Album Review: Cruel Life Inside - Eclipsis Vitae
Reviewed by Richard Oliver
Eclipsis Vitae is the debut album from Cruel Life Inside. Forming in 2017, they are a three piece from Calabria in Italy made up of Angelo Pellicano om vocals, Francesco Brisinda on guitars and programming & Giando Sestito on bass. The only previous release was the single Loricum in 2019. Loricum is also a song on the album showing that Eclipsis Vitae has been in the making for some time.
Cruel Life Inside are a bit of a mixing pot of different dark and atmospheric metal sounds. There is a lot going on with elements of atmospheric black metal, doom metal and gothic metal all prevalent in the music on Eclipsis Vitae. The result is some very dark, atmospheric and forlorn music spread across 41 minutes. Of the seven songs three are instrumentals in the form of an intro, interlude and outro meaning that there are four ‘proper’ songs Ignis is the most black metal heavy song on the album with its mix of tremolo riffs and blast-beats but as the album progresses it sheds the black metal elements with the doom elements taking centre-stage in songs such as Vernum and Loricum. The vocals from Angelo Pellicano are a mix of blackened screams and snarls and clean vocals. The clean vocals aren’t the strongest but they work in the context of the music. The guitar playing throughout is excellent especially in the solos department as they are laden with melody and emotion.
Eclipsis Vitae is a decent debut album for Cruel Life Inside. There is a bit too much in the way of padding with only seven songs and three of those being an intro, interlude and outro but the four main songs themselves are very good indeed. A nice mix of atmospheric black metal and bleak doom should make this album appeal to anyone drawn to the darker sounds of metal.
