First invocation for Evoked Eclipse.
Created in Italy by multi-instrumentalist Max Havler (guitar/bass/vocals), he called on drummer Davide Billia (drums/vocals/keyboards, Antropofagus, Beheaded, Coffin Birth, ex-Hour of Penance, ex-Putridity) to give birth to his first album, The Cries Of Evil, with the help of the Club Inferno Entertainment label.
The album opens with the gentle Enchantment, a melodious keyboard introduction that precedes The Cries Of Evil, the title track where the other instruments make their entrance, backed by tortured vocals. The track is raw and melancholic, offering piercing leads while taking advantage of the Old School approach to become majestic yet intoxicating, then leading into Land Of The White Spirit Lady, which uses much the same elements and welcomes Chiara Di Mare (Elegy of Madness, Maliant) who lends her voice to the project. The Gothic Metal touches embellish the atmosphere and allow us to breathe even during the most haunting moments, but the riffs sometimes leave all the space to the guest, deserting again on Mournishments, which serves as a piano interlude, then coming back strong for The Watch Of Spirits. The track remains focused on a rather abrasive mix that puts the guitar in the spotlight but also knows how to break down to let it become softer in the middle, and finally set off again in a wave of darkness towards Drops Of Blood, which immediately proves to be more ferocious. The vocals are also more jerky and aggressive, but the harmonics still offer us that soaring touch before turning into razor blades on Illusions Of The Life, dancing around Max‘s hoarse cries of despair. The rhythm remains fairly simple, attempting to hypnotize us during the calmest moment before finally igniting again, carrying us along to Ascension, the final track that sounds the death knell for this album with a rather heady, saturated but not virulent sound that allows us to linger a few moments longer in the atmosphere before bringing it to an end.
While Evoked Eclipse sounds great in its aggressive passages, the album is both long and short. Short, because we would have liked to continue this observation of melancholic beauty, but long because The Cries Of Evil has a rhythm all its own, sometimes even bordering on Doom. I still think the project has potential!
70/100
