Ea - Ea II (CD)

Review
Deaf Sparrow
3\5

After their huge leap into the doom scene, Ea returned a few years later to release II. At this point, it's clear that they've gotten more tuned to their instruments. The arrangements are more complex, and the production quality higher. However, the rawness of Ea Taesse was one of the things that made it so powerful, and the simplicity of the piano and organ was key. The clarity added to this release seems to have toned down the 'funeralness' of their sound. The drums now add some interesting fills to break the slowness and the guitars tend to stand out more, but one can't help but recognize how similar everything is. Can you really do this for more than one album? It has some better moments, but Ea's first release still trumps this one.

Author: Arkus

Review
Chronicles of Chaos
9/10
24.10.2009

This is Ea's second album, containing two untitled tracks and lyrics drawn from ancient sacral texts. They reside somewhere in the US.
That is the sum of information available on the band; I cannot find band names, not even pseudonyms, and remain clueless as to the number of members. There is no info on where or when this was recorded. Normally, such kult kiddie attempts at remaining mysterious are reserved for black metal bands, whose shoddy music alone is destined to consign them to well-deserved obscurity, but Ea are neither black nor shit.
This is not a complex band, nor have they departed significantly, if at all, from the motif of their debut: simple and drawn out riffs, and reverbed to the lord of the depths himself, accompanied by a wash of synths to create their epic funeral doom atmosphere. Growls are low in the mix, and vocals so ridiculously guttural as to be just another instrument serving the low end. The song structures are simple and fairly predictable in their alternations between metal and ambient, but that's part of the territory. (Don't bother trying to hear any lyrics, and good luck in finding any online.)
This does not differ significantly from their debut, but no-one expected otherwise and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Author: Quentin Kalis

Review
Doom Mantia
9/10
04.11.2009

One of the most obscure bands in Doom has to be Ea, not only are they extremely underground they keep it that way by not having a website that I can find anywhere. They even push the obscurity level up a notch by giving out no information on who is involved in the band and they don't even bother with song titles. The two tracks on this second album from the band are both untitled and if you think that is obscure then wait till you hear how bleak and depressing this Funeral doom is. The 47 minutes on this release contain some of the most desperate, torture, mournful and emotional doom ever produced. The music has a kind of depressing ambiance that draws the listener in for better or for worse, that part of it is clearly up to you and your taste in Doom Metal.The slow drumming accompanied by the heavy, angst-ridden riff-age builds up a great saddened aura surrounding the music. You can feel the personal torment, of an individual on the edge of ending his/her miserable life, come through the music. The organ sound added to the mix makes it even more bombastic, and it feels almost like a twisted church mass.The slowly growled, tortured vocals creates a atmosphere that is incredibly stark. This is right up there with the best of them; Worship, Mournful Congregation, Thergothon and other leaders in the Funeral Doom realm. Along with the organ there is piano's, synths, guitars -acoustic and electric all pushing the sadness level to a point where at times it can be too much to bear. Not a happy album at all, this is pure Funeral doom that is extreme for the emotional heights that the music reaches at times. Intense guitar lines build layer upon layer and add the ambiance created by epic synths and beautiful keyboard lines and you have a sound that is rich, full and with a total dramatic edge. There is other little touches that make the album even more dramatic like the sound of a heartbeat slowing to a stop, or the simple drip drop of water in the background, all adding to the cinematic quality of the music. The album may too ambient for some but there is also a lot of straight out bombastic raw heaviness to create a balance but it also has its fair share of annoying moments like the pointless piano-hitting around the twelfth minute of the first track is definitely irritating. This is a heavy duty Funeral Doom album that is no easy listening experience but one that I instantly hooked onto. I listen to the album 6 times the first day I got it because it has that quality that can be listened to in the background or cranked up for maximum sonic affect. Solitude Productions is the site to go to if you want to find out more about this band but good luck, I haven't found a website, not even another review to find info on band members and so on. Obscure yes but a potential classic Funeral Doom album, only time will tell if they get the publicity they deserve.

Review
Vibrations Of Doom Magazine/DOOM Radio
98/100

WOW... What a fantastic piece of funereal doom/death we have here from the
Russian label Solitude Productions. Although I hesitate to say funeral or even
funereal since the atmosphere is so unusually light and more melodic than most
within this genre. There are only 2 tracks here, and they are both untitled,
and BOTH clock in at over 20 minutes a piece. Each track bounces around a LOT
though, so it's not over 20 minutes of the same old thing, but man the beauty
and sheer awesomeness that emanate from this disc are a thing to behold. Wind
sounds start the CD off, and you have some dark solitary piano notes. The heavy
guitar work comes in at about 2 minutes, and the slow but doomy leads follow.
The vocals finally make their deathly appearance at around 4 minutes, and is
probably the darkest thing (for the most part, more on that in a minute) on the
disc. I definitely loved the synthesizers, they convey such an amazing
atmosphere, and are often quite otherworldly in their appearance. You get more
solo piano notes, then finally the music seems to stop and you hear some water
dripping and a faint heartbeat. This kinda took some getting used to, as at
first it seems to interrupt the flow the track was going for, but soon the
synths kick in... Towards the end of this piece, however, some dark guitar
parts threaten to ruin it all for me. This tune ends a little oddly, however we
delve right into the second piece. You're hearing some interesting sounds,
kinda like a tomb door opening and several whispered passages, and once again
we get a tad annoyed around the 8 minute mark with some dark and haunting
guitar passages; the first dark and ominous piece of music to grace the disc.
Even the pianos pick up a rather dark pace as well, though it was odd to hear
piano notes bounce back and forth between light and dark passages. I must say
that the synths create such an amazing atmosphere that you almost don't notice;
there's always a few things going on at once (like the acoustic styled one note
guitars over the heavy drawn out riffs and the synths backing it all up). I
thorougly enjoyed this album, even the church styled organs and multivocal
chants that end the CD in fine fashion. Probably one of the most unusual
releases in the doom/death category with an unusually light and beautiful vibe
running all the way through the disc. A stunning piece of work and I look
forward to their next full length (already out by the time you read this!)

Review
Metal Reviews
86/100

One of the more mysterious metal bands ever to exist, the overly enigmatic Ea have returned with a second album that amazingly offers even less insight into the band than their solid debut Ea Taesse. This album, entitled simply II, has no song titles. In fact, the liner notes only contain the information, repeated from the first album, that this band is based on a sacral text of a dead language recovered from an archaeological study. What has also remained largely the same is the sound and atmosphere of the band. II may not advance or improve upon the sound of Ea Taesse, but it is still a solid slab of funeral doom.

Like the first album, II is meant to be listened to from beginning to end, in one sitting. There are two untitled “tracks”, and though there is a tangible pause when one gives way to the other, this album still works best as one long and epic funeral doom suite. The one new wrinkle that jumped out at me the most is that the overall sound feels far more romanticized than last time. By that I mean that there are more piano passages and slowly unfurling guitar leads. This leads to a more epic and expansive sound, but I prefer the suffocating and more desolate approach of Ea Taesse to be honest. That’s not to say that II is bad, far from it, but this style just doesn’t work as well for the band in my opinion. Vocals are once again very sparse, their guttural tone serving merely to advance the cold atmosphere. There are a few new sounds used to great effect, including some eerie water drops, and a creaky dungeon-esque noise. The dungeon sound is probably the point that I found the strongest on the album, as it is followed by a howling wind sound coupled with an unsettling bell toll, which eventually gives way to by far the deepest and heaviest riff to be found here. The problem is that moments like this are not as abundant as they were on the previous album, and in turn I found there to be more plodding and unspectacular passages that just make the album feel longer.

I won’t deny feeling a wee bit of disappointment when I wasn’t as initially blown away by II as I was by Ea Taesse, but, after giving it some repeated listens and time to sink in, I feel that it is still one of the stronger funeral doom albums you will find this year. I do hope that Ea add a bit more of the empty feeling of their first album to go along with the epic nature of their music, but I guess I should just expect the unexpected, especially from a band as purposefully vague as this one.

Author: Adam