Band:	(EchO)
Album:	Devoid Of Illusions
Style:	Melodic death doom metal, Psychedelic doom metal
Release date:	November 11, 2011
A review by:	BitterCOld

01. Intro
02. Summoning The Crimson Soul
03. Unforgiven March
04. The Coldest Land
05. Internal Morphosis
06. Omnivoid
07. Disclaiming My Faullts
08. Once Was A Man
09. Sounds From Out Of Space

(EchO) do not employ an orthodox approach to their take on the whole doom thing, opting instead to toss the whole (metal) kitchen sink into the album creation process.

Devoid Of Illusions is partially based in the same death doom formula we are all familiar with. There are plenty of heavy, punishing riffs with guttural vocals, and keyboards providing the melodic leads. The band also employs extended periods of clean vocals over sparse, clean toned guitar - almost a post-rock feeling at times, proggish at others. Maybe traces of goth and psychedelic extreme doom as well. Sure, why not?

I guess all of these elements have been employed separately by other acts, or mixed, but they seem particularly well employed (EchO). The doom aspects are good, but these extended chill periods really provide a counterbalance to help enhance that dooming feeling. They are engaging, draw you in, and lull you in, rope-a-dope style, before doom slams home.

In addition to more chill moments, the band also can go off the deep end the other way as well. There are passages at, gasp, triple digit BPM? as well as flat out terrifying extreme crushing psychedelia, perhaps the result of having Greg Chandler of Esoteric mixing and mastering the album.

So despite meandering all over the metal map, these Italians still pull all the elements together and work out the song dynamics remarkably well.