I’m becoming more and more convinced that, in the end, the amount of great music we miss will be infinitely greater than the amount we manage to intercept. Then it becomes a matter of sheer luck to come across a work like this ep by the Latvian Eschatos, a band with two full lengths under their belt that, at a glance, seem to have gone completely unnoticed in our parts. So we are forced to start, willingly or unwillingly, from the bottom, with Mære and its two long tracks that tear every veil on a band with enormous talent. Meanwhile, let’s revise the label affixed to Eschatos: progressive black metal means everything and nothing, because in reality the genre born in the fjords and forests of Norway we find mainly the attitude, some rhythmic outbursts and the scream that the amazing Kristiana Karklina exhibits within a theatrical and sometimes spasmodic interpretation. Mære consists of only two tracks for a total turnover of just over twenty minutes but with a considerable specific weight: Luminary Eye Against the Sky is a slow crescendo that can remind for setting the Dutch Dool, although with more metal base characteristics and with a vocal paroxysm that culminates with the desperate repeated scream “is my death“. The Night Of The White Devil is a track divided into three parts, with the first one that seems to start from where the previous song ended with the hysterical reiteration of the phrase “I step into the sun with face covered in blood“, a prelude to a more atmospheric and melodic pace that supports a rhythmic development that, with the passage of minutes, ripples and calms down without interruption: Eschatos manipulate the matter with the distinct personality of the band of superior level, enhanced by the contribution of a vocalist out of the ordinary to which sometimes offers a valid support the deeper growl of keyboardist Marko Rass (although that of Kristina is by no means less ferocious). The Latvian band comes as mentioned by two works of good workmanship that has not yet earned the fame that seems to deserve unconditionally, if only on the basis of what is offered in Mære, listen to this ep for those who appreciate the post black metal is a fundamental step, waiting for hopefully come as soon as possible a new full length that could definitely shine as a supernova the name of Eschatos.

2017 – Independent