Ea - A Etilla (CD)

epic funeral doom metal, Solitude Productions, Solitude Productions
29 reviews Write a review
533.33 Р
CD
Price in points: 800 points
SP. 081-14 x
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The new album of the band which needs no introduction to the fans of funeral doom metal! Continuing the concept of the previous album the new work by Ea is presented by a 50-minute-long epic composition. It contains all the features which brought the love of the fans to the band: majestic guitar parties with acoustic interludes, atmospheric keyboards and ambient moments painting endless landscapes filled with the ruins of the ancient civilizations. Melodic guitar solos and solemn clean vocal choirs favour the immersion to the enigmatic world. Undoubtedly, this is another masterpiece form the masters of epic funeral doom metal, mysterious band Ea.

Tracklist:
1 A Etilla 49:12

Artist:
Ea
Album Year:
2014
Title:
A Etilla
Genre:
epic funeral doom metal
Format:
CD
Type:
CD Album
Package:
Jewel Case
Label:
Solitude Productions
Cat Num:
SP. 081-14
Release Year:
2014
Barcode:
4 627080 610477
Country Of Manufacture:
Russia
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Review
Pitchline Zine
8/10
30.08.2014

Majestuoso, épico, melancólico, etéreo, melódico, emotivo, místico…estos y muchos más adjetivos son los que podría emplear para definir lo que es el quinto álbum de los misteriosos Ea ¿estadounidenses? (según parece del estado de Wyoming aunque en diferentes lugares opinan que son de procedencia rusa) y su Funeral Doom Metal que edita, igual que todos sus trabajos hasta la fecha, la rusa Solitude Productions (si realmente son “yankees”, quien iba a decir que iba a suceder algo semejante años atrás en plena guerra fría) la cual se centra sobre todo en grupos Doom Metal de toda clase, ya sean puros o mezclados con Folk, Gothic, Black, Death melódico, Ambient...

Este nuevo plástico que nos ocupa contiene un único tema de 49 minutos, aunque para nada adormecedor. Contiene multitud de pequeñas partes con ricos matices, guitarras acústicas, voces guturales, teclados atmosféricos, solos, susurros…todo ello sobre una base que podríamos denominar Doom/Death Metal pesada, lenta y aplastante. Aunque quizá y a mí entender, son algo menos cuantiosas las partes Death Metal que en discos anteriores, en las que estas gozaban de más presencia. La producción es bastante nítida y perfecta para el tipo de género que practican, brillante y cristalina cuando lo necesita y más oscura y tétrica cuando se requiere.

Sus tres primeros álbumes son una trilogía de la cual, se desmarcaron en el CD anterior del 2012 llamado simplemente “Ea” (Dios de la mitología sumeria/babilónica/acadia y también conocido como Enki) y que también se componía de un solitario corte, esta vez de 47 minutos de duración. Poco o nada prácticamente se sabe de ellos, ni cuantos miembros son en realidad, si tocan en otros grupos...ni siquiera está claro del todo su origen y eso en los tiempos en que vivimos y tras cinco discos es cuanto menos algo extraño.

Si lo que desean es que se haga caso a la música y no al “envoltorio” de la banda, desde luego que lo han conseguido porque no hay absolutamente nada que te distraiga de la misma. En este “A Etilla”, el sonido de la marea junto con unos cantos ancestrales, nos introducen de lleno en las primeras notas del disco, que nos transporta a través de los tiempos hasta una época inmemorial en la que una vez sumergido, avanzarás pausadamente junto a los teclados y algunos efectos de guitarra, que te conducirán hasta una voz gutural (quizá algo lejana y un poco en segundo plano, realizado a propósito ya que es algo habitual en este combo) transformando la música y haciéndola algo más viva. Posteriormente sentimientos de tristeza, de ira, pesadumbre o atmósferas de calma y paz interior, irán invadiéndote a medida que la escucha continúa, hasta llegar de regreso prácticamente al punto de partida en un giro de 360 grados, todo ello aderezado con guitarras pulverizadoras, melancólicas, una batería pausada y trituradora, teclados envolventes y emocionales, voces desgarradoras…

Para los que no los conozcáis, deciros que las letras de esta banda están basadas en antiguas civilizaciones y que cantan en una lengua muerta fruto de estudios arqueológicos. Musicalmente, si os gustan grupos como Thergothon, Skepticism, Mournful Congregation, Ahab, Shape of Despair, Evoken…o simplemente sus anteriores trabajos (si ya los conocíais) esto sin duda es para vosotros.

Author: Robin
Solitude Productions 10.03.2014, 01:45
Review
Kaosguards

Pour rappel, un homme anonyme se cache derrière l'appellation EA ; « A Etilla » est son cinquième album depuis 2006.

EA délivre donc avec régularité des monuments d'un Funeral Doom totalement abyssal, intensément mélancolique et toutefois porteur d'une lumière trouble et fascinante.

Dans le cas de « A Etilla », les cinquante minutes de l'album sont occupées intégralement par un morceau unique et éponyme. La formule établie par EA demeure identique : un tempo d'une lenteur proprement anesthésiante, des riffs simples et arides, des mélodies hypnotiques et tristes déclinées par la guitare et les synthés, un chant grondant et inarticulé qui rôde au fond du mixage. On relève à plusieurs reprises des arrangements vocaux clairs donnant un rendu angélique et liturgique.

Selon les tonalités plus ou mois claires, l'auditeur a l'impression de s'enfoncer très profondément sous terre ou au contraire de s'extraire de la glaise pour enfin accéder à la lumière. Fondamentalement, écouter un album de EA nécessite à la fois une authentique ouverture d'esprit et une capacité à lâcher prise pour se laisser charrier jusqu'au point d'arrivée. Une expérience transcendentale en quelque sorte...

Author: Alain Lavanne
Solitude Productions 26.02.2014, 23:56
Review
The Metal Observer
02.03.2014

Bands like Esoteric and Ahab have made great strides in terms of popularizing the sub-genre but it’s probably safe to say that funeral doom remains one of the least palatable styles out there. One could arguably say the same about those who gorge themselves on the unadulterated blastfests of the Hate Eternals and Azaraths of the world, but it takes a particularly steely listening constitution and a somewhat unhinged mind to truly dive headfirst into such sloth-like misery and come out smiling on the other end.

I guess I’m well and truly on my way to the Medicine House, then, seeing as how I’ve managed to consume and digest the latest efforts from Monolithe and Procession with relative ease. Then again, rearrange the letters in ‘funeral’ and you get ‘real fun,’ so perhaps my mind isn’t as warped as I had thought. This brings us nicely to Ea, a Russian band well versed in the ways of misery (though, according to the folks over at the Metal Archives, they may possibly be American… go figure). Anyhoo, I digress. Though by no means a ‘real fun’ band, this duo’s take on all things funereal isn’t quite as grimy or as unrepentantly sombre as those of countrymen Who Dies in Siberian Slush or Comatose Vigil. All the funeral doom trademarks are present here – agonizingly slow chord progressions, deeply growled vocals, haunting keys and fx – but Ea’s modus operandi is not to suffocate but rather to gently spirit you away to a place of doom and damnation.

It’s quite pretty, in other words. The stench of gloom hangs thick in the air, yes, but there is a subtle sense of forward motion throughout most of the album and the effective use of surprisingly soulful chants gives the album a lush melodic dynamic. The way the chants seamlessly blend with the keyboards and guitars is especially noteworthy and it essentially makes the first 10 minutes of this mammoth one-track/49-minute long album some of the best I’ve heard in the sub-genre in quite some time. It doesn’t have the sweeping sorrow of a band like Warning or the demented heaviness of Ataraxie but it strikes a pretty stellar balance between melody and intensity, delivered with just the right amount of human fragility to make you feel the music.

The haunting chant-keyboard-guitar interplay returns for a reprise at around the 40 minute mark, ensuring that a sense of continuity isn’t upended. Which brings me to the single (but glaring) flaw of the album: the mid-section. From roughly 16:00 through 35:00 the sombre doom plays second fiddle to what ostensibly amounts to a jam session, and a rather plodding one at that. Riffs flit in and out, melodies pop up now and then and the keyboards take on a spookier tone but unfortunately none of it is especially memorable. A Etilla would have made an excellent 20 minute EP if the unnecessary padding in the middle stages had been excised in order to make the album a leaner, meaner beast. As it stands at the moment, however, A Etilla is a decent but worryingly lop-sided affair. Not bad but it could (and should) have been a lot better.

Author: Neil Pretorius
Solitude Productions 03.02.2014, 17:11
Review
The Sleeping Shaman
26.01.2014

Funeral doom is a very small subgenre when it comes to metal and not many good and dedicated bands last. This subgenre was in fact the one that drove me to the slow and heavy kind of music more than fast and brutal as I was a dedicated death metal kid in my youth. I can still remember someone playing the Thergothon ‘Fhtagn Nagh Yog-Sothoth’ demo in 1991 at a house party and I was sold instantly.

There are not many bands surviving playing funeral doom as it’s an art to get that special mournful feeling and I can count the bands still playing, and defunct, that I still listen to on one hand and amongst Finnish giants as Thergothon and Skepticism, Ea is up there. With their mysterious, haunting, beautiful and totally depressing music they’re mysterious in more than one way as no one is really sure where they’re even from. Rumours say its Russia but who knows and who really cares?

It’s hard in any genre to leave an imprint such as Ea. When suddenly one day out of the blue you just have to hear a song from them, they sure left a scar that will never heal. And when you find that record and that song it’s like a relief like no other.

The mystery surrounding Ea is reaching from where they’re from and whom is in the band to what the hell their lyrics are about. It’s said to be centred and also sung in an ancient dead language, somehow resurrected and Babylonian, Akkadian, Sumerian is also rumoured to be its origin. It sounds strange and like nothing I’ve heard before and just as I like it, no words making sentences that make any kind of sense but at the same time allow you to take your mind off into the music. That’s also a reason I like funeral doom, the lyrics are often so growly and low that you can’t make out a single word. Like an extra instrument.

‘A Etilla’ has it all within a 50 minute long song. Ambient, sorrow filled and sombre effects with synthesizers flowing in the background. The pace isn’t ultra-slow but reaches from very slow to some mid-pace parts with added double bass drum clatter reminding me of death metal. Melodic, mysterious, sombre funeral doom is what Ea treats you to and as with all their previous albums, it’s once again released through Solitude Productions, who were fortunate to sign them years back and have since released all their records, what a find!

Ea have existed since 2005 and with four full length records behind them, they’re not new to the game and are perfecting their take on funeral doom with every release. The synthetic made harmony and effects are spot on and we all know how easy it can get a bit too much and come over cheesy or even goth. Ea manages to add these synthetically made sounds to their metal perfectly and the harmonies, choirs, rain and other background sounds they have going on makes this a really good funeral doom release.

Many doom metal groups have started as a funeral doom band but many have left their path for other types of doom and so many have, in my opinion, failed miserably (no one named, no one blamed). I can understand it’s easy to feel like you’re stuck in a very thin genre and wanting to do something new but please make a totally new band instead of breaking our slow beating black doomed hearts when you think you’re going to hear a new funeral doom album and are hit with something completely different. It’s not always a bad album the previous funeral doomsters have created but it’s never a good start to let your old fans down. Of course this happens in all genres but lately I believe it has happened to funeral doom a bit too often. Luckily we have the old legends still and I really believe that Ea is going to be one of them.

Author: Johannes van der Meer
Solitude Productions 26.01.2014, 19:15
Review
Iye Zine
7.8/10
24.01.2014

Dopo otto anni di attività e cinque album all’attivo (compreso quest’ultimo A Etilla) gli Ea sono riusciti a conquistarsi meritatamente uno spazio nella scena funeral doom nonchè l’attenzione degli appassionati. Il fatto di suonare un genere che per sua natura non attira masse di fan urlanti ha di molto facilitato la loro scelta di mantenere un totale anonimato, circondando di assoluto mistero tutto ciò che esula dalla pura proposta musicale. In tal modo, per chi si trova a dover parlare dei lavori della band russa (la nazionalità dei musicisti coinvolti pare essere l’unico dato certo), la sola base di partenza sono le lunghe tracce capaci di trasportare l’ascoltatore attraverso scenari cupi ma non disperati, nei quali la malinconia è l’autentico fattor comune. Nel corso degli anni la proposta degli Ea è rimasta piuttosto fedele agli schemi degli esordi: lunghe litanie nelle quali chitarra e tastiere si alternano nel condurre melodie sicuramente più fruibili rispetto a gran parte delle band operanti nel settore, con un growl piuttosto canonico che recita testi in una lingua inventata, un particolare che tutto sommato può avere un suo relativo fascino ma nulla più. La forza della band risiede piuttosto nella sua apparente semplicità, ma sottolinerei la parola “apparente” proprio perché, in un genere come il funeral doom, non vengono certo richieste acrobazie strumentali o dirompenti capacità innovative: l’ascoltatore va alla ricerca di emozioni veicolate da sonorità che manifestano il lento oblio e la caducità dell’esistenza e gli Ea in questo senso sono un’autentica garanzia. Nonostante la loro produzione goda di una certa uniformità, sia a livello qualitativo che stilistico, non tutti gli album pubblicati sono di uguale valore: personalmente adoro “Ea II” e l’autointitolato Ea, precedente uscita data 2012, mentre ho sempre ritenuto leggermente inferiori sia l’esordio “Ea Taesse” che “Au Ellai”; mantenendo l’alternanza tra buoni album, nel caso dei dispari, e di lavori vicini alla perfezione nei pari, A Etilla appare quindi come una versione lievemente meno ispirata del suo predecessore, con il quale ha però molto in comune, a partire dalla tracklist costituita da una sola suite della durata di circa cinquanta minuti e di un alternanza piuttosto simile per distribuzione tra le parti strumentali più struggenti e i momenti nei quali i riff tendono ad irrobustirsi, mai però in maniera eccessiva. Dopo diversi ascolti, questo lungo viaggio in un dolore soffuso e nello struggimento consolatorio prodotto dalle melodie lineari ma avvincenti dei misteriosi doomsters, riesce a conquistare definitivamente anche se, come detto, le splendide linee armoniche che venivano sciorinate nell’album omonimo si palesano solo a tratti producendo un risultato assolutamente gradevole ma non abbastanza per eguagliarne in toto la bellezza. Detto questo, l’ascolto di A Etilla è doverosamente consigliato a tutti coloro che amano il funeral melodico, ma è certo che la recente uscita del capolavoro degli Eye OF Solitude, Canto III, ha alzato di molto l’asticella per chiunque si cimenti nel genere, incluse le band storiche o di culto come gli Ea.

Author: Stefano Cavanna
Solitude Productions 24.01.2014, 17:08
Review
About.com
4/5
21.01.2014

Ea are a Russian band, and their latest album A Etilla, like 2012's self-titled release, is one massive track that's nearly 50 minutes long.

It's a dynamic and varied album with a lot of ebbs and flows. There's a lot of great guitar melodies, but also extended mellow ambient passages. The intensity ratchets up from time to time with growling vocals, which contrast the choral vocals that are also used periodically. The album unfolds slowly, advancing and retreating, sometimes relaxing and other times tension filled, but always interesting.

Author: Chad Bowar
Solitude Productions 22.01.2014, 15:19
Review
Xtreem Music
9/10
09.01.2014

Hoy me vuelvo a enfundar la mortaja, a recrear un altar mortuorio, a sacar mi ataúd más lustroso y a alzar las velas negras para dar un exquisito ambiente a depresión y a un inmenso hedor a muerte. Hoy después de mucho tiempo me visto con los grisáceos, solemnes pero “alegres” colores del funeral.

Pues si efectivamente, después de reseñar ya hace bastante a THE HOWLING VOID, ahora vuelvo a tocar el Funeral Doom con los enigmáticos y misteriosos EA. Y si os soy sincero, no sé muy bien porque toco tan poco este estilo (me refiero a la hora de criticarlo), ya que me encanta y llega a parecerme fascinante. Sí que es verdad que, la perdida de una banda como era la de COLOSSEUM (gloriosa), mermo un poco mi interés en dicho estilo ya que, últimamente no acababa de en él una sincronía parecida con casi ninguna banda de parámetros similares.

En EA los miembros mantienen su identidad desconocida, de ahí su enigmática situación. La banda se basa en los textos sacros de las civilizaciones antiguas para la lírica de sus nostálgicas, melancólicas y desgarradoras canciones y desentierra las lenguas muertas, para provocar la máxima evocación mortuoria. Solo se sabe que provienen de Rusia y que se forman en 2005. Y en estos días van a publicar “A Etilla”, el que es ya quinto álbum, después de cuatro magnificas odas al llanto más solemne y bello, y al mayor y más funesto adiós.

En cuanto a este nuevo álbum primeramente decir que “A Etilla”, se aproxima a lo realizado por los franceses, MONOLITHE, por lo menos estructuralmente hablando, ya que como pasara en su anterior álbum, “Ea”, este solo se compone de una grandilocuente e hipnótica pieza, la cual, llega y sobrepasa los 49 minutos de duración.

Para empezar, este “A Etilla” es cíclico, ya que comienza como acaba y acaba como comienza, lógicamente. El frio y lánguido inicio se intercala con retazos más aguerridos (más de lo normal para venir de quien viene), que hacen que sobrevuele por encima de nuestros cráneos una auténtica explosión de sensaciones. Mientras sigue el martilleo de solos penumbrosos, que se clavan como agujón venenoso, inoculando su tristeza en todo tu cuerpo. De repente llega la calma, que desfila entre agónicas atmosferas y delicados brotes de serenidad mentirosa, puesto que, se prepara para proclamar que viene veloz, de nuevo, la infección para cubrir tus oídos de llanto y dolor. Entre tanto, el juego continua con melodías que danzan entre melancólicas, quebradas y desesperadas. Por momentos, este maléfico, hermoso y majestuoso rito, se engalana con la cavernosidad de una voz que pide que le acompañes a las profundidades de la misma muerte. En un segundo todo se oscurece, resuenan tambores deseosos de capturar tu alma para que envejezca y marchite a lado de los demás condenados, en un velatorio perpetuo donde el destierro de tu carne y de tus huesos, no tendrá fin, vagando por siempre, a las puertas del infierno.

Bueno, el álbum es un espectáculo sonoro. Muy cadencioso, melodioso, e inspirador. Tremebundo en cuanto a profundidad se refiere e, impecable en cuanto a las atmosferas y a los solos, cargados de sentimentalismo. Como algo a considerar destacable????? La presencia del Death, con cuentagotas, eso sí, pero está ahí, y eso, para esta banda no es lo normal, de hecho no recuerdo antes este elemento en ellos. Sombrío, lúgubre, escalofriante e incluso delicada. Casi perfecto.

Author: Fekal Xpagna
Solitude Productions 13.01.2014, 18:46
Review
Doom Metal Heaven
9/10
06.02.2014

Masters of their dark art, the secretive Ea create captivating funeral doom metal, resplendent with beautiful choral arrangements and oppressively lachrymose atmospheres. ‘A Etilla’ is one gigantic song, 49 minutes long, but such is the band’s skill that it never gets anywhere near dull.

The singer’s ruined throat cries of ruined landscapes and faded glory, taking you on a journey of sorrow and passion. With lyrical themes based on sacred texts from ancient civilisations, sung in a long-dead language derived from archaeological studies, it is abundantly evident that Ea take what they do very seriously.

This is similarly apparent in the way they have crafted this colossally long composition into a many-layered whole that maintains the listener’s attention more effectively than any three-minute pop ditty. Be prepared to lose the best part of an hour of your day once you hit ‘Play’ and it will be time very well spent.

For reasons unknown, the members of Ea prefer to keep their identities hidden, although it is often presumed that the band is Russian, considering it is handled by Russian label Solitude Productions. Maybe Vladimir Putin himself plays the drums. Nothing would surprise us about good old Vlad. Whatever country these guys reside in, they are producing some of the world’s finest funeral doom at the moment, and ‘A Etilla’ is a shining example of what this kind of super-gloomy music can achieve.
Solitude Productions 04.01.2014, 22:11
Review
Metalive
5+/5
24.01.2014

Один из моих самых любимых проектов, в жанре похоронного дума, Ea тоже решили осчастливить выходом свежего произведения, хотя последний альбом вышел не так давно. Впрочем свежий опус получился посвежее, хотя бы из-за того, что не распадается на отдельные составляющие, как это было с одноименным альбомом, выпущенным в 2012-м году. Ну и некое прибавление в темпе, что привнесло в музыку дэтовую частичку, тоже не прошло даром, а принесло некую изюминку, от которой не мог оторваться довольно долго. И даже не смотря на длину трека слушается он на одном дыхании, в чем я лично и не сомневался впрочем.
Эпическое творение, заслуживающее 5+/5 и, пока что, это №1 в новом году.

Author: SatanicPanzer
Solitude Productions 04.01.2014, 22:01
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