Eibon is a five piece sludge/doom outfit from Paris, France. Formed by ex-members of Horrors of The Black Museum, the band consists of Georges Balafas (vocals), Max Hedin (guitars), Guillaume Taliercio (guitars), Stephane Riviere (bass) and Jerome Lachaud (drums). These guys know how to bring it big, in a dark and gloomy way. After one listen, its pretty obvious that this band cut their teeth listening to early Black Sabbath, specifically the self titled ‘Black Sabbath’ and ‘Paranoid’. Every now and then a release comes along that compels me to do a track by track review, and such is the case with Eibon’s first full length release, ‘Entering Darkness’.
‘Convulse To Reign’ kicks things off with a thunderous yet steady fade-in. This sets the pace for the entire album. Right around the four minute mark the song drops down into a slower drone for about three minutes or so before bringing back the pounding thunder. I can’t help but be reminded at times of maybe a remixed version of Black Sabbath’s ‘Planet Caravan’.
“Save your prayers. God is not here with us now. There is only the darkness here. And your death” are the words spoken at the beginning of the aptly named ‘Entering Darkess’, the title track and shortest song of the six. This song is full of rhythms and haunting chants which give way to horrific screams, or is Max or Guillaume creating that sound with their guitar. Either way, I say time of death, 7:20.
‘Path To Oblivion’ has a nice bass lead-in that could have been plucked from the intro to Sabbath’s ‘Hand Of Doom’. A veritable cornucopia of massive guitar riffs and chunky bass dominate this song and carry the listener along on, you guessed it, the path to oblivion.
‘Substance’ is the longest song at 14:20, and it starts off with about a minute and a half of soothing, picked electric guitar intro which leads into some scratchy feedback that gets the song going. There is an explosion around 11:39. Not a musical explosion. Just an explosion. “Fire, fire.”
‘These Chains’ and ‘Through The Eyes’ finish off ‘Entering Darkness’ on a mid-tempo and less dismal note, hinting that there may be a small flicker of light at the end of Eibon’s dark, musical tunnel. Don’t get me wrong, though, the songs still work in the overall scheme of things. Kudos to Mr. Lachaud for his superb drum work on both tracks. As ‘Through The Eyes’ fades out, you know that the end is near, and although you may not welcome it, it is the perfect compliment to the fade in of lead track ‘Convulse To Reign’. Eibon has completed the circle.
When it comes to gravelly, growling vocals I like mine nice and wet and that is exactly what Georges delivers. Any time six songs equal a total playing time of sixty three minutes and fifty three seconds, you know that you are going to be taken on a musical journey, and that is exactly what happens here. ‘Entering Darkness’ is filled with doomtastic beats, melodic riffs, and it’s lyrics are full of sorrow and pain. Killer stuff!
Tracklisting
1. Convulse To Reign 9:06
2. Entering Darkness 7:20
3. Path To Oblivion 13:53
4. Substance 14:20
5. These Chains 8:52
6. Through The Eyes 10:01
For more info
- http://www.eibonmetal.com/
- http://www.myspace.com/eibonmetal
