willsdissolve-echoes-reviews

Review from Scene Point Blank

Tue, 12 Oct 2021 21:30:47 +0100

From: Scene Point Blank

Published: October 7, 2021

I think it’s a good rule of thumb to assume if some band has their album art done by Adam “Nightjar” Burke, it’s going to be at least a good album. While that could be an exaggeration, I’ve yet to see a bad record with album art made by that man, so that’s a good track record, right? Anyway, Wills Dissolve hit us up last year with their second album, Echoes. I speak of the album art because that’s what drew me to listen, in all honesty. I guess I was also fortunate to start listening to the record without any kind of ideas; I entered in a tabula rasa kind of mindset. I was pleasantly surprised at the end of the trip.

Echoes is a brisk journey too. It’s practically one song that spans a solid half-hour. I always had something of a soft spot for albums that do it all in one song. I think that also ties in with my bias related to liking records that are made as unitary wholes, rather than a disjointed mass of ideas. Although, even setting aside my penchant for these characteristics, I found myself enjoying the tunes very much.

The songwriting here is undoubtedly a sign of creative promise from these guys. Things are balanced neatly, while not being mired in gimmicks or attempting to go over the top just for the sake of doing it, without any foresight for execution. Everything is delivered aptly, albeit, the production quality left plenty to desire – especially for my exigent standards. Although, I wouldn’t say it’s outright bad in any particular way, it’s just that it needs to improve in order to at least match the level of the exposed ideas.

The dynamic of Echoes is satisfying and engaging, there’s a neat pacing between the aggressive and the softer elements and the transitions between them are executed with good taste. I can’t say I was blown away with anything pertaining to the riffs, or the leads, or really any element in particular. Everything seems to be solid, although no individual idea seems to elevate itself above a certain threshold. This also isn’t something to decry in any way.

We’re talking about a band with just six years of activity under their belt and only two records. They have plenty of time to refine their sound. They also have plenty of time to improve on every aspect, which is definitely an aspect to look forward to, as they’re quite a promising bunch and I’m personally excited to see where they head to next.

If you’re a fan of prog-death, you can definitely get a few kicks out of the record, although I’m not sure that fans of other areas of metal will have the patience or palate for it, but it doesn’t hurt to try – it’s only half an hour. Go check it out right now, maybe you’ll like it at least as much as I did.

Rating: 7/10

Reviewed by: Robert Miklos (Piro)

Review from Aristocrazia Webzine

Sun, 29 Nov 2020 23:19:48 +0100

From: Aristocrazia Webzine

Published: November 25, 2020

Original Link

Da sempre l’uomo volge lo sguardo verso il cielo e si interroga sull’ignoto cosmico, a tal punto da creare gruppi fortemente incentrati su ciò che le stelle possono avere in serbo per noi. I Wills Dissolve sono nati con queste premesse e, dopo un iniziale The Heavens Are Not On Fire… dalla natura grezza ma promettente, il gruppo americano ha deciso di lanciarsi nell’esplorazione spaziale con Echoes. L’unica traccia omonima, dalla durata di poco più di mezz’ora, è infatti cuore e anima di quello che Andrew Caruana e soci hanno immaginato potesse essere il possibile viaggio spaziale di un astronauta. Non un viaggio qualsiasi però, ma una missione verso l’ignoto, una spedizione di sola andata che, inevitabilmente, mette il protagonista di fronte a ogni tipo di domanda e sfida: cosa c’è oltre il limite conosciuto? Come affronterò fenomeni cosmici complessi (l’immancabile buco nero)? Come reagirò all’ineluttabilità del vuoto? Perché l’ho fatto?

Tematicamente sublime, anche perché gli eventi vengono dipanati con una tale ricercatezza da rappresentare musicalmente i diversi momenti vissuti. Se infatti l’ultima comunicazione, nonché inizio del viaggio, è rappresentata da arpeggi e dalla caldissima voce di Caruana (che ricorda spaventosamente il clean di Mikael Åkerfeldt), il viaggio attraverso l’oscurità prende sempre più la forma di un progressive melodico, neanche troppo diverso da ciò che potremmo aspettarci da artisti che si sono posti lo stesso interesse cosmico (Rush, Ayreon). Le avversità però sono di tutt’altra pasta: la perdita di contatto con la realtà e la sensazione di essere trascinati sono tutte figlie dell’esagerazione avantgarde; non negherò di averci sentito pure rimandi a The Sham Mirrors. E così che via via il nostro protagonista si perde nello spazio, temi e musica oltrepassano i limiti di un genere, alternando ritmiche da progressive death a un black metal cosmico neanche troppo distante dai carissimi Progenie Terrestre Pura.

Echoes è chiaramente una prova: un segno di brillante curiosità, condito da un’evoluzione compositiva che ottiene il mio totale rispetto e interesse, anche grazie a una custodia finemente disegnata che fa la sua figura. Una prova più che superata, che non vedo l’ora di ripetere per riaffacciarmi su quel vuoto che il quartetto texano sa rappresentare così magnificamente.

Reviewed by: Kelvan

Review from Ave Noctum

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 22:42:02 +0100

From: Ave Noctum

Published: October 21, 2020

Original Link

I went to check out the credentials of this band but unfortunately my initial general search led me to a lot of advice about post death legal documents and settling disputes. The reality of this nicely packaged album couldn’t be more different. Thanks to the label, I was able to learn that this second album from Wills Dissolve is in summary a 32-minute exploration of the loneliness and sacrifice of astro-technological advancement, and of the cosmos through space in search of another planet. I listened to the teaser and the trailer and it was clear that this is a band with a vision. It’s interesting to note that Wills Dissolve draw on the likes of Opeth, Enslaved and Swallow the Sun.

Houston calling … it’s eerie out there in space. The journey begins. “Echoes” is one movement – I’ll call it that rather than a mundane track. The singer’s voice mirrors the haunting scene. The musical development is decidedly that of Opeth. The picture builds up gradually. It’s an unknown world and Wills Dissolve bring mystery. Five minutes in, it becomes harsh both musically and vocally. A distant voice contrasts with the new leaden-heavy atmosphere. Technical metal is mixed in, and we now have a multi-coloured spectrum. At this stage you have to be ok about changes and transformations when listening to this. I would have liked a little more time to indulge in these rich tapestries as we work through many evocative scenes. The instrumentals represent ferocity as a Haken style high end vocal is superimposed before the world becomes completely black. This gives way to a lush and soft acoustic scene, matched by the reflective style and content of the lyrics. There is equilibrium. There is a now a welcome sense of timelessness. This world does not stand still however and like a rush of blood the tempo quickens and the mood gets harsher. The sound becomes more sinister and sampled, growls match the dark drum progression. The scene is now weighty. A technical flurry bursts in like a cosmic storm. The situation is becoming critical. The despairing vocalist seems to be battling against the elements as a whirlwind of heavy sounds breaks out, slows down and reappears. A heavy progressive death metal passage ensues. There’s no time for reflection now. This is an uncompromising place. The storm passes and to a melancholic-sounding acoustic background, the vocalists reflect on the status of their lives and the emptiness around them. Now we can imbibe the solitary scene and the accompanying musicianship. Like a threat, the music gets heavier and discomforting. Drums roll, sounds get distorted and growls return. It’s dark and dangerous out there. The end is chilling and sad as our intrepid travellers reflect once more on the hopeless cause. The capsule is damaged, oxygen is lost and all that is left is the cold and endless void to ponder and the vision of the narrator’s body being carried away to the abyss.

This is an album of many creative elements. My only criticism is that the journey moves too quickly at the start. I’d have liked more time to absorb the rich passages. But I settled into the musical and lyrical journey, through which Wills Dissolve expertly guide us. “Echoes” is a powerful and imaginative album.

Rating: 8/10

Reviewed by: Andrew Doherty

Review from The Elite Extremophile

Wed, 07 Oct 2020 01:51:21 +0100

From: The Elite Extremophile

Published: October 6, 2020

Original Link

Album-long songs have a rich tradition in progressive metal. Edge of Sanity’s 1996 album Crimson is the best-known of these, but Inter Arma, Meshuggah, and others have dabbled in this format. And that’s not even touching on the countless albums where the individual tracks flow together. And while any band can put a 30-plus-minute track to record, it takes another level of skill to make it consistently good. A good album-long song needs to make sense as one song, as opposed to feeling like a handful of short songs smooshed together.

Echoes—the second release from Houston-based quartet Wills Dissolve—consists of solely the 32-minute title track. The swirling, psychedelic black hole cover art is fitting for this record. The music is huge and intergalactic, yet immensely heavy and crushing.

Ominous synth drone and staticky radio transmissions set the scene in the first two minutes. A clean syncopated guitar line slowly builds as bass and light percussion join in. It gives a feeling of ascending to some astral realm. Things remain airy, but there’s a sense of impending doom permeating this passage.

Sludgy waves of death-doom metal burst out suddenly, and deep, guttural growls contrast against cleanly-sung passages. As if bursting through a sudden barrier, the music slows down and incorporates acoustic instruments. An optimistic-sounding guitar line that feels right out of Liquid Tension Experiment takes the lead, and the bassist gets in plenty of inventive licks and fills. There’s another rapid oscillation back to death metal (this time accented with Cynic-style vocoded vocals), but the transitions on Echoes never feel jarring or disjointed.

Wills Dissolve incorporate inventive, unusual timbres and textures with both their guitars and vocals. Everything operates in degrees of distortion: guitars can be acoustic, clean electric, or evil-sounding; and vocals similarly are sung cleanly, growled, or put through a synthesizer. The band experiments with layering these sounds, to great success.

As the song progresses, the slower, more plodding death-doom of early on gives way to a furious tempest of blackened death metal, though doom metal tinges remain. Gentle reprieves are smartly dispersed, so as to avoid overloading the listener with a never-ending torrent of musical brutality.

The album’s closing minutes combine thick walls of distortion with majestic clean vocals and another impressive solo. Echoes draws to a close on a calmer, more somber note from the preceding pummeling, but it fits beautifully.

Echoes is a tour-de-force of progressive death metal. The cosmic interludes help both to add gravity to the heavier moments, as well as act as palette cleansers, to keep everything fresh. Though not a long album, this one behemoth song flies by in what feels like under 10 minutes.

Rating: 91/100

Review from Cult Metal Flix

Tue, 29 Sep 2020 23:32:20 +0100

From: Cult Metal Flix

Published: September 24, 2020

Original Link

There’s only the one track here. A whopping thirty- two minutes! Hey, Doom genre put that in your pipe and smoke it (whatever that means?) The build is going to be frustrating for those not accustomed to such but for all others it’s more than worth the anticipation and dragging the ears through a landscape which appears to be patching itself together as the audio plays out. The track tells a tale; weaving a narrative of an astronaut on a deep space mission it serves to effectively convey the myriad of emotion one would endure in the same situation; including but not limited to loneliness, madness, exhilaration and dread. Melancholy winds throughout the arrangements as well instances of plunging darkness, and rhythms both delicate, technical and bludgeoning.

In short, this is an album which warrants deep exploration, several spins and patience. It grabs ahold on the first listen, though begs for familiarity, more spins, only to devour the senses the more it’s permitted entry. Influence is far and wide for an experience which is multi-faceted and undeniably spellbinding. I’m gonna spin this a great deal more in the foreseeable future. Strangely, its aura has me in a coddling caress and I’m rather liking it.

Review from Headbanging Reviews

Wed, 23 Sep 2020 19:05:12 +0100

From: Headbanger Reviews

Published: September 21, 2020

Original Link

There is a rarely seen art across the world of metal that I feel is slowly becoming more of a thing that the masses are becoming more welcome to over time, but it’s still exceeding well: the one-track album. I don’t mean a quick single and, boom, that’s it. I mean the 30+ minute experiences that are meant to challenge the listener in showing them what the band is capable of as well as an exercise for the band to see what they’re capable of. I wasn’t at all expecting Wills Dissolve to be the next act to satisfy my itch for just such music, and, yet, here we are with what’s sure to become an album of the year contender for many people!

It’s a concept that I’ve been in love with for years now, but only on rare occasions is it performed and, even then, it’s even rarer that it’s done justice. Between just trying to imagine how to stretch your sound into a much longer creation than what you’re used to, making it engaging for the listener from start to finish, and then, ultimately, for it all to sound good. Wills Dissolve made a splash with their last album not too long ago, but it is undoubtedly here with “Echoes” that we see the true brilliance of the band start to come forth in full force. With this 30+ minute work, we’re given something that instantly grabs the imagination and continuously satisfies the listener between the virtually unparalleled progressive death metal that’s constantly bleeding alongside gripping post elements that bring so much flavor to “Echoes” in a way that is no less than immense for every second that this work brings to the table, and there’s no way to deny that Wills Dissolve has done in all of the entire grandeur that’s constantly at play here. It’s a dazzling work in literally every form, and if you’re on the search for any kind of works of metal that both push boundaries and make for stunning works at the same time then you truly cannot go wrong with the excellence that is “Echoes”.

This was a surprise that I simply had no idea was coming, and that makes the true grand glory of this album shine even brighter as opposed to me being ready for what was coming. I knew that eventually I was going to have to investigate Wills Dissolve, but I truly cannot think of a better starting point than this release. “Echoes” is the very definition of a stunner, and it is undoubtedly something that I’m going to find myself crawling back to for some time.

Review from Subterraneo Webzine

Fri, 18 Sep 2020 22:21:24 +0100

From: Subterraneo Webzine

Published: September 17, 2020

Original Link

ace un tiempo que estoy en Subterraneo Webzine y en ese lapso he podido traer varias bandas de mi agrado. Una gran mayoría han sido descubiertas y traídas por mi cuenta. Otras en cambio se me han ofrecido o he descubierto gracias a este medio. Una de esas bandas fue WILLS DISSOLVE y su debut The heavens are not on fire, que me sorprendió gratamente en muchos aspectos, y por lo tanto vaticiné que en un futuro sería muy interesante ver qué pasos darían en su siguiente disco. ¡Acerté de pleno! Por este tipo de cosas me metería a adivino sin pensármelo dos veces. Luego recordaría que todo eso es una jodida estafa piramidal y se me pasaría. De Ilusiones y estúpidas ideas locas que se le pasan a uno por la cabeza de coña vive uno, así soy yo.

Si en su día me sorprendió que con su debut apostaran por una monstruosa canción de casi cincuenta minutos ya no me sorprende que sigan apostando por lo mismo. La diferencia es que esta vez han condensado la duración reduciéndola a treinta minutos, y encima han enriquecido su propuesta con varias cosillas muy interesantes en un único tema. ¿Por dónde empezar a diseccionar semejante monstruosidad? Todas las pequeñas pero importantes cosas que flaqueaban en su debut se han cubierto. Una de esas es la fluidez de la composición. Esto era algo en lo que fallaban debido al hecho de dividir en cinco partes la composición. Se notaba al pasar de una canción a otra y en que el contraste de voces limpias y guturales no estaba lo suficientemente conseguido. Eso hacía que salieras del viaje al que te inducían, algo que es hasta cierto punto era lógico debido a que era un debut, pero es ciertamente imperdonable si practicas este estilo y apuestas por tanta ambición. Por lo visto han aprendido de los errores, nada mal.

Recuerdo que cuando los descubrí citaban sus influencias sin pudor y, sí, beben mucho de ellas, pero las exprimen bien para ofrecer una materia prima de calidad. Una de esas influencias que me sorprendieron fue sin duda la de AHAB y los ENSLAVED más progresivos (en especial en las voces limpias y en los shriek puntuales). Sin duda alguna a lo largo de la composición aprovechan para abrazar varias veces un sonido doom combinado con los pasajes inamovibles del post metal. Es imposible no quedarse embelesado viendo cómo progresan y aprovechan para mezclarlo con multitud de detalles remarcables que dejan ojiplático. Sin duda alguna esto es su punto fuerte y destacan especialmente, pero afortunadamente no queda ahí la cosa; hay mucha tela que cortar.

Uno de esos detalles es el uso de los sintetizadores, que si te pones a pensarlo no es que les hagan mucha falta, ya que están más que capacitados para suplirlos, pero ya se sabe. Nada como los aditivos para dar nuevo sabor al producto y, si son como estos, que echen todos los que quieran. Se devorará y paladeará con gusto. Pegan especialmente, ya que siguen con la temática cósmica, que parece haber calado especialmente en los géneros técnicos y progresivos extremos metálicos. Algo que no molesta pero que puede terminar convirtiéndose en una plaga cansina de estereotipos o movimiento gafapasta. Para mi gusto hubiera preferido que tuvieran más protagonismo, ya que son bastantes interesantes, y hubiera dado más personalidad además de juego; tampoco me quejo. Si todo les va bien, pueden experimentar con ellos en futuros discos si así lo desean. Personalmente los veo como una prueba o experimento que aprueba con nota alta, así que ni tan mal.

Como la cosa va de mostrar influencias para dar material de infarto, tampoco dejan pasar la oportunidad de mostrar riffs y efectos vocales conseguidos por el vocoder, recordando en el proceso a titanes como Paul Masvidal (CYNIC) o Steffen Kummerer (OBSCURA). Incluso hay una sección que puede recordar al rock progresivo setentero de JETHRO TULL debido al uso de flautas de un tal Campbell Foster (supongo que será amigo de la banda, ya que no encuentro información de él) que nos hará recordar a cosas como AMORPHIS, CLOUDS o incluso ELUVEITIE. Totalmente increíble e inesperado.

Uno es todo, todo es uno. La gracia del disco es que consigue alinear un montón de estilos de la misma manera que lo hacen los planetas. ¿Cuánto habrá que esperar para volver a tener un disco de esta gente? No lo sé, pero espero que no mucho. Mientras tanto, escucha este disco en bucle hasta la extenuación. Bien lo merece.

Reviewed by: Daniel Vazquez Lobato

Review from The Progressive Subway

Fri, 18 Sep 2020 22:19:50 +0100

From: The Progressive Subway

Published: September 12, 2020

Original Link

August 28th was a special day for prog metal. There were at least 10 prog metal (related) artists who brought out a new full length that day, and (almost) all of them seemed worthwhile to check out (see this overview I made). One of those new records was Echoes by a young band called Wills Dissolve. A single 31 minute song with strong similarities to Opeth? I’ve gotta hear that. Extreme progressive metal (as I like to call it) is easily one of my favorite genres of music, so I’m always eager to hear more. It’s a very difficult genre to pull off since there are a lot of very different elements you need to do well, but the potential upside is ridiculous. At least two of my top 10 all time albums are from the genre. How do Wills Dissolve live up to these impossible standards?

Echoes is a very impressive album/song. The fact that they managed to keep it completely cohesive is already a feat in itself. The themes are frequently repeated and expanded and/or varied upon. Not to say they are masters of reprises, but it’s more than enough to make the track work. Now being cohesive is one thing, but a band needs good ideas too to make the song work. Luckily Wills Dissolve have plenty of these.

As expected given the genre, the song weaves between softer melodic parts and harsh death metal ones. As a fan of melodic things first and foremost, I will of course discuss the softer parts for. Safe to say I was touched many a times. There is a strong Ghost Reveries feeling in the chord progression and singing during the acoustic parts. Vocalist Nick Block is clearly of the Akerfeldt-variety: angelic singing on one hand and guttural harshes on the other. These clean sections often bring the greatest sense of familiarity between them, proving key points in keeping the song together. To me they were also the highlight of the song as the melodies are gorgeous and 100% hit my soft spot. It’s clear their guitarist has no lack of feeling in his playing.

To fulfill the expectations I set earlier I should be talking about the harsh sections, but rather what I feel is appropriate is mention how well they transitioned between clean and harsh. Often they blurred the lines with melodic leads during tormenting harsh vocals and instrumentation of almost tech death levels of intensity during the singing. Sometimes they brought out the vocoder Cynic-style for extra effect in these parts, which was a nice touch. These harsher parts are also where I feel they primarily distinguish themselves from their peers, and most importantly, Opeth. The riffs of this band stem mostly from modern tech death, opposed to Opeth‘s more melodic not-really-death-metal-yet-not-not-death-metal riffs, and besides that there are frequent doom-y passages to provide a nice contrast slowing things down. I feel like their riffs were serviceable, but there was certainly room for improvement in this department. This may be my general apathy towards tech death and doom metal speaking (and general nitpickyness), but I felt like the tech death riffs could be meaner and a good deal more vicious than they were, and the doom metal riffs did bring good contrast, but opposed to the better doom metal I’ve heard they didn’t hit you like a truck. When I hear death metal, I want to feel a sheer primal response to just crush things and when I hear doom metal, I want to be absolutely crushed by the weight of the riffs. Wills Dissolve didn’t achieve this enough I feel. This is a genre of extremes, and to make it work you have to make the listener experience those. Granted, their more fun tech death riffs were great (such as during the vocoder parts), but in the others there was room for improvement.

I guess this translates to a further point is that the highs (or should I say, lows?) this band reached didn’t reach the ridiculous highs similar bands like Opeth or Ne Obliviscaris manage to reach in their songwriting. Along with an overlong intro and outro this keeps the song from being a cut above instead of simply a very good work of art. The groundwork is definitely there though as the cohesion and songwriting is otherwise stellar. This band clearly has the chops to make a classic album. I may have been harsh on this release (my expectations for this genre are impossibly high for any band), but don’t let you discourage you from checking this out. “Echoes” is a great song, which considering its length should be good enough of a reason to check it out. I am absolutely keeping an eye out for this band, and so should you.

Rating: 7.5/10

Reviewed by: Sam

Review from Metal Integral

Mon, 07 Sep 2020 17:35:59 +0100

From: Metal Integral

Published: September 5, 2020

Original Link

En 2018, nous avions écrit tout le bien que nous pensions de The Heavens Are Not On Fire, premier album auto-produit des Texans de WILLS DISSOLVE. Pour son deuxième opus, le groupe a placé la barre encore plus haut, en ne proposant qu'une seule composition, longue de plus de 31 minutes. Un format qui témoigne d'une ambition à la hausse, mais qui ne peut en aucun cas valider par anticipation la qualité d'un exercice ô combien périlleux. En effet, combien de groupes de Rock ou de Métal progressif se sont sentis obligés de pondre des titres massifs, censés représenter le Graal en la matière. Avec à la clé quelques réussites mais aussi beaucoup de morceaux empilant les séquences, misant sur la complexité structurelle et la dextérité instrumentale, sans fil rouge ni passion...

Tentons tout d'abord de poser le contexte. La pochette du premier album montrait une pluie de météores ravageant une ville (dont une église). Pour ce second album, il est toujours question de la puissance céleste puisqu'on voit (au verso) un vaisseau spatial se diriger vers un trou noir gigantesque (au recto). Pour coller à cette illustration, l'introduction se fait très douce, progressive, planante, hantée par des mélodies douces. Au bout de cinq minutes, des riffs sévères poussés par une rythmique lourde explosent, immédiatement rejoints par des vocaux caverneux mais articulés. Lesquels ne tardent pas à céder la place à un chant clair, dans un registre médium, peu puissant mais suffisamment expressif et appuyé par des harmonies vocales pertinentes. Le voyage spatial vient de débuter et il n'est pas de tout repos.

Cela dit, cette succession de séquences contrastées ne sonne pas comme un empilement démonstratif, le groupe prenant soin de laisser chaque partie se développer et s'installer. L'interprétation au cordeau, notamment sur le plan rythmique, permet en outre de tenir le cap, même si les quatre complices privilégient l'efficacité à l'étalage de leurs compétences techniques, pourtant très réelles. Pour s'en persuader, jetez une oreille aux lignes de basse mobiles et aux solos de guitares, merveilles de maîtrise.

La gestion des contrastes s'avère également équilibrée Les éléments Death Métal demeurant sous contrôle, avec des riffs trapus, des vocaux raisonnablement hostiles et des tempos point trop enlevés. Les apports mélodiques demeurent assez simples : arpèges de guitare, nappes de clavier, harmonies vocales... Pour ce qui est de l'identité progressive, on remercie WILLS DISSOLVE de ne pas sombrer dans un excès de complexité, pas plus que dans les arrangements pompeux (on n'est clairement pas chez DREAM THEATER !). On évolue clairement dans une architecture progressive, au sens strict du terme, chaque séquence évoluant vers la suivante, quand bien même demeurent des contrastes francs, quand des parties ostensiblement Métal interrompent sans transition des plages plus nuancées.

Ayant choisi – et je doute que ce soit un hasard – ce titre pour cet album et cet unique composition, la démarche de WILLS DISSOLVE entrait inévitablement en résonance avec le morceau Echoes, classique de PINK FLOYD sur l'album Meddle (1971). Puisqu'on en est au petit jeu des références, j'ajouterai sans sourciller que cet album peut intéresser les aficionados de OPETH, d'ANATHEMA (pour les parties les plus purement mélodiques), de MASTODON, d'ISIS (comment oublier que le nom du groupe est aussi le titre d'un morceau figurant sur l'album Panopticon de 2004). Autant d'univers divers mais ayant en commun une complexité structurelle et une richesse émotionnelle... Ne vous méprenez pas, l'évocation de ces prédécesseurs talentueux ne vise pas à réduire WILLS DISSOLVE au statut d'élève brillant. En deux albums seulement, le groupe texan fait montre d'une maturité et d'une personnalité tout bonnement stupéfiantes. Gageons que ce n'est qu'un début...

Vidéo de l'album : cliquez ici

Rating: 18/20

Reviewed by: Alain

Review from Metal Wave

Mon, 07 Sep 2020 17:34:15 +0100

From: Metal Wave

Published: September 3, 2020

Original Link

Prevalentemente affascinati dal mondo cosmico, gli americani Wills Dissolve rilasciano il secondo full lenght della propria carriera dopo il buon risultato ottenuto con il disco di debutto datato 2013. Questo “Echoes” evoca la linea stilistica della band che, pur essendo death metal, in realtà offre un quadro compositivo molto atmosferico grazie alle dolci melodie che si propagano all’interno, con altalenanti passaggi acustici e voci clean che improvvisamente vengono sferzate in favore di un corposo growl e di andature granitiche. La band riesce a farsi apprezzare per la maggiore proprio grazie a questa tipologia di stile che va a richiamare anche qualche elemento post metal e prog che fa la propria bella figura. La sensazione in sostanza è un richiamo tra il mondo terrestre e quello appartenente a cosmo con le voci dello spazio interpretate dalla band con le più particolari melodie, strumentali frutto di note e di piacevoli suoni. La singola traccia “Echoes”, lunga poco più di mezz’ora, ripercorre in sostanza le sensazioni predette offrendo strutturalmente enormi variazioni unificate a ritmiche potenti, distorti complessi e tanta energia. L’alternanza che viene fuori tra clean e growl a seconda dell’impatto sonoro che la band realizza, ha in sostanza dell’incredibile: momenti quasi cullanti che vengono poi travolti da uno dei vortici più potenti che il cosmo, tra la propria infinita estensione non tarda a farci assaporare; molto belli i passaggi che lasciano immaginare le spedizioni spaziali nel cosmo succedutesi nel tempo con l’idea di immaginare le esplorazioni verso mondi ed universi paralleli protesi ad immaginare creature aliene amiche pronte a condividere le loro con le nostre vite. Indubbiamente il lavoro è ben fatto, forse reso un po’ impegnativo dall’idea, poco condivisibile, di realizzare un unico brano.

Rating: 79/100

Reviewed by: Wolverine