Fallen Hope

I just looked on a world map to see if Gothenburg is not only located in Sweden, but also in the United States. It's apparent that Gothenburg is only located in Sweden and I should have known better. What made me go through the trouble of researching for Gothenburg in the US? You guessed it, this band and their EP release... geez what took you so long to get the answer?

Ethereal Collapse if a fairly new band straight out of Pennsylvania, in a small little town. At first, when I heard these guys live at a local show and hearing them live wasn’t bad; they sounded thrashy live with a lot of harmonies in the vein of Soilwork. I got a copy of the CD from the lead singer/guitarist, and when I got home, I heard more of a melodic death metal side to them… not the crappy kind of melodic death metal like new In Flames.

Needless to say, they're great, and this CD proves it. It's more of a self produced demo I think, but the band created a neat booklet with a back for the case and all around, a nice layout of a CD. Plus, the production is superb, with clear crunching guitars, harmonic bass lines, leveled drums and vocals bursting out. If ya didn't get the idea, these guys are melodic death metal with small hints of thrash metal, and hot-damn, these guys know how to make melodic death metal! People say that groups like Darkest Hour, As I Lay Dying and so on are melodic death "Gothenburg" metal from the US…? Ha, we all know that they sound nothing like melodic death metal (actually, they sound more metalcore/hardcore), but Ethereal Collapse on the other hand are pure melo-death. Take a listen to the album if ya don’t believe me.

So we start off with "A Tragedy Divine" and this is a neat opener. It starts with very harmonic, melodic guitar riffs that sounds almost like "Behind Space" by In Flames. It's begins getting even more melodic and the vocals come in as the catchy riffs play. This is probably the "softest" song on the album, but it definitely gives you an idea to what Ethereal Collapse are all about. Harmonies galore!

"Walls Of Eternity"... SLAYYYER! That’s the only thing that comes to mind when I hear the beginning of this song. It starts off with a very Slayerish intro, and it begins to turn out to be more like In Flames again. Throughout the song, after every chorus, comes a very neat breakdown of double bassing with condescending guitar noise. A nice solo can be heard in the middle of the song.

Up next is the thrashy "Fallen Hope" song, and it’s a speedy little fucker. This sounds more like an old Soilwork song (minus the high pitch death voice Speed Strid did back in his days.) That's the best I can describe this song and likewise, the melody is mixed into the whole thrashy mess.

Sadly, the CD comes to an end with "Grand Deceiver." It's a heavier, slower song with heavy riffage going on in the guitar work. Still, the melody can be found in the music underneath the constant thrash riffs. This is not one of my favorites, but it's a noteworthy track.

*Mwah*, perfection... just a few things bought down the rating of the album. Firstly, the vocals can be sung better... the guy can sing, don't get me wrong, but it sounds sort of hardcorish. It's like he's just screaming/grunting and speaking... well okay, not screaming, but speaking aloud into the microphone. Also, the lyrics could've been written better. Most of the song themes are alike, relating to God this and God that, help me this and help me that, eternity this and eternity that. The lyrics need to be more diverse because if you put all the lyrics as one, you can make one whole damn song with the four lyrics!

All around, this is definitely a group worth checking out. They're great live and their CD is better! They can definitely play some melodic death metal, and true melo-death metal, not that bullcrap new In Flames junk. Heed my words; buy this CD if you think melodic death metal has gone in the wrong direction these days… this CD will prove you wrong. You won't be disappointed by what the CD beholds. ::Sigh:: I’m just disappointed that this is just a EP… I can’t wait till there’s a full length release! Can you?

Ear Catchers: All of the tracks, especially Walls Of Eternity.

*Check them out at www.Etherealcollapse.tk*