It has been almost two years; two years we had to wait for the successor of the nameless EP, but finally Belgium’s finest Eleanora return with a new pièce d’art, called Allure, once again under the protective wings of Consouling Sounds. The reason why I was so impatiently waiting, well, I’d like to invite you to check out the review I wrote for that mini-album, which was published on September 9th 2014…
This time everything was recorded and mixed at the Much Luv Studio, and the result clocks forty-four minutes. Allure continues the very same path of its predecessor, and that goes for both song writing, performance and sound. Please continue…
With the eleven-minute opener Menis, Eleanora show that the former recording wasn’t just a coincidental highlight. Damn, it’s truly incredible to experience this massive experience (did I use ‘experience’ twice in one sentence – what an experience this must be…). No, seriously, that opening track is already a monumental monster, bringing a top-notch execution of Post-Black, Ultra-Sludge and Doom-core superiority, with a permanently present arousal, highly-crafted craftsmanship (which goes for both composing and performing), and so much to undergo, though being executed in a highly coherent package. Simply translated: this opener is quite diverse and variative, but permanently of a superb quality in play and essence. Or even more simplistically put: Menis is waw!
Believe, me, for the former paragraph might lack of depth (though…): that opener is a top-track in all facets. But it isn’t but the first out of four, and everything has yet to start. Sovereign In Mind, Subjected In Kind starts quite integer, but once again the power, the subtlety, the majesty is hearable as from the very first chords. Really, tell me, how is it possible to combine so much emotions into a mélange of ultra-heavy riffing, fierce rhythmic empowerment and truly skin-scraping screams, all at the same time? Eleanora will give you the answer, they define this incredible (and elegant) symbiosis. This Doom-paced piece withholds a nasty eruption of explosive malignancy, and even then the band maintains its sublime / subtle craftsmanship to focus on melody and compositional elegance. There are so many layers, organically canalised into a one-directional approach, and such finesse is extremely rare. My Scepter, Sword Of Vengeance initially continues within the very same sphere, though the focus on the sludgy aspects might be much more intense. But here too, despite the short length (haha, 8:31, and therefore the shortest piece), there is so much to pass through. Even more than before, this composition expresses the heart of ‘Post’ Metal, yet still maintaining the basic strength(s) of the universality and timelessness of the current scene.
And then, finally, everything comes to its apotheosis, its grand finale, its orgasm, by means of the fourth and last track, the lengthy piece Telos (which clocks sixteen minutes). This is energy, this is sublimity, this is top-craftsmanship when talking about Black / Sludge / Post Metal whatsoever. Every single minute there is something else to go through, whether it be dreamlike hypnosis, massive anger or doom-laden spheres, all translated into sonic forms of Aural Art.
And I would like to end this review with a (short) word about the sound quality. Well, it’s just sublime. The equilibrium in between all instruments has been balanced out the most righteous way, with an equal role for all players, no matter whether we’re talking about lead or rhythm guitars, vocals, bass lines or drum patterns. Seriously, like the former recording, although being registered in another studio with another producer / engineer, the sonic result is, within this kind of Musical Grandeur, of a top-quality: little rough and unpolished, yet decently mixed, fine-tuned, and focusing on all individual elements in order to reach the highest result. Mission accomplished!
I do not follow trends (normally), but I am about to add ‘album of the year’ yet…