Band:	EnkElination
Album:	Tears Of Lust
Style:	Symphonic metal
Release date:	July 21, 2014
A review by:	Jason W.

01. Tears Of Lust
02. Higher Ground
03. Never Ending
04. Lullaby
05. Insane
06. What Have You Become
07. Reborn
08. Chimeras
09. Changeling
10. Abyss
11. Last Time Together

Love is at once of the most powerful forces of the human heart and mind, while it can also be one of the most elusive to hold onto and warm the soul on the deepest of levels. With a voice and sound that even melts my own frozen heart, EnkElination's debut offers some of the most delicate, lush, and fragile metal released in quite some time. An effortless production of impassioned melodic guitars layered beneath vocals that shine as bright as the sun in the palest winter sky, Tears Of Lust stands like a weathered statue of two lovers covered in frost, staring at each other in silence as the sun melts their eyes with icy teardrops.

The video for the album's opener, and title track, begins with a few seconds showing a solitary figure in the distance, the snow falling, and the fog of the nearby icy sea drifting upon the scene. This is how I felt entering into the world of EnkElination, and by the end of the album, felt just as the accompanying video ends: with the same landscape, but now sitting beside someone, somehow no longer feeling the chill inside. Yet now we both stare into the distance, yearning. The song begins with a soft synthesized melody, a warm, searching guitar riff, and the vocals of primary songwriter/lyricist Elina Siirala appearing with a verse that ends with "take me to the light." Her voice surrounds the listener in mournful grace within the album's catchiest track, and as main chorus appears, it illuminates the band's desire to reach for something more beautiful, touching, to free us from ourselves.

A soft chord and notes begin "Never Ending," exemplifying the style played by guitarist Shadow (and Jozef Polom in recordings), with a focused and short melody that point in a direction without ever drawing attention to itself. As the distortion kicks in, it leads the song like a cabin door opening with the warmth of a fire within, as if someone knew you were about to arrive. "Higher Ground" reveals more characteristically casual sets of riffs, which are powerful even their restraint, and yet strong in their intent to be the seamless melodic backdrop for Elina's soaring melodies.

"Insane" offers up a more uptempo approach, giving a chance for John Watt's drumming and the often typical rhythmically pulsing bass (shared by Alasdair McNeill and Shadow on the album) to drive the song. It not only marks the album's approximate center, but sets the stage for the mid-paced and slower tracks that follow, offering a set of dark and maddening emotions that each song must overcome as the album continues. "Changeling" presents some of the more heartbreaking lyrics, with so much of the spirit of Tears Of Lust here:



A tribute to Mark Williams's stellar production and Mika Jussila's mastering, Elina's vocals resound with a sadness that take over all senses, haunting the listener like the last touch of a former lover upon your hands, leaving us searching after what once was so familiar and warm, and now lost.

EnkElination are to be commended for their ballads as well, with the cries for the return of a child's innocence in "Lullaby," and the marriage of despair between a piano melody, soulful vocals, and guitars that are like footsteps into a long-neglected attic of memories. And what a finish to this album, in "Last Time Together"! Anyone who's ever felt the dissolution of a once meaningful love imminent even during a waning moment of romantic bliss will enjoy this traditionally arranged ballad, which feels like a last dance into eternal separation, lifting into the starlit sky only to disappear into time.

It is music like this that reminds me that, no matter how much the cold weather can make me feel isolated and alone, I could never live without those moments of walking in the woods during a winter snowfall. The brown leaves and decaying branches beneath my feet, the clarity that those moments bring as the silent, falling snowflakes melt upon my skin, and the pure moments of longing echoing in my mind as I walk with the voice of Elina and the music of EnkElination in my thoughts. Tears Of Lust sits warmly beside you in even the coldest winter days, full of the melancholic elegance of love and loss.