Published: September 21, 2020

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.