Edyakaran – Pantheon
Edyakaran – Pantheon
My Kingdom Music
07/03/2025
Review by Oli Gonzalez
8/10
“…with influences ranging from Post Metal to Post Rock, from Avantgarde Black Metal to Progressive, ending with Noise and Electronic with bands such as Cult Of Luna, Isis, Russian Circle and God Is An Astronaut” is how Italian Post-Metallers Edyakaran describe themselves. That got my attention!! Let’s waste no time and get straight into this latest offering to satisfy my love of all things weird and left field.
First up it’s ‘Alfa’. The vibrant synths create a brooding atmosphere whilst the drums seemingly have a mind of their own, laying down some very interesting and non-conventional patterns. Speaking of unconventional, the bassist is let loose and is the main character for large parts in a rare leading melodic role. You can sense some musical tension building. Building towards a crescendo even at this early stage. Though this hasn’t come…yet.
Vocals are introduced in ‘Arte’. Haunting, ethereal, yet somehow soothing, this is the last thing you’d expected in all honesty, but it’s good to keep the listener guessing with fun surprises, right? All of this overlaying a similarly atmospheric and tense musical backdrop that’s becoming signature for the band. The rapping vocals are …well… different. Certainly a contrast to the aforementioned calmer ethereal vocals. You may not be 100% sold on the rapping but that’s a testament to the band’s ability to keep you guessing.
Things get much heavier during ‘Guerra’, with the harsher vocals introduced, as well as some serious distortion on the guitars, and more furious aggressive drumming! Just another reminder that Edyakaran isn’t going to play by the conventional rule book here.
The band seem to love their instrumental passages…and they’re pretty damn good at them too! ‘Caccia’ perhaps being the best illustration of this. Starting life as a rather tame and relaxed piano arrangement, before you know it, you’re being dragged down a Progressive Metal rabbit hole, with more twists and turns than you thought imaginable within 7.5 minutes, with the compositional structure being mindlessly complex and the overall mix being densely layered and undecipherable! But there’s just the right dosage of heaviness to ensure a healthy amount of headbanging while still retaining a much needed melodic quantity.
‘Amore’. With a song title like this, you could surely expect emotional weight and sentiment. The piano and violin combination is just enough to start tugging on your heart strings. This all juxtaposes elegantly with the heavier passages in the song, contrasting blunt force heaviness with said emotional weight and raw sentiment. After all, light needs darkness to shine at its brightest. This demonstrates a level of maturing and knowledge of human psychology that’s rather impressive, and definitely one of many reasons Edyakaran are worth your time.
See, I had my concerns about the length of the album, but the musicians clearly have enough skill between them to keep things fresh whilst retaining an identity to their sound, and avoiding becoming a seemingly messy melting pot of ideas.
Overall, this is definitely not one to be overlooked by the post metal lovers, and should be required listening for fans of all things left field and progressive.
TRACKLISTING:
01. Alfa
02. Primo Passo
03. Amore
04. Secondo Passo
05. Caccia
06. Terzo Passo
07. Guerra
08. Quarto Passo
09. Arte
10. Omega
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