It’s nice when those little surprises pay off. As a teenager blind buying was commonplace for me, now in the digital age and with a wealth of Metal knowledge (if I do say so myself) there isn’t much I’m surprised by. So it’s nice now and then to dip into the unexpected which is something I did with our band for today, Epitaphe. It really paid off too, so if you take nothing else from this review, try something new today.

With that bit of inspirational quoting out of the way let’s look back to Epitaphe. Since their 2019 debut simply titled I it would be safe to say that I think the band are creeping up the popularity scale. Just one look at their bandcamp reviews is surely a gleaming example of their praise and talent, and rightly so. Although, they could always stand to get some more. I was very excited to be asked to review the bands second full length, titled what else but II, naturally. I couldn’t wait to get on board with more of the bands huge Death Doom mania, but how did it play out?

Sycomore opens in atypical beauty. Slow, soothing acoustics that conjure up images of summer days and the decadence of nature. Epitaphe have such a joyous quality to their massively emotive music and are just about one of the only bands whom I think can easily get away with a three minute acoustic opening track (and make it good). Then it’s into the first of three all out atmospheric Death Doom delights, this one being Celestial. Huge soaring clean vocals create a different type of inspiration than the intro, metallic, hard hitting and yet still all-encompassing of the bands vast style. The drums remain relentless and guitars powerful, weaving and hypnotic, tying in perfectly with the clean/ harsh vocal divide. Perhaps most impressive is the bands ability to weave seamlessly between savage Metal poundings and otherwise Post-Rock/ Metal passages, it’s a wonderful mix that I can happily listen to for hours. Melancholia follows in similar fashion bridging the gap in the album experience nicely.

Therein lies the phrase ‘album experience’ this isn’t really an album of separate tracks, it’s a full composition and work within itself. The bulk might be the trio of almost twenty-minute songs but in reality they flow and in truth the total album length is but one song. I’m impressed at how Epitaphe can keep a level of enjoyment throughout such a long period too. Especially when you consider the nature of Death Doom as a trudging slog, you’d think it could get a touch boring right? Well no, it’s borderline sublime and perfect music fit for almost any breed of devotee to Metal. The final big push is Insignificant (that’s the name, it’s actually very significant), again, further blinding Death Doom bliss with an array of atmospheric, progressive and epic influence. Another acoustic track ends the full album, it’s again delicate and indicative of the massive and worthwhile journey perpetuated by this wonderful band.

In short there basically isn’t anything wrong with this record, as such I think that my score reflects that. I don’t really think I can criticise any of it. The intro and outro are perfectly placed and work amazingly, the meat of the release is a total roller coaster and it fits almost any mood. You could just as easily be going mental and headbanging like a maniac or laying on the floor meditating, it’s a strange, cosmic and wonderful journey, one which I just cannot fault.

(10/10 George Caley)

https://www.facebook.com/epitaphemetal

https://epitaphe.bandcamp.com/releases

https://www.aestheticdeath.com/releases.php?mode=singleitem&albumid=5504