The Eyes of the Basilisk

It's a damn shame how obscure this album is, but I guess some folks are never lucky enough to get the exposure they deserve. On the plus side, for those of us who do get the pleasure of discovering this amazing work of art, it makes it all the sweeter. Plus, it is ridiculously cheap no matter what site you go to for ordering; I literally got this album for a penny on Amazon (plus shipping of course).

What we have here is an interesting melodic death album that manages to be quite unique in its own right. What is most fascinating about it is something almost intangible. Although this album isn't particularly Gotherburg-influenced, it does share one trait with some of the earliest examples of the Gothenburg sound. Like "Lunar Strain," "Skydancer," and even "A Moonclad Reflection," "The Eyes of the Basilisk" just FEELS medieval. I cannot help but imagine scenes straight out of fantasy while this album is playing, much like with those albums as well. It's strange, but nonetheless very much a good thing. Somehow it evokes these images without even trying. While I love folk metal, bands of that nature pretty much force the imagery down your throat; Path of Debris is much more integral and natural sounding; as if the fantasy aspect is how life really is and that's just the reason it sounds that way. The added heft this band has compared to it's Gothenburg cousins is also quite satisfying; I'm reminded very slightly of Amon Amarth at times.

My initial reaction to this album, unfortunately, was very poor. The intro, "Epilogue" (buh?) flat-out sucks. It's cheesy, the spoken word vocals suck, and no metal song, intro or not, should EVER mention unicorns, for obvious reasons. After that, however, we are treated to the actual songs, which are uniformly good. None are technically flashy in the least, but they are competently played, melodic, and very catchy, with just enough metal muscle showing through the riffs. Vocals are a lower register roar; no crappy clean vocals thankfully. Production is solid, a little muddy at times but no real biggie; this was released by an unknown band on a small label, so it's to be expected. You can still hear all the melodies and leads quite easily, and the muddiness adds a little bit to the beefiness of it all, so I guess I really shouldn't complain either way.

"Destiny" is probably the best song of the bunch here, but they're all good aside from the horrid intro. This album is basically musical candy in its entirety; it's simple, effective, and fun. There are some headbanging moments and there are some effective melodic moments. There are no avant-gardisms, no excessive amounts of folk instruments, no bizarre keyboard solos; just straight up, melodic metal with a slight death metal sheen. I don't listen to this when I want to reflect on life or some other bullshit; I listen to this when I want a solid metal album. There's no reason not to own this album.