Artist: En Declin
Title: Domino/Consequence
Type: Album
Label: My Kingdom Music

Having had no exposure to En Declin previously, I wasn’t holding out much hope after reading the label’s promotional pack, it proudly describing them as, “For sure one of the most upsetting bands in the Italian dark rock progressive scene.” Hardly a glowing reference, and with the style of music being described as ‘Emotional Music’, I was prepared for an onslaught of teeny angst, with a bunch of whining fringes complaining that sexy girls always ignore them. En Declin, thankfully, are not that. As for what they are, well that’s a bit more difficult to explain, so here goes. Once again, referring to the promo gumph, they are, “dreaming music with a more direct and full of energy sound, but also with great Progressive and Indie contaminations for a new little jewel of shaded melancholy and emotional intensity”. All clear? Good, then let’s move on.

En Declin certainly can’t be accused of rushing things, as this is their first release since 2005’s ‘Trama’, with that itself being an extended version of the 2003 demo of the same name, but the time between has been well spent, as ‘Domino/Consequence’ makes for an intriguing listen. The Romans describe their style as Ethereal Morphosis Music, which obviously means bugger all to you and I, so down to brass tacks here, this is for fans of A Perfect Circle, Esoterica and later Anathema. Opener ‘Fourteen Days’ is certainly musically beautiful with a strong and catchy chorus, but singer Mao’s voice is something of an acquired taste, being somewhere between Maynard James Keenan and Simon Le Bon, all with a heavy vibrato. ‘Over’ is reminiscent of APC’s ‘The Outsider’, only not nearly as aggressive and gnarly, and things are slowed down even further with ‘Envied Routine’, a slow radio friendly ballad. Tristano Aschi and Daniele Carfagna’s guitars complement each other and the overall sound well, with some light but intricate finger picking. The vocal harmonies make it sound like there is severe overkill on the auto tune, which is great if you like that kind of thing, as seems to be the current trend.

‘Domino’ is one of the more rocking tracks on here, opening with some purposeful guitar riffery, with a solo straight out of the Anathema’s book of melodic rock, and this leads straight into ‘Consequence’, a mournful piece that works well as the centrepiece of the album, built around a riff that Isis or Cult of Luna would be proud of in their more quiet and retrospective moments. ‘Keyword out Of Context’ kills the mood a little, just seeming dull, but things are quickly back on track with ‘Leave Apart a Sense’, with some oppressive guitar chords framing an impassioned performance by Mao. It’s a slow, foreboding and atmospheric piece that for me is the standout track. When ‘The Script’ popped up at random on my MP3 player, I was wondering how in hell I’d managed to end up with a Duran Duran track on there, largely due to Mao’s performance here. It’s actually a very good track, despite that. The cover of The Beatles ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ is a welcome addition. I’ve always considered The Beatles to be one of the most over-rated acts of all time, but always appreciated this song, and they do it justice. ‘Dipped’ was a really disappointing end to the main album, coming across as a bland meandering piece of radio friendly rock, not up to the quality of the rest of the album, despite a nicely worked solo. The bonus track is a reworking of ‘Keyword out Of Context’ in Italian, which quite predictably sounds better than the original version. Bands always sound better when they choose to sing in their native language as they can put more of an emotional investment into it, and that’s quite evident here, elevating song well out of the mediocre bin.

So, despite this being Metal Team UK, this is certainly not metal. If you are after having your ears blown off, this is not an album for you, but what we do have is a well crafted, beautifully played bit of dark progressive rock. My only real criticism is that there wasn’t quite enough variation across the album, with some of the tracks blending into each other. That being said, this is great background music, and with ‘Fourteen Days’ and ‘Leave Apart a Sense’, they have two excellent songs worthy of airplay anywhere. If you like it dark but melodic, then ‘Domino/Consequence’ is definitely worth a look. A pleasant surprise, this one.

http://www.myspace.com/endeclin

Lee Kimber

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