Doom bands, with rare exceptions, have a slow and diluted compositional tempo that basically corresponds to the rhythms of the genre they play. Evadne‘s last full length dates back to 2012, when with The Shortest Way they distinguished themselves as one of the best bands in circulation dedicated to melodic death doom; the following ep Dethroned Of Light, released two years later, seemed to be preparatory to an imminent repetition of that work, but instead we had to wait until today before enjoying again new music composed by the Spanish band. Fortunately, the long wait has been amply rewarded by the amazing level of an album like A Mother Named Death, which is not only a confirmation but the real consecration of Evadne at the top of the scene. In a little more than an hour, the Valencian band offers shivers without interruption, maintaining the same high level of tension from the first to the last note and letting it fade away only to give the listener time to regain control of his emotions with the short instrumental 88.6, before diving back into the leaden waters that, metaphorically, lie at the bottom of our soul. Albert’s voice hurls us into abysses of despair that only the beauty of the melodies can dilute, along with clean vocals, sometimes accompanied by female voices, which seem to offer an illusory lifeline before the tragic pace of the songs takes over again. Having said the instrumental track, a graceful brushstroke of atmospheric melancholy, the album consists of seven other real gems of sound, capable of emotionally upsetting the most sensitive minds, among which it is difficult to choose which ones to raise as emblems of the work, even if Abode Of Distress, Heirs Of Sorrow and Colossal manage to amaze and move me every time, more than the remaining and equally magnificent episodes; In particular, the second of the two benefits from a melodic afflatus that raises to the nth power the perception of the value of the album, while the third was already known, being the opener of Dethroned Of Light, but in this context its crystalline splendor ends up shining even more. All in all, here we are in the presence of one of the highest expressions of melodic death doom, on a par with the best productions of Saturnus and Swallow The Sun. The sound of Evadne seems to go back to these last ones more than once, who already in the past had shown to take as an ideal reference point, and then develop their own stylistic figure, one of the milestones of the genre which is The Morning Never Came. By the way, to those who had to object on the originality of the work of the Iberian band, I only answer that the doom fan is different from all the others, as he needs to see gratified his sensitivity by an art form that tells the evil of living, more or less latent, present in every human being, finding rest, finally, in its boundless cathartic potential and leaving to others the eternal (and mostly vain) search for the philosopher’s stone constituted by something totally innovative. Therefore, the fact of finding more or less explicit links with the past production of Raivio and his associates appears, if anything, an added value (reaching those same evocative peaks can only be a merit) rather than an aspect able to obscure the value of a work that, barring desirable surprises, at the end of the year will hardly be on the podium of my personal ranking. For once I make mine a sentence contained in the presentation notes of the album by Solitude Productions: “listening to A Mother Named Death forces you every time to show your emotions” and, I add, do not be afraid to be moved to tears, penetrated by the music of Evadne.

2017 – Solitude Productions