Having the chance to listen to the band's demo CD a couple of years ago I was happy to receive their latest (and official debut) studio attempt called Black Heart Process. It's really a pleasure to see Greek acts sign with foreign labels in order to release their work. More and more the last few years I finally witness the fall of the last borders between Greece and the civilized world. However there were more surprises than meets the eye on this CD.
As far as I recall the band's demo CD, entitled A Mourning Ocean..., was a nice blend of Gothic and dark / Doom Metal very close in vein to bands like Opeth or My Dying Bride. It seems however that the departure of several members and the addition of new ones (to be more precise Eleana V. (vocals) and Stavros D. (keyboards) left the band while Akis P. took over the keyboards) gave the band a certain change of musical direction. The outcome is a more extreme oriented package of music.
In their debut album Ethereal Blue seem to be more influenced than ever before by Black Metal. Without losing their identity they have crafted a really heavy album, much more technical when compared to their Demo, with mature compositions and a rather surpassing personality for a newcomer band. I always considered the ability some bands might have of personalizing their sound as a major bonus. It's not that Ethereal Blue manage to avoid every single cliché of the genre, after all some clichés are those that often define a genre, but considering their young age I can say with hand on heart they have done some major steps ahead in their sound.
This is probably not the best time to manifest such kind of music? Probably, but none can defy after listening a couple of times to this CD that a lot of passion and effort have been invested upon it. Definitely a band the fans of the genre should look out for.