Liste des groupes Death Gothique Envyra Post-Human Orison

Seven years after the split-up of the Italian Speed Metal band, Athem, the Smaldone brothers regrouped as a two pieced band named Envyra. Their first effort, Post-Human Orison, shows them progressing into an exciting new direction of the Death Gothic genre.

Their experience as Speed Metal musicians stands out in the Death Metal parts of the songs. They play an accessible style of Melodic Death Metal, with Gothenburg influences; like In Flames or Nightrage. Displaying sophisticated shredding melodies, with a slight fuzzy distortion on the guitars, to establish the metallic integrity of the music.

Every now and then their songs break into a mysterious ambiance with a progressive flair, akin to Communic or the Blue Oyster Cult. The music will occasionally warp into slower speeds, to give it a Doom Metal effect like Umbra Nihil. Subtle keyboard melodies play along in the background. This provides the musical structure for the melodramatic atmosphere, that is very typical in Gothic Metal. Envyra approach with mystical themes that recur throughout their lyrics, making many references to "lord" or "salvation". The word "orison" in the album title is defined to mean prayer. But they don't claim any religion in the booklet.

Rocco sang clear vocals or sometimes chanted somberly like a priest, to accompany the Gothic interludes. His drumming often sounded like simple repetitions, but from time to time, he would break out with some intricate beat patterns. The grim vocals sounded monstrous, yet soft spoken. Sort of like Incantation. They were the work of Mancan, from Ecnephias.

I don't see a lot of room for improvement on this album. Maybe they could use more sound effects, like Rush or the Blue Oyster Cult did. This is one of those rare pieces of metal art, that are scarcely crafted. I listen to this album a lot and it's one of the best that I've come across this year.