ALBUM REVIEW: Lugalbanda – Eridu

Germany has a long history of delivering some of the best heavy metal in the world. Hoping to add their name to the pantheon of German heavy metal legends are blackened death metal outfit ERIDU. Formed as an offshoot from Munich-based blackened death metallers GILGAMESH by former front man Emanuel Daniele and guitarist Christoph Lamprecht, this new band are continuing the formula laid out by GILGAMESH‘s debut album, The Awakening – furious, yet melodic, blackened death metal, delving into the ancient history and mythology of Mesopotamia. With their debut album, Lugalbanda, will ERIDU set themselves up as a band with potential to break into the black and death metal scenes, or will they be lost in an over-saturated scene?

Inanna’s Favour opens Lugalbanda, crafting a stunning soundscape driven by Arabic guitars before the first full track, Enmerkar, comes into full-swing. Here, ERIDU throw a red herring to the listener, channelling a melodic death metal influenced sound for much of the song, more akin to AT THE GATES than BEHEMOTH, with the blackened death metal that makes up the majority of the album being a flourishing accent, rather than the main focus of Enmerkar. Slaves Of Eridu is a crushing follower, and through the band are a touch too comfortable leaning on the main riff, it delivers the heaviness and brutality in spades. An immediate highlight of Lugalbanda, The Cavern dances between soft, unsettlingly tranquil acoustic guitars and ferocious melodic black metal with ease, building to a spoken word section that drives the narrative of the album forward before delving into a melancholic, melo-death riff that wouldn’t sound out of place on one of AMON AMARTH‘s early albums.

The sprawling, epic Herald Of Heaven follows, and showcases ERIDU at their strongest in terms of songwriting. The track progresses marvellously, advancing the story while providing plenty of blackened brutality to sink your teeth into. DISSECTION-esque, tremolo riffing takes centre stage for much of Astral Warfare, showing a visceral edge, while The Seige Of Arrata brings in a healthy dose of groove, almost-clean vocals, and rapid solo work. After the brief break Hymn Of Utu offers, harking back to Inanna’s Favour, lead single The Bewitching Of Sumer comes in with the force of a battle axe, bringing all the black metal influences of ERIDU into play, with the characteristic Eastern flourishes along for the ride while, Lugalbanda‘s closing song and title track brings the album to a strong close.

There are few criticisms to be drawn from Lugalbanda – though it is not perfect. There are a few too many influences at play, leading to the album feeling a touch disjointed and unfocused. Further, the songwriting on Lugalbanda could do with tightening up – the Eastern orchestration, Arabic guitar lines, and all the subtle flourishes are executed perfectly, but the bones of the album, the basics, could stand for strengthening. However, for the most part, ERIDU deliver a ferocious blend of black and death metal, drawing influence from the likes of BEHEMOTH and DISSECTION right through to AMON AMARTH. And conceptually, Lugalbanda is brilliant – drawing influence from the Ancient Sumerian epic Enmerkar And The Lord Of Aratta, the band explore a period in history rarely touched in popular culture. Will their debut see them launched to the upper echelons of European extreme metal? Probably not, but ERIDU is one of the finest underground gems of 2019.

Rating: 7/10

Lugalbanda is out now via self-release.

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