Newcomers Empyreal Destroyer are a band that's tough to be categorized. Great! At least for a guy like me who likes different kinda metal music. The band mixes death metal, black metal and power metal into alloy that is pretty unique, although links can also be drawn to a hundred bands.

The strong point of Empyreal Destroyer is the ability to compose memorable and hooky songs. I hear some of the music as Mediterranean dark metal. Coincidentally, this morning I had a listen to Portuguese Malevolence's 'Martyrialized' (1999) platter and I think there's quite a few similarities with them and Empyreal Destroyer, the most important one being the mixture of many styles and then the Mediterranean vibe. There's line of Greek in two of the song here, so maybe the guys' roots lie in the sands of Mediterranean Ocean. Hooky-as-hell 'All I Shall Conquer' has very Mike Amott-esque guitar playing, strongly reminding of Swedish melodiousness of Arch Enemy, plus some DragonForce style stuff on solo part. The band have a humorous aspect to them, which is exhibited with samples in the beginnning of some songs. On the beginning of 'Inverted Circle' is "how did you achieve this new power?", asks a deep voice and answer comes "I do a lot of push-ups and sit-ups". Well, they state Dragonball Z as their influence, if that's where the sample is... The music includes some background synths, even though not mentioned in the line-up.

The performance is accurate, and due to the fact that the majority of members have been in same bands for a decade, the team-work is perfect. Vocals include various trollish growling styles, and are the weakest part of the soup. Okay, they are harsh and raw, but kind of tend to be buriedunder the tornado that instrumentalists create with power and skill. The disc includes the video clip of the title track.

Empyreal Destroyer have weaved familiar influences into music that has enough individuality. Very well crafted demo, this one. Get's one and a half thumbs up from me! Check out if you have appetite for dark metal or death metal with a melodic edge.

Reviewed by Lane
10/12/2006 13:13