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Ecliptic

As Of Yet Unknown

Written by: EW on 15/10/2010 15:52:26

Little known Virginia residents Ecliptic, apparently formed way back in 1999, have attempted to break the mould on their debut album "As Of Yet Unknown" by injecting the melodic black metal rhythms and tones at their core with a strong progressive nature and flirtation with very prodigious solos and variations into acoustic and post-black metal territory. Yes I know reading that you have the right to think "I've heard that before", as like everything else in the metal world it has previously been espoused by all manner of artists, but one can at least congratulate Ecliptic on making their version of the style a decent and mildly captivating listen. "Empyrical Sphere" and "The River Flows On" beg to be enjoyed with their powerful lead riffs that recall Woods of Ypres and the masterful Agalloch, a task easily done before the acoustics, somewhat insipid yet also clearly personal and honest, glacially lead these two towards their terminal breaths.

As you may have guessed from the couple of references already used Ecliptic are devoid of many of black metal's OTT cliches, pulling on the earthy, ambient and pagan ties but ultimately falling short of the top bands in that/those gloriously expanding genre(s). Through "The Five Ways", “Sleep Of Reason” and the more promising “Once Becoming” which nevers matches it’s early progress, a cursory scratch below the surface will reveal not only a very mediocre guitar tone that does nothing to separate Ecliptic from the horde, but the unmistakable sound of a band still learning how to hone their songs to a sharp and decisive point, both in the harsher and reflective ambient moments. Given that is hardly no insult as that is exactly where Ecliptic are on the scale of small-bands-on-the-way-up that all are forced to climb and the realisation this is a self-release, they have shown much promise to reach such a level which many never achieve. Such a status leads me to conclude that Ecliptic could one day release a very decent record however seeing them at the forefront of their niche genre might yet be some way off purely on the basis of "As Of Yet Unknown".

Download: Empyrical Sphere, The River Flows On
For the fans of: Agalloch, Woods of Ypres
Listen: Myspace

Release date 05.05.2010
Self-released