Ellereve‘s dreams continue.
Despite a rather timid start in 2019, Elisa Giulia Teschner (vocals/guitar), Darwin Ardales (guitar), Salomon Appiah (bass), and Kajetan Abber (drums) unveil their third album under the Eisenwald banner, Umbra, in 2025.
They are assisted by Christoph Knoll (Agrypnie, Asphagor, Perchta) on guitar.
An Avalanche of Shudders slowly opens the way with a soothing tranquility inhabited by Elisa‘s misty voice, then finally disturbed by heavy and threatening saturation before seeing the cohabitation settle in naturally. The track ends somewhat abruptly, giving way to Like a Moth to a Flame, where dissonant touches join the doom/post mix that flares up from time to time, but which also knows how to leave the vocalist alone to reconnect with gentleness. It’s also worth noting that she doesn’t hesitate to reveal a certain anxiety in her sometimes trembling voice, while she drapes herself in a veil of mystery on the disturbing Crawl, which starts next and carries us away with its haunting sounds. The heaviest riffs make us imperceptibly shake our heads before moving on to Shores of Solitude, which is much more energetic and even offers moments of rare intensity before calming down again on The Funeral, which follows with its soaring sounds. The track progresses slowly and then explodes, tossing us from one extreme to the other with ease until Irreversible temporarily comes to our aid, providing a moment of sweetness before finally giving way to an oppressive sound. A few ritualistic tones are also included in this slow progression to reach the break, then the sound picks up again before giving way to The Veil of Your Death. The sound is decidedly darker, welcoming the tortured screams of Michael Kogler (Karg, Harakiri for the Sky, Lûs) responding to the haunting clean vocals, perfectly complementing the ambient aggression to make this track one of the most unpredictable, unlike Swallowed & Disguised, which is impressively gentle and consistent, naturally announcing each moment. The leads linger before Lost in Longings, which returns to the vaporous tones but lasts only a short while, then the musicians resume with the disturbing Unravel, where they eventually welcome David “Eklatanz” Conrad (Heretoir), first timidly, then with his intense, saturated vocals, tinging the song with a touch of despair. The final is much calmer, but it leads into Trauma, the album’s final composition, where the sound is initially quite soft, then gives way to noisy, dissonant tones and finally that heavy silence.
Although its tracks are fairly short, Ellereve has a unique sound identity that captivates us with every riff. If you let it, Umbra will hypnotize you and play on repeat indefinitely, making you lose track of time.
85/100
