For the last couple of years, The Artisan Era has been on a consecutive roll releasing quality over quantity albums that have been met with such high praise and amazing bands coming out of the technical and progressive death metal community. Since then, they’re a label that I’ve been a fan since 2019 and coming from someone who’s favorite genre is technical and progressive death metal, there’s killer bands on the horizon to be surely keeping a eye out and one of them happens to be a band residing from my neck of the woods known as The Devils Of Loudun and their debut full-length Escaping Eternity.
After releasing two solid EPs, this debut full-length has everything you ever wanted in a metal album. Its got technical death metal riffage, melodic death metal arrangements, symphonic driven melodies and a melodic black metal atmosphere that is so accessible I can’t even describe how perfectly crafted and adventurous this album truly came to be. Everything from the compositional work, lyricism, production and ambition within the tracks are naturally flavored and designed so magnificently well that it has so much to offer with how deep and melancholic at times the album is portrayed. Stylistically, if you heard a band within the melodic, technical and progressive death metal scene chances are you’ll be accustomed to what is expected.
From the distinctive and primitive vocals, audible guitar and bass tones, drums sounding primal and furious as ever before, the way these musicians have captivated the songs and structures really represents its true identification since the album has amazing storytelling that reflects on fantasy, video games, horror and science fiction. I would say tracks like The Death Of Sleep, The Scourge Of Beasts, Formless, Incarnate and the killer intro leads of Abysswalker has interesting drum fills, unique guitar leads, solid melodies and bone-crushing bass signatures are really seem on point as every member provided give it a nice balance, touch and sense of sound on what they’re utilized in. As mentioned above, the instrumentals provide a much more thickened, structured and complex style that is unique and comfortable without losing sense of sound, touch and sensation. Escaping Eternity represents personal characters that engages the listener to feel ambitious, realistic and dynamic.
Overall Score: 9.5/10
Review by Jake Butler
