Band:	Elyrean
Album:	Blacken The Sun
Style:	Technical thrash metal
Website:	http://https://elyreanthrash.bandcamp.com/
Release date:	December 14, 2019
Guest review by:	sgtrobo

01. Where The Light Has Failed To Reach (Prelude)
02. Unhallowed
03. Distorted Reality
04. Blacken The Sun
05. The Smouldering Of Ashes (Interlude)
06. Fallen Ground
07. Swarming Darkness

Most of us know of fantastic albums that combine metal genres, such as blackened death, blackened thrash, death/doom, etc. The danger when merging multiple influences into one work is that it could sound disjointed and fragmented, leaping to and fro, resulting in an incoherent mess. However, Elyrean has assembled an impressively cohesive yet completely diverse work that is worthy of any metal fan's ear (and coin, for that matter).

Bottom line - Elyrean's Blacken The Sun EP (EP my ass, it's 40 minutes long) is an excellent, genre-bending 7-chapter mythological horror story that blends elements of atmospheric black metal, technical thrash, progressive melodeath, and neoclassical power metal. It is an incredibly mature release that is bounding with energy, aggression, and intensity.

Breakneck thrash-influenced riffs? Check.
Neoclassical guitar with atmospheric/symphonic strings and woodwind? Check.
Blackened shrieks, death metal snarls, and thrash howls? Check.
Melody, technical artistry, and obviously tight and talented musicianship? Check, check, and check.

Blacken The Sun opens by crafting a haunting tone and epic atmosphere replete with chiming bells, ravens, light rainfall, a wolf howling in the distance, and a multi-string section. Take a look at the cover art and consider how it might sound? You'll find out soon enough, as track one paints the cover art flawlessly against the aural backdrop of an impending thunderstorm.

This dark, eerie tone flows straight into old-school Bay Area-esque riffage, rumbling bass lines, death-thrash screams, and strings with dual harmony guitar leads. The 7-minute opus fades slowly as the faint rainfall returns, building with an atmospheric string crescendo to more thrashing riffage that follows.

This is a recurring musical theme throughout the release: a beautiful somber interlude - perhaps as a full song ("The Smouldering Of Ashes") or a bridge within a song. An uptempo time change. Brutal thrash riffage. Soaring guitar work that alternates between heavy chugging and neoclassical/power metal guitar harmonies. A drum march, perhaps a bit of doom/dirge. An atmospheric fade out. Next song loads and the attack reinitiates.

Lyrically, the influences mentioned on Elyrean's bandcamp page include Lovecraft and Greek mythology, and this shines throughout the record.
"My sanity splits at the seams, hollow shell of perfected beauty, so close yet out of reach."
"Tear down the skies, as flames ignite.
Eclipse the light, casting my shadow, I'll blacken the sun."

Standouts include "Distorted Reality", the most distinctly classic thrash song here (with some of the best apocalyptic lyrics), as well as the title track and "Fallen Ground". That said, there isn't a single weak moment on this release. Every album, of course, MUST have a weakness. I'm sure as I continue to listen, I'll eventually figure out what it is.