As Night Falls - From Grace to Oblivion
As Night Falls – EP Review
From Grace to Oblivion
EP Info
2014
Self-Released
Symphonic Progressive Rock
4 Tracks
English Lyrics
The glittering rock and metal that flows from Poland is often so distinctive that I’ve said many times it could only come from that country because no country makes music quite the way the Poles do. Treat yourself some time by listening to the prog metal of Riverside, the progressive rock of Satellite or the extreme, avant-garde black metal of Mord’A’Stigmata. There are no bands that sound like those three.
As Night Falls follow a different compass. They deliberately set out to perform the type of symphonic metal that would appeal to lovers of the best-known giant bands in the genre. They’ve done that very well on their second EP, From Grace to Oblivion. They should find a warm reception among fans of Edenbridge, Sirenia, Xandria, Midnattsol and bands of that ilk. They compare well with bands in the quality of their music too. The average rating for From Grace to Oblivion on the Spirit of Metal catalog website is a full 20/20.
The band also set out to woo fans outside the arena of metal. Their songs might loosely fit into the category of melodic hard rock, but only because the band uses no dark (growling) vocals. I’d suggest the operatic soprano style of the vocals puts a clearly symphonic metal stamp on As Night Falls.
The band started in 2010. The founders, vocalist Anna Achtelik and guitarist Paweł Dylewski, had known each other from previous musical projects. Their objective was to create “a symphonic metal band that would follow in the footsteps of the greatest bands of the genre, but still remaining original and searching for its own style.”
By the time they were ready to make their first EP, My Secret Place (2012), they had completed their current line-up. The other band members are Łukasz Hatłas on bassist, Darek Markiewicz on drums, and Łukasz Siwy on keyboards. All the band members have contributed to the planning, composition and arranging of their music.
They’ve performed and been well received at many concerts in Poland. The first EP won praise. With From Grace to Oblivion the band deserve to break though internationally. They could still polish their performance, but all it needs is a little tweaking, not any big adjustments. Occasionally, for example, Anna sounds like she’s stretching a little uncomfortably on the higher and more extended notes, but her voice is undeniably good. Maybe it’s a matter of fiddling with the sound balance rather than trying to sound more relaxed.
Overall, the EP is a most enjoyable and extremely musical foretaste of what we may expect to come from As Night Falls in their future work. From Grace to Oblivion, the title track, is neatly representative of the 23-minute EP. I’m sure symphonic metal fans will agree with me that it’s a lovely, catchy, well-layered song.
Rating: 8.5/10.
