Elyrean - Blacken The Sun - guest review
Elyrean - Blacken The Sun - guest review
Band
Elyrean Album
Blacken The Sun Style
Technical thrash metal Website
https
Release date
December 14, 2019 Tracklist
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
Guest review by
sgtrobo January 03, 2021
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.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 10 |
Written by sgtrobo | January 03, 2021
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Comments
Comments:
11
Visited by
34 users
 Posts: 64550 |
Posts: 64550
To me its more as a album.
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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Posts: 642 Written by Bad English on 04.01.2021 at 17:09 what do you mean?
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Posts: 64550 Written by sgtrobo on 05.01.2021 at 06:26 Its not a EP, but album as it lenght
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die" I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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Posts: 642 |
Posts: 642
Ah yes, totally agreed. Heck, it is an EP that is longer than half of Vader's discography!
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 Posts: 9645 |
Posts: 9645
Hey, congrats on your first review!
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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Posts: 642 |
Posts: 642
Thanks! hope it didn't suck. 
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Posts: 9645 Written by sgtrobo on 06.01.2021 at 17:55 My first review sucked a lot more.
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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Posts: 642
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Posts: 203  |
Posts: 203 Written by sgtrobo on 08.01.2021 at 06:46 Other than the score being too high I think it was a solid review, I had a good sense of what the album was going to be like so big thanks. As far as the album goes it's a solid release and has plenty of strong moments, I also am a sucker for this genre so it was a welcome release. I can't say I'd choose this over the earlier releases by Sylsosis which this seems really similar to imo. It also seems more like progressive thrash to me rather than technical thrash which is what it's labeled on MS. I see this is from 2019, do they have a full release pending?
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Posts: 642 |
Posts: 642 Written by chomskeet on 19.02.2021 at 03:57 Their EP was 40 minutes, so I think they mislabeled it as an EP. Read a few interviews, and they think it should be out this year, it'll be ~60 minutes. They also did mention that they are huge Sylosis fans. as for genre tags, fuuuu....I dunno man, really tough to pin them down. technical progressive thrash makes sense to me
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 Posts: 3449 |
Posts: 3449
Yo! This music's right up my alley! Thanks for sharing this progressive, technical thrash/death gem! And, although I know I'm very late to this party, but congrats on your first review! 
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