Empyrean Plague – Imprint Evidence Destiny (2011)

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Hailing from Canada, today we have Empyrean Plague and their very well crafted Melodic Death/Black Metal that will surely grab your attention immediately. “Imprint Evidence Destiny” delivers seven aural assaults that very creatively combine Melodic Death/Black Metal with Folk and Viking Metal elements; this creates a very rich palette of sounds that even after a considerable amount of listens you will not be able to fully discover this release.

With oozing melody, the band opens the album with the 7 minute epic “Deciphering The Norse Code”. The guitar work is excellent and has that semi-rough feeling that only young bands usually have. The vocals are powerful but never overly done giving that nice contrast to the music. The bass guitar is very present and nicely balanced in the mix as well. “Imprint Evidence Destiny” continues in a similar fashion with super catchy melodic sections and very effective ‘speed ups’. The drumming is also very good and both songs (and the rest) have a wide variety of different patterns.

The band’s ability to build-up momentum is excellent and on ‘slower’ tracks like “Northern Allegiance” they do an excellent job in crafting a musical journey through the song progression. Some of the ‘all out’ Black Metal sections are a bit raw in our opinion, but they help contrast the melody of the rest of the song. The production is a bit unstable at some points, like on “As the Earth Decays” where the volume suddenly gets cranked up, but other than this, it is very fitting to the band’s music.

Our favorite track in the album is “A New Life Has Begun”, a very melodic and hypnotic track that is nicely build-up since the beginning and culminates with furious Black Metal sections. Before you know what hit you, the last song “I Build A Bridge So Your Could Cross” shows some of the more ‘calm’ and folk-ish influences of the band. The clean vocals are so-so, but they are greatly enhanced with the mystical atmosphere of this song.

“Imprint Evidence Destiny” is one of the few releases we get every now and then that are very hard to categorize since the band mixes plenty of influences in their music. However, the melodic aspect of the band’s sound is what made us really enjoy this album. With over 40 minutes of music, this album is a very impressive debut for such a talented band like Empyrean Plague and deserves to be listened, so go and treat yourself to a copy of this high-replay value album.

Band: Empyrean Plague Album: Imprint Evidence Destiny
Label: Archaic North Entertainment

Release: September 21st, 2011

Oficial Site myspace
Genre: Melodic Black/Death Metal

Country: Canada

Rating: 87/100
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