Eibon is a 5-piece act from France featuring long-experimented
guys involved in various death/doom acts
throughout the last 20 years ( Drowning, Garden Of Silence, Astral Rising,
Horrors of the Black Museum…). The band’s name is derived from H.P. Lovecraft’s
horror universe, in which Eibon is a wizard, whose name also entitles a book.
Their first release is dated back to 2006, a split with HANGMAN'S Chair, and
since then they have worked out a mini-CD, one
full-length album and another split.
Their sound is hard to label – it is located somewhere
between aggressive sludge, atmospheric and heavy doom and uncompromising black
metal. They combine raw, pounding riffs with rather melodic parts and sparely inserted vocals,
that aren’t forged ahead, but are rather used to underline the malicious
atmosphere. Thereby, Eibon create something slow and painful, which is not only
dragging around its heavy body, but from time to time also arises to head
forward – leaving nothing but devastation.
The record “II” is their second album and was released
in spring 2013 through throatruiner / aesthetic death records. It holds two
tracks that merge into each other seamlessly, each of them a monstrous chunk of
around 20 minutes playing time.
The first track is called “The Void Settlers” and
starts with some acoustic feedback, thus setting up the following crusade with
an almost awkwardly tense atmosphere. After some distorted spoken words, their
music turns out to be something forceful. The fast pace at the beginning, which
is led both by the crushing guitar riffs and the pounding drums, instantly
reminds me of a crusade or a cruel hunt – straightforward, the aggressive wall
of sound forges constantly ahead without compromise; resembling an army of
violent, sweaty horsemen hunting down some beast.
Soon, this devastating atmosphere changes – Eibon seem
to take a stop, almost sounding careful like some lurking wild animal. They
linger on the desolate battlefield with slow and heavy guitars, the already
familiar feedbacks, minimal, but neat drumming and harsh vocals, thrust out
batch-wise. The listener senses menace in the air, which is intensified by a
sample of dark summonings in French. Dark forces seem to gather again to
continue their wild crusade. And indeed, after some minutes of slow and heavy
doom sounds, drums rolling from one metre into another point out the direction
– the army sets in motion again with dense riffs and fast drumming. Still, the
vocals are only used exclusively in some parts to intensify the atmosphere, so
that Eibons instrumental creation can be perceived in detail – which is
something that should be done, as their compositions are of high quality and
very multifaceted. The Void Settlers lives from this alternation between the
fast, aggressive parts heading forward and the slow, atmospheric soundscapes
giving the listener some time to breathe deeply. The track ends as the pace
gets faster and faster, accompanied by raw vocals and high-tempo drumming
expressing the agressiveness of harsh black metal, until everything explodes
and dies away – merging into the second track.
It is called “Elements of Doom” and seems to attach
right where the first track ended – you hear noise, like the rustle of the
wind, and by melodic, but minimalistic guitar sound, a menacing soundscape is
being composed. Once the listener gets used to the atmosphere, there is an
outburst of heavy riffs and a slow, but yet forceful passage starts. It reminds
me of funeral doom with an aggressive component, latently lurking in the
background. This time, vocals are more present than in the first track,
additionally adding to the weight of the atmosphere and slightly reminding me
of some ESOTERIC songs. The heavy passage is not dragging on for too long, but
fast passages with aggressive drumming and destructive riffs wrench the
listener out of the atmospheric, leaden atmosphere. There are moments, where
the guitars with their fast, repetitive riff-structure remind me of atmospheric
black metal, yet the typical sludge impression never gets lost. Remarkable are also
melodic guitar lines that stick out from time to time, leading the song to some
cheerless point. The whole track comprises a desperate atmosphere, bearing the
touch of searching something that can never be found. After around 16 minutes
of stumbling through desolate landscapes, there is calm – the guitars fade
away, decrease to fragile echoes, sounding
from far away through the rain. One of the longest outroductions
I have ever listened to follows – the calm, dripping sound of rain and
atmospheric, ambient-like sounds create the soundtrack of something destroyed
and forgotten. (And, for all those who are patient enough to attend to the song
till its very end, there is kind of an unexpected, unconventional ending.)
It is not easy to describe my feelings for both songs
separately, as Eibon create something very complete and self-contained with
their album “II”. Both tracks convey a different atmosphere, yet they
complement one another, as the second track seems to tell on the story the
first track began. Worth to note is the variety of soundscapes you encounter
while listening to this record. I like it, how Eibon do not bother about genres
or artificial boundaries, but simply create filthy sounds without compromise –
alternating between black metal-inspired aggressive parts and heavy, leaden
doom passages, both clad in an atmospheric garb,
which I have not seen in many sludge / doom acts this way so far.
Thus, I would recommend Eibon to everyone who is into
atmospheric music and prefers variety over genre-typical sounds. “II”, which
was recorded in a live setting by the way, is not only a high-quality piece of
art considered from a technical and musical perspective, but also a hugely
expressive record, living from that special atmosphere which is also captured
in the cover art.
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