Band:	Odes Of Ecstasy
Album:	Odes Of Ecstasy
Style:	Gothic metal
Release date:	2006
A review by:	KwonVerge

01. Rapping Darkness
02. Filthy Monster
03. Threatback
04. Hearteater
05. Fallen Messiah

Odes Of Ecstasy hail from Greece and managed to return during 2006 with a brand new offering, for promotional use this time though. Not only they returned with a change of line-up, they also managed to offer a different musical face from what they had shown in the past with their two previous releases, "Embossed Dream In Four Acts" and "Deceitful Melody", which were moving in atmospheric death metal with both grunting male and ethereal female vocals. Their main composing core is based on death metal definitely, but the sense of melody in the overall aggressive atmosphere is quite intense and it is being expressed through the melodic lead guitars and the keyboard passages that make their appearance here and there.

I have to admit that with the first listen i found the album just interesting, it didn't leave me so impressed, but i kept on listening and listening to this promo and after a few spins it revealed a beautiful world where aggression and melody come together and create some really strong and intense soundscapes! And allow me to say that after these many listens i gave to this album it was the production that "kept" beside for me to discover the fabulous ideas of the band and also sounds that were buried a bit, but well, we shouldn't have so many expectations in the production from a self-financed release, especially here in Greece since i know how the underground here works. I don't want to underestimate the production, but it's a bit blurry and this genre requires some strong and clear production in order to reveal every single idea and emotion of the band since Odes Of Ecstasy incorporate both emotional and dynamic soundscapes.

The guitar work is very good, from the groovy death metal guitar riffing to the melodic and emotional lead/solo guitars everything flows in an unerring way, i definitely loved the lead guitars since they evoke various emotions, from melancholy to a more heavy approach etc. The vocals are aggressive and intense, never failing to evoke emotions despite their more powerful edge, something that reminded me of In Flames and Soilwork since they can achieve this through their vocal lines as well. Something i enjoyed a lot was the fact that the bass lines are always present in the final mix! George Pagidas offers some high quality and ultra groovy bass lines and along with the powerful drumming of Nikos Simigiannis they present a fabulous rhythm section that holds tight the compositions! As for the keyboards, whenever they appear they present some really beautiful and inspired passages that make the music of Odes Of Ecstasy more affected, sounding either more electronic or more atmospheric, but they tend to get "buried" a bit under the slightly blurry production.

Five compositions filled with groove, heaviness, power and emotion is what Odes Of Ecstasy offer in this promo release and i really think they deserve a contract with a label in order to continue their course in the world of metal with the production and the funds they deserve! With this self-titled promo EP Odes Of Ecstasy show their new musical phase/face which is actually remarkable, well-conceived and well-expressed, so if any of the labels is reading this review it would be good to give them a listen and a chance to prove you of what they are worth.