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Artist: Eidolon |
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Eidolon may have been put on hold since 2004 when brothers Glen and Shawn Drover were asked to join Dave Mustaine in Megadeth, an offer they simply couldn’t refuse. But the music of Eidolon has been going since 1993 when the two brothers first decided to start a recording studio and concentrate on the recording side. At the time the band were purely an instrumental band, but soon after they decided to bring a vocalist in to fill a void they felt their music was lacking. After three albums with the band the then vocalist Brian Soulard was replaced with a new vocalist Pat Mutlock, who was brought in for the bands 2002 release 'Coma Nation'. However, this formation of the band was short lived and Pat left the band shortly after this album. This brings us up to 2004 when Eidolon were put on hold when Dave Mustaine asked the brothers to join Megadeth. The year is now 2006 and while Megadeth were off the road, Glen and Shawn returned to the studio with long time bass player Adrian Robichaud, and now with Pagans Mind vocalist Nils K Rue to bring the Eidolon sound back to the masses. The album opens up with the title track ‘The Parallel Otherworld’ and straight away the album grips you firstly with the powerhouse drums of Shawn Drover, and then by the soulful bellows of Nils K Rue who lends his immense vocals talents to this style of music so well. The immense guitar riffs of Glen Drover are just mind blowing. The album continues with ‘Arcturus #9’ a much heavier affair than the previous track but still keeping the same quality of playing. Once again those killer riffs of Glen Drover make this an outstanding track. You can see why Mustaine asked him and his brother to join Megadeth. The quality never ceases on this release, as the album continues with another fast paced track ‘The Eternal Call’, a track which allows Nils to really show us his metal and finds him giving one of the best vocals performances on the album. This is once again backed up by the rest band. Things slow down a touch with ‘Ghost World’, while maintaining that heavier edge still with the drums of Shawn D and the bass of Adrian Robichaud acting as motivating force for Glen and Nils to follow. It is hard to pick out a track that stands out from the rest on this album as every track oozes quality. If I had to choose just one single track then I would say that ‘Thousand Winters Old’ is one of my favourite tracks, as it steamrolls along at a relentless pace and is one of the darkest tracks on the album. It also has some of the most amazing guitar licks on the album. The album almost goes thrash metal with ‘Spirit Sanctuary’, a real barnstormer of a track which makes way for the mid tempo piece ‘Order of the White Light’. Once again a track that brings Glen Drovers guitar prowess to the forefront. The ‘Astral Fight’ and ‘Shadowanderer’ are another two outstanding tracks with all band members showing what they are capable of. The final track is a cover of the 1984 Mercyful Fate track ‘The Oath’, which features Hank Sherman and Michael Denner who both play their solos as they did on the original and is an excellent way to end a quite superb album. The
album itself is a real tour de force and although it’s a lot heavier
than the Pagans Mind albums, I think fans of both Pagans Mind and
Megadeth will appreciate the quality of musicianship on this album, and
fans of Eidolon will be really glad to see their return to form. |
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Tracklisting:
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