To Exist and Endure

I like the sort of extreme death/thrash style that pops up occasionally in albums post-2000; you know, where the thrashiness is definitely evident but it's magnified by alternating with more brutal, blast-and-screech passages that give the music a very dynamic sense of aggression. Estuary's 'To Exist And Endure' is one of those albums, and the pull off the extreme death/thrash style pretty well. It's cool to see a band able to maintain the thrash in the death metal without appearing even remotely oldschool, and as such, 'To Exist And Endure' stands out a fair bit in the death metal scene because of it.

Estuary strikes a pretty good balance between extremity and melody, tending to make one reflect the other; more melodic and harmonious guitar passages will be bolstered by blasting drums, or more brutal riffs will be echoed by a more rhythmic, thrashy style of drumming. The result of this balance is an album that feels extremely well-rounded without getting confused as to its musical objectives. Each song is laid out in a very concrete fashion, with beginning, middle, and end all clearly defined, and the songs always seem to progress somewhere interesting yet easy to listen to. Despite the extremity of certain elements of 'To Exist And Endure', this is a remarkably easy album to listen to, possibly virtue of its excellent overall mixing and production which keeps things mostly balanced but allows every instrument room to breathe without getting to distant from the others.

Song structures move swiftly and are bolstered by an array of varied but uniformly quality riffs. Ranging from savage death/thrash guitar work to much more melodic and evocative leads, they provide a chaotic yet coherent mood, making this an unusually violent album for one which is in the end so accessible. The fairly extreme vocal performance and high-intensity drumming reflect the riffs in a unique and pleasing manner, where everything is in a constant state of motion; there's never any point of stillness on this album and the band always seems to be in a rush to get to the next section ala 'Altars Of Madness'. The riffing style itself could serve to be a bit more unique, with many of these themes being relatively close to typical death, thrash, and Gothenburg trappings, but they function well enough within the context of the songs to not be an issue.

Ultimately, 'To Exist And Endure' is a solid work that I don't get tired of listening to. The sheer aggression and intensity of the music manages to carry it through even some of the weaker moments of songwriting, and I can safely recommend this to just about any death/thrash, Gothenburg, or even open-minded brutal death fans. 'To Exist And Endure' is a very good opening volley from one of the less appreciated bands on Ibex Moon's curious roster and it would do you good to check them out.

From the ash of Ohio based Estuary of Calamity comes Estuary a brutal, intense soul scarred thrashing death band with vicious female vocals. Zdenka Prado is no stranger to the garden of shadows. She has been bellowing in baritone for over a decade now, way before Arch Enemy opted for a feccid femme fatale. Zdenka echoes the sonic storming screams of Corinne van der Brand from Acrostichon or Netherland country companions Mystic Charm's Rein. She is evershielding her feminie persuasion to evoke the essence of the flesh and blood dilemma. If you love brutal vocals, you need to hear her deplatory dirge. Guitarist and founder Ash Thomas also does his share of participating in the carnage, descanting the insalubrious with his best Bill Steer impression; although I am often even reminded of the crushing vocals from Denis Geestman the dubbed forswearer from Phlebotomized. The incredible talent of this band truly will drain the debtor. Ash is quite accomplished on his guitar playing in the classic Swedish death tone with hints of vintage Dissection or Dark Tranquillity in the early 90's. Also on guitar is Brad Howard, who when harmonizing with Ash plays persistent luminous leads. Jesse Wilson's drums are crushing and totally thrashing like Scott Travis meets Paul Bostoph. Each song on the CD gracefully articulates it's own architectual design of silence and mind.

The CD begins with a brief intro aptly titled To Exist, then just explodes into Soul Scarred Captives caustically penned by Ms. Prado. The lyrical lullabies for this CD, mangle the manger and cast aspersion on creation with the most poetically personified point of view. Draining the Debtor, another execrated excretion, explicates, "Abiding by the molded form, proclaims an eternal covenant, our soul's essence to linger and remain spoken with virtue". These gnostic accolades unfold even more on Woven Denial which begins brutal and slow, then instantly intensifies into serious shredding with ripping rendition. Again Ash just picks pixilated while Zdenka devours the microphone in utter dismal euphony. The Evershielding and Riding the Tides of Malice, both taken from their self released 2002 demo, are two of my favorite slices of die with their mega melodic edge reminiscient of the Desultory arrangements of Into Eternity. Evil Ash accentuates, "I must write in spiritual form, and pass my experience through the centuries. What is learned today will be the rules of tomorrow." Then the CD fades out with the sanguine suggestion, To Endure.

Estuary are indeed influenced by an argosy of European bands from every milieu of metal; yet they are from Ohio. They are from my home city, Cincinnati, and yes I have known Ash and the others for a while, now; but I just heard this CD four days ago. My own brother even designed their logo. Estuary just returned from a tour in Europe where they were welcomed willingly. I had not seen Ash since the sentencing of his his foregoing, but not forgotten callow calamity. I really enjoyed Estuary of Calamity since they had keyboards and even folk elements in their sound. Estuary is much more brazen and bare, stripped of all keyboard calisthenics. As I begin to divest the dearth of this 'novus aestuarium ingenium', I exhord you to consider likewise. Estuary has existed and endured unheard in the storm, and now it's time for them to ascend, and repudiate the woven denial for "a lasting scar will always be...the reminder of lost years and our lasting mistakes.".

As originally posted at www.metalcovenant.com

Prior to picking up Estuary' album To Exist and Endure I had become familiar with the work of the severely underrated band, Garden of Shadows. My horrid with-drawls from not hearing a new release from Garden of Shadows led me to believe that any music made by former members would be worth buying and hearing.

The first thing about this band is what is obvious... They do not sound like Garden of Shadows, but this is not a disappointment. Instead, they come across Swedish style via melodic Death Metal with hints of Thrash in titles like Of Weakening Stone. By contrast, 80's NWOBHM comes out in songs like Flesh and Blood Dilemma. The double guitars are quick with awesome riffing and they provide the foundation for this bands attack. The drums do not overpower the rest of the music despite the drummers obvious speed and talent. And bass is in near perfect rhythm and gives the music a solid backbone.

Yet, what stands out amongst all the music being played on inanimate instruments is the human voice box of Zdenka Prado. Any patriarchal notions Metal fans have about females who can not sing Death Metal Vox should be buried deep in the bowels of the filthiest turd and flushed into a pit. Prado uses incredibly deep vocals that make her sound like she is returning from a deep swim in the Arctic ocean with a frozen voice. Her vocals are heavy enough that Glen Benton would break down crying with envy if he heard it and Angela Nathalie Gossow would cut her own throat for being a talentless poser that fronts an impostor Death Metal band. Complimenting Prado's vox are the Death/Black Metal shrieks of guitarist Ash Thomas. His singing almost seems devised to offset the power of Prado, but that is not what happens when giving this album a spin. Alternatively, her voice is more pronounced but it takes nothing away from the music, or Thomas' vox.

The fucking bottom line: Estuary is an amazingly talented band. If anyone has any doubts about their abilities or the craftsmanship of this outstanding record then they have definitely not been listening. Standout tracks are Soul Scarred Captives, Draining the Deptor, Flesh and Blood Dilemma, and The Evershielding, that employs an amazing series of melodies that is good for either extracting teeth or outdoor sex. Hell, the whole damned album is exceptional and it is a damned good paradigm for why Death Metal may be the best genre of Metal. My only hope is that they do not make me wait too long before putting out another phenomenal release.

Remember: Keep the Metal Scene ALIVE. BUY this disc, Don't Burn it... save the burning for the latest M-TV/Head-boners-ball material.