Band:	Ephemeral Sun
Album:	Broken Door
Style:	Instrumental, Progressive metal, Progressive rock
Release date:	December 2004
A review by:	Jeff

01. Discovery
02. Hands Of Fire
03. A Blanket Of Darkness
04. Fall Betrays The Earth...
05. ... Winter Has No Mercy
06. Broken Door
07. Walking With Frightened Angels
08. The Dance
09. Interlude
10. Rats
11. Approaching Acheron
12. A Song For Twilight

I'm a lucky guy who did the review of the first Demo of Ephemeral Sun "Prototype 19.5" but now I'm the lucky guy who is writing the review of heir first official album "Broken Door". If the demo was more than promising, I can say already that the album is only a confirmation of my whishes, original, really well written, and with a great singer Laurie Ann Haus who, one more time, give me the feeling that we don't always have to look after very famous (and commercial?) bands when we want a great female singer.

Actually, this album uses all the songs of the demo ("Fall Betrays The Earth", "Winter Has No Mercy", "Hands Of Fire" and "Approaching Acheron") with evidently in addition some new realizations. I already know that the songs of the Demo are really nice, and the question is to know if the new ones are good like the four first ones or not. I can't say the opposite, the new tracks are equal or even better than the "old" ones and really above all, I must say that this band is one of the most original act that I discovered lately. You have the proof with the music itself with is a mix between Gothic music, and a real complex Progressive Metal.
The Gothic side of Ephemeral Sun remembers me the old Within Temptation (on "Enter") with a really sad and insistent dark music, near to be Doom Metal and with an amazing female singer. On the other hand, the numerous Progressive elements of the music are really surprising. Just imagine, you're listening to a classic Gothic song but you can find in it some breaks of true Progressive Metal (with for example some tortured and complex guitars or keyboard solos). I'm sure that a lot of you will find it weird, but when we think about it, (and when you listen to it) it works. That's not shocking at all, and it's funny to see that these two really different styles can be mixed like that actually. That's a great idea from this band I can't deny it?

All the songs are good, believe me we are in front of something new, original and varied produced by a bunch of talented musicians who know how to write and play Metal. A good point for me comes from the fact that in any case someone will say one day that it is a sell-out band which only wants to do something for a massive media exposure. At the opposite, this music is not really easy of access, I mean that I really enjoy it, but it's not easy for everybody in my opinion, to be addicted easily to the particular sound of Ephemeral Sun. Don't expect any commercial catchy choruses in this album, that's not the style of these musicians to do something like that, and really that's good to see that some of them are able to do that again today? This is a pure Atmospheric music, and here all is matter of ambiances, and emotions and the nice production of the cd with instrumental songs like sad ones or heavy ones is great. The sound is perfect the artworks fit with the CD, really that's hard one more time with a band of Laurie Ann Haus to find something bad.

Aficionados of Prog Metal or Gothic music, this CD is a must for you and I'm wondering why this band doesn't have any deal with a label? Let's hope for them that it will happen soon, they deserve it more than anyone else because "Broken Door" is a great, original and surprising album that all the real musical lovers will have to buy if they want to see that it is not always the famous big bands which know and use creativity?