CoC : Ephel Duath - Phormula : Review

Ephel Duath - _Phormula_
(Code666, 2000)
by: Pedro Azevedo (8 out of 10)

These Italians try to stretch the boundaries of creativity within black metal in a manner somewhat akin to some of Solefald's efforts, though using very different processes. Leaving behind the Solefald comparison -- for it serves only to illustrate a certain apparent similarity of purposes (innovating with very avant-garde black metal) -- Ephel Duath use everything from strange tempos and baffling guitars to unusual keyboard work to concoct a mixture of both successful and somewhat disjointed sequences throughout _Phormula_. Some passages manage to be simultaneously innovative and enjoyable; some others, however innovative they may try to be, end up subtracting a bit from their respective track's overall value. There is a feeling of weirdness throughout the record that can either be quite challenging or rather infuriating depending on the listener -- as far as I'm concerned, it depends on the -day- itself: although I do like it, this is not a record I'd listen to any day. Nevertheless, the drum machine is well used and the band seems to have enough skill to match most of their experimentation, and despite some less than perfect passages, _Phormula_ still scores quite high in both the experimentation and enjoyability departments, which is always an achievement.

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(article published 25/10/2000)

CHATS
7/3/2002	A Bromley	Ephel Duath: The Path of Self-Rephormulation