You might find the music of Colombian Blackened Death Metallers Eshtadur, whose name translates as ‘rebellion of angels’, a bit of a surprise on first listen. I know I did when I first crossed paths with them, my first thought when someone mentions Columbian Metal is usually something brutal enough to strip every last shred of flesh from my face by the time I’m fifteen minutes in to the album, but Eshtadur sound more Swedish with defined influences from bands like At The Gates, Soilwork and Greek Symphonic Death Metallers SepticFlesh, coming across as dark yet atmospheric, melodic yet punchy, making it overall a very sophisticated sound that lyrically “delves into realms of darkness and despair through the decay of humanity rebelling in their own darkened way, embracing the abject reality.”
Opening track ‘‘Lowborn Bastard’’ is a superb start to the album, dark powerful slightly symphonic to open and the vocals are a dusty rasp with clarity to the lyrical content, the riffs are dark, the delivery punchy yet melodic, with a haunting repeat mid-point onwards and a melody that is textbook Gothenburg, completed by an emotive swathe of lead work, an utterly engaging track.
This consistent hauntingly melodic mood continues in the same very welcome vein with ‘’The Adverse Side’’ and dark symphonic tinged ‘‘The Red Door’’ with its uplifting burst of midpoint lead work which repeats and expands flamboyantly in the second half.
Things get a little darker and more intense with ‘‘The Fall’’ but the melodic undercurrent still prevails, the mood and tempo drops midway before another emotive burst of lead work, returning to the opening dark intense feel.
Dark and moody to open ‘‘She the Void’’ develops into something quite ominous with an interesting slightly off kilter symphonic element, sinister dark riffing and the ebb and flow to the tempo is dramatic yet fluid, with more emotive lead work in the second half, a cleverly composed and delivered piece.
…..and then we get to ‘‘All She Wrote’’, the wild card of the release which feels somewhat disparate compared to its predecessors. Very light and melodic with piercing cleans alongside the harsh vocals, all of which would certainly attract mainstream attention and it was released as a single prior to the albums release but for me doesn’t have the punch of the rest of the tracks and is too lightweight for my ears but could prove to be a good gateway track to those people as yet unacquainted with the joys of Metal….and so, moving swiftly on….
Normality resumes with the intense and rapid tempo of “Transient Stranger’’ punchy, intense and refreshingly brutal with dark driving riffs, a very blackened aura and raw quality that I enjoyed immensely, followed by the punchy yet melodic ‘‘The Oathbreaker’’, the engaging ‘‘The Fear Difusser’’ with its fluidly switching tempo which flits between rapid driving and a haunting amble alongside soaring chunks of second half lead work and the closer ‘‘Disphased Dimension’’ with its intense drive, chugging riffs, subtle symphonics and slick direction switching.
Overall a catchy listen that is easy on the ear. “From the Abyss” is available via Nuclear Blast’s Blood Blast Distribution as a digital download or stream from any of the streaming platforms via their website https://eshtadur.com/
Rating – 3 ½ /5
The Metal Wanderlust 