On the first of April, the Melodic Metal band, Esperfall, released their album “Origins In Darkness”. Here’s my review of the debut album by the Hungarian band.
FemMetal Rating
9/10
It is an album you’d love to listen to it more than once, as the appreciation for the quality of music and brilliance in production would only grow the more you listen to it.
A brilliant instrumental “A Gift from the Gods” sets the album in motion with shattered sounds that grow into a beautiful melody and sets the stage for the opening guitar riff with the first song “Tempest In Paradise”. Right from the start, we can sense the strengths in Esperfall’s music that will be expressed throughout the rest of the album. We can feel the tight connection between the lyrics and the music’s roughness and tempo. This quality creates a beautiful sense of movement in many songs. An example of that would be “Retreat into Dreamland”, where you can sense that urge and the curse haunting the character, not only through the words in the lyrics but also through the music.
Nóra Sima’s ability to switch between clean and harsh vocals, plus the additional harsh vocals from Péter Wachal (bass) gave Esperfall a wide range of colours for their musical palette to leave their canvas rich and melodious.
The range of Nóra Sima’s voice is nothing but impressive. In nontechnical terminology, she ranges from the highest peaks of the heavens down to the deepest dungeons of hell. And what is more impressive is how the album’s songwriting and production were able to showcase that range and turn it from potential to one of the best features of “Origins In Darkness”. Songs like “Plato’s Cave” and “Don’t Leave Me Behind” are the ones I enjoyed the vocals on most.
Another impressive thing about “Origins In Darkness” is the variety of the tones in the album and how they were attached together in a way that someone listening to it as a whole would not feel any monotony. For example, “Plato’s Cave” melodic sound leads us into the Death Metal-esque “Nature of the Disease” that in turn leads us into “Don’t Leave Me Behind” with its piercing operatic vocals. This beautiful shift is repeated many times throughout the album when moving between tracks or inside the same song.
Moreover, the album contains an abundance of guitar solos and instrumental sections that are very interesting and headbang-worthy. My favourite instrumental sections are the guitar solo on “Plato’s Cave” and intros for “No Tomorrow” and “Black Flag”.
“Origins In Darkness” is an album I enjoyed from start to finish. It is a record you’d love to listen to it more than once, as the appreciation for the quality of the music and the brilliance in production would only grow the more times you listen to it. The music videos released from the album are quite the visual match for the music’s quality, as well. Great work from Esperfall who have definitely released one of my favourite albums in 2022.
