Evadne hails from Spain and with this second full length and
the mixing and mastering, as well as occasional vocals, done by Dan Swano (Edge
of Sanity, Novembers Doom, Bloodbath) you should already be expecting high
quality sound and song structural dynamics, which is exactly what you get with The Shortest Way.
The vocals remain mostly throughout as a decipherable gruff
throaty growl, sometimes almost spoken as if narrating a story, but the main
thing is that the aggressiveness is omnipresent yet never overwhelming to where
the lyrics are mushed into useless ooze. Clean vocals do appear on “One Last
Dress for One Last Journey”, but only as a brief introductory and outro
appearance, and even then though majority of the song is melodic and dreamy
with some dense riffing and piano underneath to really bring out the emotional
undertone, the riffs remain anthemic and pulsing as this 8-minute song flows in
a fluid stream creating its own path along the surface like a stream of blood.
Due to the quality of the musicianship, the brutality
infused with complex melodies, and the dominant presence throughout the album
as a whole it’s just not plausible to cover it in a written review. Do not
expect gothic metal clichés, cinematic and grandiose vomit inducing
grandstanding, or even post-rock/post metal meandering, just expect something
morbid and sincere with an array of emotions that is both doom and death metal
worthy in sound heaviosity and somehow still almost “pretty” (?) in a macabre
way. DO NOT overlook The Shortest Way as abysmal droning mixed with post-rock,
whether you are a fan of the extreme doom styles or not you WILL want to at
least hear Evadne!
Most of the reviews are extremely positive, in fact I only
saw one negative one, but as was his fatal flaw, never go into an album with
preconceived notions. If I hadn’t stepped back and let this one come to me over
the last two months, I’d never have realized its merits. To some people all
black metal is the same, the same goes with extreme doom styles and any other
style really, so at least take my word for it “on faith” and hear for yourself.
If it was indeed mundane and standard I wouldn’t spend the fucking time
reviewing it, it’s not like I don’t have a thousand other worthy reviews to get
through and can afford to literally piss away time down the sewage pipes. It’s
also not overloaded with emotional pandering and grabbing at the listener for
pathos, it’s just genuine and intense AND creative.
Examples of mundane, exhausted and predictable, and
sometimes nauseatingly so would be the SP release of Edenian Winter Shades, I just cannot swallow it
even if I’m pinching my nose and holding my breath as I pass it down my throat
quickly.
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