Evadne | ‘The Shortest Way’

Sometimes it’s albums like this that remind me how far we’ve come as an extreme metal collective in the two-and-a-bit decades that the recognised term has been in existence.

OK, so to all intents and purposes, yes, it’s a demo. Yet the quality and care that has gone into this record practically clatters you around the head within the first thirty seconds or so of the opening track ‘No Place for Hope’. Put quite simply, ‘The Shortest Way’ sounds fantastic.

The production is incredible. Thick, full and organic, it boasts that ‘holy grail’ balance of clarity and power that so many strive for and so few achieve. For a self-released effort to sound so professional is a real achievement in itself - if these six Spaniards haven’t splashed out some serious cash on this album then the man behind the mixing desk is a genius and I want to meet him.

Thankfully, the glittering production doesn’t merely represent the euro-heavy polishing of a musical dog turd. Evadne know their stuff and know how to achieve it. Melodic doom-death is the order of the day here with powerful, majestic, loping riffs tumbling in waves.

Drama and despair duel in equal measure, down-tuned chugging chords dripping with sinewy lead melodies. The impassioned roars of vocalist Albert and stirring backing synths complete a dense, textured picture.

The songwriting and dynamics in evidence are of an undeniably high standard and evidently, we’re dealing with the complete package. So why am I holding back? Why is there a sense of restraint to this review? Because, sadly, there is something of an elephant in the room here and it’s this - for all its obvious quality, ‘The Shortest Way’ is so indebted to Swallow The Sun that it hurts.

OK, so one could choose a worse influence and there is no shame at all in being inspired by another artist to create your own material - we all draw inspiration from somewhere and there is no shame in that. Unfortunately, to these ears, this record seriously oversteps the mark - I am no Swallow the Sun expert but even I can tell that some of this veers dangerously close to outright plagiarism.

Those rolling, 6/8 chug riffs, the climbing crescendo-esque lead harmonies, the bowel-deep roar/soft croon vocal interplay, even the synths that swell behind some of the riffs - so many boxes have been ticked, it’s incredible. More than anything though, it is the blatant songwriting ‘worship’ of their Finnish forebearers that irks the most - the clean breaks in ‘This Complete Solitude’ almost note-for-note being the intro to ‘The Giant’ from 2002’s ‘Ghosts of Loss’ for example.

It’s deeply frustrating as otherwise, this track contains some of their more distinctive material and this sensation persists throughout the album. Evadne are capable of delivering some powerful, affecting moments but each one is shot through with a distant sensation of being vaguely cheated somehow.

That ‘The Shortest Way’ is also somewhat ironically rather too long with 9 minute closer ‘Gloomy Gardens’ testing the patience considerably is more or less an aside when up against the unshakeable feeling of listening to a tribute band.

A talented, professional and impressive tribute band for sure, but a tribute band all the same. If Evadne can harness more of their own ideas and focus on defining ‘their’ sound then we will have a real prospect on our hands. For now, I guess this record will keep STS fans sated whilst waiting for their newest album.

3.9/5 - Frank Allain ::: 16/01/12