Hedon Cries: "The End of the Path is Nigh"

Going just above and beyond with a simple setup

Melody and brutality aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. While most brutal death metal bands aren't exactly known for their melodic approach, you needn't look further than the early efforts of bands such as Katatonia or Amorphis to find examples of bands that combine brutal heaviness with melancholic harmonies and focused melodies.

"The independent Greeks prove the abovementioned thesis that you can have melody and brutality in the same setting."

The Greek sextet Hedon Cries, who've already released albums twice before, set a definitive example on how to create simple yet powerful death-doom metal with a melodic focus. Fronted by growler-in-chief Christos Aidonis, whos vocal efforts could be compared to those of Amon Amarth's Johan Hegg, the independent Greeks prove the abovementioned thesis that you can have melody and brutality in the same setting. The nine tracks on "The End of the Path is Nigh" are filled with striking melodic metal for fans of Amorphis and the like.

Partnered with a crisp and clear production job, Hedon Cries seem very serious about their music. There's not much to be found in terms of technicality, and "The End of the Path is Nigh" is pretty straight forward when it comes to composition and songwriting with little variation to be had. Their chosen format is, however, very convincing and confident in its execution, sometimes pushing the slow-moving boundaries of doom metal with some faster passages. A few tracks stand out as sub-par compared to the quality of the rest of the album, but as a whole the melancholic melodies are pompously well-crafted.

7/10

Released in 2011 independently

Links

Hedon Cries on FACEBOOK
TONEwood on FACEBOOK


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