Band:	EdenSands
Album:	Living Kills
Style:	Progressive heavy metal
Release date:	2008
A review by:	jupitreas

01. Path Of Life
02. Golden Fangs Hungry Dogs
03. Scream
04. You'll Sink
05. Run
06. Mother
07. From Dark To Light
08. Last Will
09. Taste Of Hope

EdenSands is a versatile heavy metal band from Nancy, France. Although firmly holding that heavy metal banner, the band also ventures into progressive, power and alternative territories on their debut album Living Kills. Since the style is generally not well known for innovation, EdenSands' adventurous music positively stands out above the crowd. If we are to ignore the small production issues that this album has, I think EdenSands is a name that will quickly become famous amongst fans of more traditional metal fare.

Although the band kicks off the album with the traditional (but very catchy) "Paths Of Life", things get much more interesting from that moment on. For example, "I'll Sink" sees Stefan Tudela sharing vocal duties with a female vocalist, while "Scream" features (rather appropriately) some more extreme metal screaming. The groovy "Run" is perhaps the most radical of these songs, reminding me of older Corrosion Of Conformity, featuring gang-shouts and generally a very catchy structure. People looking for a more traditional approach will not be disappointed either. "Last Will" and "Taste Of Hope" provide enough palm-muted riffs and soaring high pitched singing to enamour anyone with the Judas Priest or Iron Maiden logos tattooed onto their foreheads. The band even includes a power ballad on the album.

The thin and treble-heavy production is the only serious flaw of this record. Considering that the vocals are usually very high pitch and that the guitars tend to focus on melodic leads, we are dealing with an album that goes for the treble overkill. Granted, more traditional metal albums tend to be produced in this way; however, since EdenSands goes to such great lengths to explore their alternative and progressive sensibilities, bringing those bass grooves more upfront would benefit their music greatly.

Production issues aside, this is one of the more interesting heavy metal released in recent times. EdenSands show that it is possible to make music that appeals both to those of us preferring a traditional approach to metal and those who like their music adventurous.