Edenshade
The Lesson Betrayed

The Italian metal underground has achieved an exuberant qualitative compactness in recent years, presenting the public with more than one valid band for every existing genre. If gothic metal has found excellent representatives in Domina Noctis, Hortus Animae, and Mandragora Scream, among the standard-bearers of the most progressive, modernist, and innovative death metal we discover Edenshade, a band from the Marche region that has been active for a few years and has one studio work behind them with the enigmatic title "Ceramic placebo for a feint heart". Debuting in the summer of 2006 for the excellent My Kingdom Music, whose brand always represents a guarantee of absolute quality for every record released under its protective wing, the band managed with the ten songs of "The lesson betrayed" to merge into their sound the good compromises between melody and heaviness that made Dark Tranquillity famous, time changes and keyboard elegance of the progressive school (with a certain disenchanted and saturnine aftertaste), and a taste for melodies traceable to the electro-rock of Subsonica, sealing it all in more than captivating arrangements, assisted by an excellent production (by Massimiliano Pagliuso and Giuseppe Orlando of Novembre) and a well-curated, intriguing digital artwork. It's impossible not to shout for a miracle in front of the unpredictability that animates every single track of the setlist; even a non-enthusiast of the genre (such as myself) cannot remain impassive in front of schizophrenic and attractive tracks at the same time like those contained in these explosive forty-two minutes of music.

My first contact with the band's music occurred with the listening of the opener "Tmèsis", which left me stunned. Dry guitar riffs interrupted abruptly by whispered vocals marry with keyboard backgrounds and give space to the voice, more versatile than ever in switching from melodic tones to a cavernous and suffering growl, only to spill over into an anthemic and pathos-rich chorus. A solo of clear progressive inspiration breaks in halfway through the track, releasing the accumulated tension that is directly picked up by the wounded voice reciting a verse in Italian, allowing again the sonic wall of guitars to assault the listener mercilessly, before the chorus returns to envelop the limbs, fading into the atmospheric reverb of the keyboard. The subsequent "That blind", with its schizophrenic charge, is unstoppable; its beat is pounding, driving and the few melodic concessions are the perfect blend of technique and passion, qualities perhaps somewhat alien to certain bands dedicated to progressive material. The delicate keyboard notes in "They" melt the heart in their melancholic breaths, while the frontal assaults of the more violent parts capture the listener to take them into an unstoppable vortex of anger and lucid madness; at the end, the two components intertwine in a bittersweet and passionate contrast. "The drop" is yet another proof of the superb vocal versatility of the singer, who can easily switch from a cavernous and harsh growl to sick whispers and anguishing screams to the disillusioned melodic singing characteristic of Subsonica, which in this case is predominant in the rendition of the track, one of the most anthemic of the lot. The title track is also yet another compromise between melody (with a romantic piano solo closing beautifully) and power. At times, it even seems like you hear a violin in the background. Moving through the mix of autumnal sadness and blind rage of "Contemplate", Edenshade turns to "Trust in me", a brief electronic intermezzo before violence returns to dominate in "As water", where Subsonica's style is again molded into a thundering and irregular metallic triumph, seemingly distant from this Turin band's rock base (but never closer than in this case). Impressive as always is the piano, which cloaks the song's more melodic passages in resignation, the growl terrifying in obsessively repeating the track's title, the guitars immortal. "Insect" follows the same line as the previous track; however, I'd like to note how the chorus in this case is almost harmonious and how the Italian language splendidly adapts to Edenshade's music. To close beautifully, there's a moving piano-symphonic episode (only dirtied by claustrophobic electronic percussion) full of suffering and desolation, echoing with dark languors.

Every now and then, let's forget about Dark Tranquillity; Edenshade is the new glory of melodic death metal in Italy, a stunning revelation ready to be recognized at international levels and worthy of being appreciated not only by the usual consumers of this type of music.