2 tracks for more than 20 minutes of slow and dirty Metal; heavy and dark like a swamp in spring (swamps are Doom indeed). What strikes on this EP is the quality of the sound. Contrarily to let’s say 90% of such crunchy bands, Eibon’s sound is, for want of a better word, really 'clean' ... Which is ironic, given how filthy the music is in fact! You clearly hear every single instrument. And that’s precisely what makes those songs so brutal: you have your teeth jumping in your gums everytime a bass chord is hit! And a nasty taste of rust that stays in the mouth.
Despite a few melodic inputs, Eibon is crushing as a rock falling on your head. And as cold also, as a matter of fact. George Balafas, Eibon’s throat master, whom I know from the Death Metal band Drowning, makes the difference and helps Eibon to reach the upper level.
In terms of influences, oddly enough you do not find the classics Eyehategod, Iron Monkey or Buzz-oven on top (although they are mentioned in the album); there’s a far more predominant Black Sabbath’s Master Of Reality and Volume 4 vibe in the whole thing. And miracle! It works great!
Because as dirty and paranoid as it is, Eibon’ Doom is wonderfully psychedelic. But not super-slimey as you could have hoped, considering the Sludge tag. Let’s consider the first song: ‘Asleep And Threatening’. It’s almost the perfect prototype of a mix between pure Sludgecore, greasy Stoner and more traditional Doom. That’s the kind of music that ought to resound when one sees the Great Cthulhu in dreams, sleeping in his sunken city of R'lyeh. It’s a desperate song... it stinks junkie’s sweat after a fix ...
The very melodic and almost bluesy intro of ‘Staring At The Abyss’, the second track, almost gives a sense of rest. But as soon as the guitars are plugged in again, all what is left is desolation, cities in ruins and abandoned moors. Well that’s what inspires me the music in any case!
If this EP should be a colour, it would be grey: grey ashes of a devastated land, a lead-grey sky, heavy and stormy, totally indifferent to our little human beings’ problems. Sludge Doom that releases an almost Black Metal coldness, this is not within everyone’s reach. At times, Eibon even reach the shores of Post-Hardcore, and the music can only become more beautiful.
Sludge is rednecks’ War Metal. Instead of atomic punks in studded leather, it stands for loony degenerated cannibals hunting tourists through deserts or forests. But with this EP, Eibon demonstrates that such fucked-up monsters alo have feelings, that they are capable of emotions. Looking into the Abyss? No problems! The question is : will you keep all your sanity when you will discover what lurks there, and when the Abyss will look at you in return?...
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