on riffing, yet some acoustic guitar chords make their appearance from time to time. The guitar work seems really good, with a gothic rock approach at times, and the fans of atmospheric metal won't be disappointed at all. The rhythm section does a good work, keeping the rhythm and the groove of the compositions alive, but they could be slightly a bit more to the front of the production, which is really good for a promo release. As for the keyboard melodies, they seem to fit the atmosphere of the band in the most appropriate way, having that fragile/devout yet so beautifully haunting approach, sounding pleasing to the ear without fearing to sound slightly more menacing. The vocalist is really charismatic, there are times he reminds me of Lacuna Coil's Andrea Ferro on his more intense melodic moments (like on "Walking In A Dark Path) or Evereve's first era singer Tom Sedotschenko on his more heart-rending and desperate melodic moments. On the 4th composition in which he interprets with grunting vocals he shows another, successful as well, part of his interpreting abilities, showing his various interpreting abilities in the most appropriate way. The slight addition of ethereal and fragile female vocals makes the atmosphere of the album a bit more affected in its very own way.

All in all, "Promo 2005" is a successful work from Embrace Depart, offering well-conceived and well-executed atmospheric/melodic gothic metal that won't disappoint the fans of this specific scene, just give it a try!

Highlights: A hymn to melancholy, "Melancholy Breaks", and the melodic experimental mastepiece "Soul Of Shaman".





Written on 23.02.2006 by "It is myself I have never met, whose face is pasted on the underside of my mind."



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