Epitaphe - II

EPITAPHE - II (AESTHETIC DEATH Productions - CD 2022)

A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of hearing Epitaphe from France for the first time, when they released their debut album “I”. It was one of those albums which definitely made a huge impression on me... but you know what? Some time ago I received “II” and I can easily say that this new material is better than the debut in every aspect. What a great album this French band just released, it’s beyond me. Really. It surpassed all my expectations, if I even had any. And honestly, this is the best thing which came out from Aesthetic Death so far - believe my words. 

The beginning of the album is surprisingly quiet, almost in the sort of Opeth – like progressive way, but these three minutes of “Sycomore“ is not what you should expect from the rest of the album. Soon “Celestial” breaks the silence and rips with some killer blasting death metal. Well, speaking about the diversity and dynamics of music, it couldn’t be better, especially that every song on “II” is very diversified and full of rhythm or style swifts. The mentioned “Celestial” has it all – blasting wall of crushing death metal ferocity, epic, slower parts with clean vocals, more technical, progressive riffs with excellent complex drumming and such riffage... but it is all combined together so well that these changes are smooth and you do not feel distracted. You won’t feel like “What the hell is going on here?”, if you know what I mean. And that is a great aspect of “II”. Generally, I think that Epitaphe made a huge step forward, speaking of the songwriting and how interesting their compositions can be, while staying close to that more progressive and complex death metal. There's so much going on in every song, there are so many ideas and “textures” in them that while listening to this CD you stay focused on these sounds, treating them as a sort of voyage and discovering something new every time you put this CD on. I could describe each song, giving you an insight on what is exactly there, but I don’t think it is necessary. It is always better to listen to them yourself, words cannot give everything especially with my narrow English.  

And you know, Epitaphe came up with three songs, each being near twenty minutes long... That can already be a challenge - not only for the musicians, but also for listeners. Musicians will have to try hard to keep the listener interested in such long and exhausting songs. Listener will need to focus on the music and keep attention to what is going on, otherwise it makes no sense to listen to an album like “II”. Epitaphe definitely succeeded here and that’s a reason why I think that “II” is an absolutely brilliant album. Obviously, I can only speak on my behalf... but I think I have played “II” nearly twenty or even more times in the past weeks (more than anything else at that time) and I don't have enough. I am almost obsessed with this music, so possessing and impossible to stop it is. Which is almost weird, because I am mostly into more archaic forms of death metal and very few “progressive” bands could capture my attention so much. But Epitaphe music is a gold, I believe. “II” will be a strong candidate for the top of 2022 best albums, for sure!  

Verdict: 90/100