Echoes Of Eternity - The Forgotten Goddess review
| Band: | Echoes Of Eternity |
| Album: | The Forgotten Goddess |
| Style: | Symphonic progressive metal |
| Release date: | February 2007 |
01. Burning With Life
02. Expressions Of Flesh
03. Voices In A Dream
04. Towers Of Silence
05. The Forgotten Goddess
06. The Kingdom Within
07. Circles In Stone
08. Garden Of The Gods
09. Lost Beneath A Silent Sky
10. Adrift
Female fronted bands have been hip in recent years, with the commercial success encountered by After Forever, Within Temptation, Nightwish and in a different style Arch Enemy. But don't be fooled, Echoes of Eternity is not a re-hash of those bands. Operating into a symphonic progressive Thrash registry, the US combo presents a one-of-a-kind album with their sophomore full-length album The Forgotten Goddess. And as with all Nuclear Blast new signings, any reviewer is more expectant.
The general response to this album - as far as I can tell - is halfway where the band wanted to be. While the concept of female singer fronting a progressive Thrash band has been regarded as innovative, some have called the result uneven. The charming Québécoise Francine Bouché singing style might be too crystalline or lyrical to fit the project, despite her great energy and her alluring physique. Some songs really click in while others almost sound like two bands are playing at the same time, which is the real downfall of The Forgotten Goddess.
For having seen the band on stage recently, I can tell you that the production of this record is far from giving the right light on their songs. This album sounds flat while the sound on stage was more like Meshuggah with a female singer. From the CD, it is almost impossible to guess that they have a dynamic duo of talented guitar players. Even the live rendering of their softer single 'Voices in a Dream' was a powerful deed to behold.
Songs like 'The Kingdom Within' or 'Circles in Stone' represent Echoes of Eternity to perfection, with softer lyrical passages mixed in with harsh riffs and a progressive entwine.
Hopefully, their undergoing first major tour is giving them some exposure to the right audience. People who can see the potential of Echoes of Eternity and foresee their next album as a more polished unique blend that will swoop their initial critics away. For now, The Forgotten Goddess is a more than decent debut album, but suffers from a case of tune-down production and a recurring spasm attack of strange dissonance between the vocals and the music. At the end of the day, Echoes of Eternity is surely a band to follow in the coming years.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 7 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 9 |
| Production: | 5 |
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Written on 22.07.2007 by
Bringing you reviews of quality music and interesting questions such as: "A picture is worth a thousand words. How many words is a song worth?" I have only got so much patience and skills, you do the math. |
Comments
Comments: 16
Visited by: 90 users
| Lupas Maximus Posts: 3070  |
Nice review DemonicTutor. I perfectly agree with this. The band wants more than this result for this Cd but by time i guess that this band will be a landmark in female fronted bands. I never saw them at stage like you do but they surely have talent. This was their first Cd , they have time to improve , especial with their highly motivated singer that they have. I mean that she has talent but in this production some songs where too overated by her voice . But they surely diserve to listen to this albmun, in a way they produce something different - trash metal with a female singer. About the points that you gave , i must agree with them great one 
---- "For what point has this life if you can't realise your dreams?" -- The Divine Comedy
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| -MeTaLlIc-OwL- Account deleted |
-MeTaLlIc-OwL-
Account deleted
I saw them live a while ago, they kicked ass. I haven't heard the cd, but i got to listen to a couple songs, and i agree, the production is nothing compared with how they actually sound, o wanted to sound in the album, they're still a good band anyway  btw, it's Francine Bouche dude xD not Sandrine  cheers, good review.
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| nb Posts: 248  |
I haven't heard the CD, just some samples. But I saw them on friday in support of Symphony X, and I enjoyed the good live sound they had. I have got to say though, that some of the guitar riffs sounded similar from song to song. Still they were good riffs. The singer did a good job, too.
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| Dream Taster The Enemy Within staff Posts: 1335  |
Alright, Francine it is then. [Edited]. Thanks.
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| Jason W. Razorbliss staff Posts: 3523  |
Well, you've got me really curious to see them live now! It looks like they are doing at least 2 more stops in my area in the next 6 months, so I should have the chance  I can't really comment on your thoughts about the drastic difference in the live sound versus the studio sound until then... but, I do like the asymmetrical and just weird combinations that the mix has given the vocals to the music on the studio sound at least. I don't think the production is quite that poor because it has created a unique sound that just may not be appealing to everyone. So I'd end up giving the CD a low 8 instead (for now). Other than that, a clear review - I think I'll make up my final decision on the disc once I see them live though
---- "After silence that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." - Aldous Huxley
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| Soliloquy Posts: 1892  |
idk. i havnt seen them live. but truth be told, i was actually quite blown away by the album production. all their guitar solos, their bass, drums, and vocals somehow manage to be in the foreground. and this is something i havent seen in many albums. most of the time the guitarist tends to become egomaniac, and keep his/her volume much higher than the rest of the band, thus drowning the vocals, and bass. as much as i liked the album, i gotta say that the first half of the album kicked total ass. with tracks 1, 3, 4, and 5 being what the the height of the album. lyrically i didnt pay them much attention, but then i picked up their booklet to read along, and was laughing more often than being amused by em. the lyrics werent bad, but the booklet had so many spelling mistakes. which is weird because i have followed the band for about a year and a half before the album came out(on myspace) and the lyrics they posted up there had no spelling, or punctuation mistakes. making you think if the album was thrown together at the last minute. but either way, the album moved em. and am waiting for their second album impatiently
---- now get on your knees and worship me! -Zakk Wylde
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| KaoticKraker Posts: 5 |
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| Stalker Lone wanderer Posts: 2705  |
Sounds nice, and the production isnt bad at all IMO, Ive used to lot worse.... It seems interesting anyway, well see for how long, Ive heard it just for first time.
---- 
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| Jason W. Razorbliss staff Posts: 3523 |
Okay, I had the chance to see them live this past Saturday, and was interested to see what differences would arise in the live show versus the studio production... However, I found the band's sound very similar, except for the vocal effects found on the album were not present live, and therefore gave Francine a much more natural sound. Other than that though, I think they sounded identical to the CD, just better because it's a live show and I certainly don't have speakers that large in my home  . And the two songs they played of new material sounded equally as good as their debut, if not better in the case of one of the songs!
---- "After silence that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." - Aldous Huxley
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| rohgue123 Posts: 27  |
I think the record actually focuses more on the vocals, they add wuite a bit of effects to her voice and everything else is n the background, I feel like the producer or whoever wanted to make this album appeal more to 14 y/o hot topic girls than actual metalheads. I talked to the band, the guitarist himself says the album has alot more ambience then he would've like and that next album will have a completely different sound,
---- God has a hard-on for me.
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| rohgue123 Posts: 27 |
---- God has a hard-on for me.
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck elite Posts: 40071  |
Okay, please help me out what's Symphonic Progressive about their music? I really can't figure it out.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| Daggon Underpaid M.D. Posts: 1689  |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 23.10.2009 at 19:50 The name of the subgenre  Nothing else I guess.
---- "Les vers savent qu'ils n'ont pas d'ailes, c'est pour cela qu'ils se cachent sous terre"
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| treptolemus aphotic_zoning Posts: 207  |
Nice album with nice lyrics too. This is a mettlesome effort from the band. I think that music is contradictory with the vocals - but this is a characteristic not progressive of course, just some colours and style... All in all an album that probably i can listen many times (this is quite important nowadays with this chaotic music industry)
---- \m/etalstor\m/
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