Apostles Of Defiance

We are late with this release, but considering the valuable music presented by Eidolon these years, the band deserves at least a decent spotlight. The year 2000 saw the first worldwide release of Eidolon, Nightmare World. At that time, Nightmare World received favorable reviews. Eidolon didn't tour following this record and immediately worked for their next studio album, Hallowed Apparition, which was released in June 2001. This new record was a more direct heavy metal assault, leaving somehow the heaviness spotted on Nightmare World. This time the band was following the path of Iced Earth and Forbidden. For Coma Nation - they strongest release as far as I am concerned - Eidolon lost Brian Soulard (singer). He has been replaced by Pat Mulock. Coma Nation was a non stop assault of heavy metal (pummeling double bass, monster riffs and memorable melodies). A strong release. I must say I was expecting Apostles Of Defiance anxiously. Eidolon has chosen the aggression path for Apostles Of Defiance. Aggressive riffs, many dynamic guitar assaults, this thrash metal style reminds you Forbidden. The Iced Earth "touch" shortly spotted on Hallowed Apparition is long gone - explaining partly the departure of Brian Soulard ? Eidolon sounds now as a heavy/thrash metal band, sometimes at full speed. I like the diversity and the changing tempo inside the song. Lyrically, the band is as dark as their covers. You will not find dragons stories here. As said above, a song like Demoralized or Screams From Within send you directly to Forbidden. Volcanic Earth, with the guttural effect on the vocals, sends you to the Swedish death/thrash metal scene. An interesting track actually. The listener will enjoy some killer tracks and will be send inside destructive and bombastic guitar riffs (Demoralized, The Test) which have an Annihilator or an Imagika taste. But what should have been Eidolon's best record to date, turns to be an "average" record. And the one I blame for is the singer, which I can't always "stand". There is not enough emotions and variance in his vocals, he is too linear. Thus, I have the feeling sometimes Pat Mulock is in the "red zone", pushing abnormally to far his voice. As for the songs, there are a bit predictable and less inspired compare to the song writing of Coma Nation (lots of Iron Maiden guitar solos). Apostles Of Defiance has been self-produced and I truly think an external producer would have helped the band. This record will certainly give a larger scale to Eidolon, but on the other hand, Apostles Of Defiance never reaches the quality of Coma Nation. This band can do much better ... and I am sure the next album will prove that. If you like Forbidden, Imagika, Cage or Forte, I invite you to check this album.