• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Italy's Ephyra are shooting for a sound in the fantasy-themed Folk Metal genre on their debut, Journey. Song titles like "Laws of the Elves" and "Dark Wolf" leave little room for any other interpretation, but it is a little hard to be sure. The harsh male vocals are difficult to understand so you only get half the story from the clean female singing. Musically, we're talking Melodic Death Metal with a nice, guttural guitar sound and the vocals, while indecipherable, suit the music well. The folk elements are largely supplied by keyboards and here's where Ephyra need some work. Sometimes the keyboards are OK but, at others, they sound like a kid's Casio, notably the intro, "Back..." and the opener "...to the Realm." This type of music demands a huge, expansive sound and Journey simply does not have one. The bass is far too low in the mix and the album has a thin, tinny sound. The songwriting is adequate but nothing that is going to stick with you.

Ephyra are a band that seems to be long on Battlelore envy but short on the ability to emulate their Finnish counterparts. To be fair, Journey is an independent release so some slack should be cut for the weak production, but the songwriting is going to need to improve if Ephyra want to make a name for themselves.