EP REVIEW: Turris Eburnea – Turris Eburnea
Starting a band from scratch and writing and releasing a record, all within the space of a year, is a significant undertaking at the best of times, but when the members of said band are spread across two continents, and a global pandemic restricts what limited contact would have been available, it would seem impossible to accomplish. But then again, TURRIS EBURNEA are far from an average band; comprising of two of extreme metals most prolific musicians in KRALLICE‘s Nicholas McMaster on bass and the criminally underrated multi-instrumentalist Gabriele Gramaglia of THE CLEARING PATH handling the guitars, vocals and drums, there was no way that any music these two men created together wasn’t going to be amazing, regardless of what limitations geography and social circumstances threw at them. The bands eponymous, debut EP, showcases that talent in full, making for an amazing, truly imaginative debut.
Unified Fields proves to be an impressive start, with huge, dirge-like hooks and steady, thunderous drumming creating a monolithic sound right out of the gate, punctuated by measured, haunting vocals that provide an excellent contrast to the jarring quality of much of the musicianship. It’s a brilliant opener that, with it’s sudden tempo changes and varied guitar work makes for a genuinely intense and unpredictable piece of music. The songs closing, ethereal moments bleed seamlessly into Cotard Delusion, another visceral and cacophonous slab of abrasive death metal. Much like the previous track, there’s plenty of shifts in pace and tone that give this an urgent, progressive edge, but the guitar work, coupled with a much more prominent bass sound, adds a chunkier feel to proceedings, giving the song as a whole a meaty undercurrent that works well alongside the razor sharp dissonance and throaty gutturals.
Syncretism Incarnate, with its cleaner, reverb drenched sound, pushes the music in an eerier, but decidedly more accessible, direction, with slick, melodic leads grabbing the listeners attention, before launching into a much darker, primal sound that swings from harsh, chaotic moments to brooding catchiness with ease, and being, at points, comparable to DEATH in their more experimental moments, making it by far not only the most diverse, but most enduring, offerings on the whole record. Malachite Mountains takes the demented, frenzied musicality that has marked the three previous tracks to its absolute apex, blending punishing grooves and a bubbling bassline with pummelling percussion and thick vocals, with the effect oftentimes making for a nauseating whirlwind of dizzying riffs and a fiercer, more intense approach throughout, being savage and layered in equal measure.
It’s rare to find a band so early in their recording career who have such a complex and experimental sound on their very first release, and even rarer for that style and approach to work exceptionally well. Considering the pedigree and talent of the two men involved, however, it will be hardly surprising for anyone who has followed the work of either to learn just how fantastic and imaginative this is. The progressive elements on offer really do a lot to distinguish this record from those of many of their contemporaries, whilst still maintaining the groove and aggression that makes traditional death metal so appealing. Hopefully, TURRIS EBURNEA will prove to be more enduring than many other side projects tend to be, because what Nicholas and Gabriele have achieved with this EP is great, and deserves to be developed even further.
Rating: 8/10
Turris Eburnea is out now via Everlasting Spew Records.
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