Eodharius

“Eodharius” is the second full length album of Mind Asylum, a one man band from France. They were formed in 2006 and they released their first album in 2009. Four years after that release, they return with a more complete formation, as in this album there more session members than before, continuing in the interesting style that they presented us also in the previous album. The album contains five tracks of about forty minutes of duration. The music of Mind Asylum is placed somewhere between the violent, dark Black Metal and to DSBM.

Their sound is quite complicated as the brutal Scandinavian sound is combined very nicely with the melodic, full of sentiments sound of DSBM, giving a dark, melancholic, full of feelings result but at the same time violent and brutal. The riffs are divided into the fast tremolo riffs and the disharmonic, unpleasant riffs of DSBM, while the awesome violin adds a neoclassical touch to the final concept. Although the riffs are big in duration, Errance, the composer of the band, has done a really good job concerning the composing of the riffs and the structuring of the tracks. So he achieves to make the riffs of different style to coexist in an absolute balance with each other, while in general the tracks are not tedious and they maintain the listeners’ interest undiminished.

All the instruments have excellent performance. The guitars are clean, they deliver the energy and the feelings with accuracy and passion. The lines of the bass are not audible, but its sound fills the compositions well. Regarding the drums, also here a very good job has been done as about their technic they are perfect, played with power, passion and solidness while their lines are very interesting with much variety. The use of the violin is limited, mainly in the parts where the composer wants to make the feeling more melancholic. It absolutely fits to the composition and it adds that neoclassical element which reminded me of Sopor Aeternus. The vocals are quite expressive, harsh Black Metal vocals. The production is clean, a little bassy but in combination with the perfect mixture, they offer a very massive and full sound. The lyrics are written in French, they are contained in the cd and they have quite difficult meanings while they are written with a quite poetic language, so the few French I speak are not enough so as to understand them and deliver them.

Since their previous album, Mind Asylum has shown us that they have talent and passion for music. In their new album they make a step forward, proving that they can improve and get their level higher. “Eodharius” is a very good release which can offer to the listener a beautiful journey inside melancholy and darkness. It worth to buy it.