Album Review: Epitaph - Path To Oblivion
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
With a mysterious sounding self-titled opening track, which feels like one of those build ups to a person about to get stabbed in a slasher movie, it’s an intriguing insight into the mindset of Italian doom metallers Epitaph, who are set to unleash their seventh album upon the masses.
“Path to Oblivion” begins in earnest with the wonderfully title “Embraced by Worms” which sees a wickedly evil riff from guitarist Lorenzo Loatelli allowing vocalist Ricky Dal Pane, who is singing with the band for the first time, to paint the gloomy picture with his atmospheric range. It’s a slow burning track, but for those who like dark, doom metal, then you’ll enjoy it immensely. It’s followed by another haunting track, “Condemned to Flesh” where you can hear the drums from Mauro Tollini front and centre of the mix, and it sets a great tone for the song. There’s some solitude in the middle with a slightly out of place section, but then the evil power is summoned again and kicks in.
The whole album is a mix of doom and progressive metal to create a darker side to the music, and this is encapsulated perfectly in “Nameless Demon”, it ticks along smoothly and efficiently and Dal Pane, shows more emotion with his vocal range across the seven minutes of music. These sounds are more intense and when the bass from Nicola Murari picks up, you can feel it in your chest. We have a little reprieve with “Reborn in Blasphemy” which has the appearance of being in “The Omen” before “Voice Behind the Wall” comes blasting out of the speaker, with a bit of a faster pace. They still have that trademark doom sound, but with the middle section riff, the song comes alive much more, allowing Loatelli to showcase his talent.
With original singer Giampi Tomezzoli coming back to the fold to add more depth and atmosphere with keyboards across several of the songs, “Kingdom of Slumber” is a track that feels like an ominous threat, like a stalker searching out their next victim. It’s one hell of a song, and has several tempo changes inside it, which brings out the moodiness of the music. It all ends with “Fall from Grace”, another seven minute plus song, which feels like a finely tuned engine of an Italian sports car, purring along with pride, stirring emotions as the band release their last bit of spookish energy.
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