The Ebon Channel is a somewhat dark and mysterious place and it is one that inspirationally takes its thematic from the myths of the 22 islands of The Ebon Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. As soon as I read this I was thinking along the lines of Clive Barker’s fantasy output but unlike the worlds he creates so brilliantly this area is not a fictional one. Discovered by Missionaries in 1857 a quick search on the net will illuminate you more on this subject. Speaking of which, the name of this duo in case you were wondering apparently means the coming together of darkness and light, so now you know.
This 4 track demo is no doubt a sample of things to come and is a very interesting one too. The duo behind it are The Marshall Maiden (Christina Poupoutsi) on lead vocals and keyboards and The Monk for everything else. The chances are you may have heard of The Monk as it is the nom de plume of J.D. Tait from The Meads Of Asphodel and The Worms Of Sabnock, perhaps explaining the eccentricities behind this particular project. I should also point out that it comes as no surprise to see they like dressing up to look the part in their promo shots too.
‘Evident In Void’ mysteriously seeps in with insects chirping and tribal drums quietly beating in the distance. Female vocals enter, ethereal and witchy, full of mystique as both they and the guitars behind build up. When everything crashes in there is certainly a blackened fuel about it and male backing vocals are barking in the melee too. There is a very avant-garde feel about this as well as one that reeks of decadence. I am reminded a little of Arcturus with the pompous keyboards but there is a certain uniqueness about this overall. That is not quite so the case on second track ‘Into Forest So True,’ at least as far as the vocals are concerned as I am strongly reminded of Siouxsie Sioux as the song rolls out with what sounds like a harpsichord weaving the magickal spell further into an otherworldly void. Mind you Siouxsie never screamed like this Maiden at full pelt and by ‘Jung’ we again transform into a song that reminds a little of Diamandas Galas. It most definitely sounds like a spell is being cast on this one and the somewhat demonic classicism of the instrumentation works well with it.
A band has to get attention with their first release and it is not just the music that has done so as far as Ebonillmini are concerned (spelling their name correctly and reading it off the CD cover are the first hurdle). There is a mystique about all this that is intriguing and has me wanting to dig deeper. You can too by entering the link below and exploring the visions as well as all four tracks included on the demo.
http://www.myspace.com/ebonillumini
