Talking about bad chemistry. Talking about some things you simply can't water down and blend. Talking about trying to sound like ICED EARTH meets LEAVE'S EYES and fail in all levels. That's what's all about the debut release of US based ECHOES OF ETERNITY.
The band formed in 2005, signed a deal with Nuclear Blast in 2006 and released their debut in 2007. Formed by guitarist Brandon Patton and drummer Kirk Carrison soon to be followed by bassist Duane Cowan. Final touches were added with the additions of lovely Francine Boucher (vocals) and guitarist Sam Young.
Two distinct parts in this album: music (referring to the instrumental aspect) and vocals. Music wise this album will bring in mind the mid period of ICED EARTH with pompous guitar riffs, technical segments and all the related stuff. Not bad BUT from a point on you get the feeling you are listening the same riff over and over again. And what about the vocal lines? Yeah as I mentioned earlier Francine Boucher has many resemblances in her style with LEAVE'S EYES front-woman Liv Kristine.
Unfortunately most of the time you get the impression that vocal lines and music are so caught in the middle. Only in a few occasions the band delivers a packed album, sorry but I guess some things don't blend easily. I am really curious also to see what kind of a live show this band can deliver (will Francine find some space for her voice between the relentless riffing?).
Without being a bad album this looks like an experiment that failed. Good intention some time is not enough. It's obvious that there are some good players in this band and maybe in the future they will find the element they miss the most (that also happens to be the most important one): chemistry.