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Sometimes a band really does come out of nowhere with a debut so magisterial and overflowing with confidence that it's hard to really believe it's their first recording. Caladan Brood are a new band from Salt Lake City, of all places, and this is their first album of epic, atmospheric metal in the vein of bands like Summoning and Moonsorrow.

Summoning are such a distinctive band, and so influential, that it is all too easy to dismiss a disc like this as imitation, when it is really something much deeper and finer than that. Caladan Brood have absorbed the songwriting ethos of Summoning completely and deeply, producing a sound which is just as deep and evocative as that great and venerable band. They have also added to it by incorporating big, Moonsorrow-styled riffs and gorgeous clean-sung choirs that lift this above the wannabe bands and into the realm of genuine art. The fact that so much of this sounds like Summoning is mitigated by the fact that Summoning themselves have only done it this well a few times, and this album can hold its head up high in company with albums like Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame and Verisakeet. The compositions are solid, the recording and instrumentation are spot-on (including some absolutely killer leads), and the atmosphere of ancient lands and smoke-haunted battles is so deep you can almost step into it. When Caladan Brood lay into the chanting choirs this punches through the roof of homage and becomes something new and marvelous.

I get umpteen unsolicited promos in my inbox and mailbox every week, and 99% of them are some kind of crap. This is the bar of gold that justifies all the digging around, the diamond at the bottom of the ditch. I always hesitate to say shit like "this band is going places" because, you know, shit can always happen. But this album is a stellar achievement that everyone involved with can be eternally proud of. This one goes on my 'Best of 2013' list and we're not even two months in. The great Summoning themselves are slated to release an album this year, but with Echoes of Battle their progeny have set the bar pretty fucking high. A must-have album.