| As one of America's up and coming death metal bands, Ekser is a group
of guys that began this project as a side-project. As years went by and
changes in lineup were made, Ekser became a full time effort for every
member in the band. In 2006 Ekser give you their first EP titled "The
Obliteration Process". This effort resulted in a heavy sounding mixture
of american metal and death metal in the vein of Invocation of Nehek,
Decapitated, or Anata that the masses could find themselves easily pleased
with.
Now the sound of Ekser still has a young sound to it, but that's not to
say that their newest EP "The Obliteration Process" isn't well spoken for.
Although youthfulness is shown, Ekser still displays the beginning to a sound
that is mature beyond the member's years. For an unsigned band to show at
least that much in their first EP is very impressive. The usual stereotype is
that a band gets signed with a little less of a sound and creates a respectable
debut on a semi-major label of the caliber that "The Obliteration Process" is
at. Instead Ekser have self-produced an EP of that sort and although there isn't
much advertisement behind the album, listeners that are lucky enough to catch
ear to this metal act will find themselves a bit surprised that this thrashy sound
is coming out of a completely unspoken-for band.
Now this album's production seems the slightest bit off, in the sense that, the
recording doesn't really capture much of the band's intensity and rather it just
keeps the sound raw and un-modified. In Esker's case I think a few bass drops here
and there to attack listeners ears would have been a nice touch, but with the costs
of recording I can't much blame the band for their choices. The recording is still
up-key in comparison to the majority of unsigned bands, but I think if picked up
by a label and recorded right, Ekser could shine a lot brighter.
The strengths of this album are definately displayed in the grinding guitar riffs
displayed throughout tracks such as "Retribution From Within," and "The Obliteration
Process". The drums were decent, but I think in comparison to the rest of the music
they might have been a little bit out of the spotlight. As for the vocals, I think that
Ekser has found a fitting sound that gives them that thrashy death sound while still
unifying them as a different sounding band than every other band in the scene. Although
this band still has a lot of growing room before reaching the top ranks of the metal
scene I could see a next release finding a comfortable place on Willowtip or Tribunal Records.
~ Drew
October 31 2006 |
