Dark heavy prog metal band from Czech Republic, Edain, returned at the end of 2011 with their sophomore release 'The Sulphur Breather'. I liked their debut album 'Through Thought and Time' (2009) and was expecting a lot from this one. But as it happened, this turned out to be a compilation of various studio and live recordings.

...And quite a pointless one in that. The title track is the sole new song from the band. It continues in similar style the band presented on their debut, which I like. But the sound... The sound is simply abysmal, to tell the truth. It sounds like it was recorded at a band's rehearsal place, but behind a closed door. I'm not joking! There's no power, not much of bass, no clarity, just muffled sound. Two re-recordings aren't much different to the debut's versions, but sadly feature bad production, too. And so do two covers, which are pretty energy-packed and thrashy. I need to check out both Bombarder and Debustrol now. Two live cuts are cursed with bass-less sound, too.

So, how do Edain's music sound like? In a nutshell, it's like a mixture of Opeth and technical, progressive thrash metal of, say, Sadist. However, they aren't copycats, because their music actually is pretty original-sounding! Go on and read my review of 'Through Thought and Time'. There's a lot to listen to in songs, but still they hold on well together, and are well performed. I like the vocals, which at times remind of Root's Big Boss.

I find this release unimportant. It's almost completely ruined by very poor production job. I wish the band are working on new music and when they start recording new album, they truly should think getting an outside producer! Go try 'Through Thought and Time' instead.

Rating: 4 (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
06/03/2012 20:42