EVERWAITING SERENADE - The Caress

7 songs
30:35 minutes
***** ***
(DIY)

Bandpage

Everwaiting Serenade are currently one of Luxemburg's busiest bands. They have only been founded about a year ago, have played already over a dozen concerts in the last six months and so it's no surprise that their first EP appears so soon. Apart from their singer Julien who collected already a bit of experience in bands like Hot Buddha and Disciples of Zypher, the remaining band members are more or less newcomers.

If I were unfair, I could describe Everwaiting Serenade as just another metalcore band because they are using more or less the typical trademarks like different vocal styles (dark growls, screamo and clean vocals), and the confrontation of thrash metal and hardcore isn't new either. But Everwaiting Serenade have a fine sense for song writing and it is amazing how many breaks they have included in the different songs. Furthermore, the album takes advantage from the top production done by Charel Stoltz from Holy National Victims.

The opener Vultures In Angel Disguises is a quite fast track with many different vocal styles. It's followed by Starspreading Implosion, one of the album's most diverse tracks with melodic, rhythmic and blasting speed parts. Especially the melodic vocal lines are absolutely convincing. Splinters is a bizarre track with hectic and really relaxing parts that work well. Living For Dying Wishes gives less emphasis to speed, but is extremely brutal and dark. Atomic Anatomy is a more classic thrash metal track reminding me a bit of Pantera. Come And Fill Your Lungs starts with cool groovy parts before the band tries to achieve a new speed record. Finally The Caress is a less brutal song with a calm start, but it also has classic metal core parts and great vocal lines.

Everwaiting Serenade have released a marvellous debut thanks to their mastery of combining different elements in their songs. This capacity puts them on a high level and they don't have to hide behind already established local acts like Fast Friday and Ex-Inferis, although they can't quite reach yet Eternal Tango which is still my favourite modern metal band. Cover artwork and booklet also have a modern look that fits well to the music, but the track list on the back cover could have been made more readable. But that's less important than the music and I'm sure that Everwaiting Serenade will have a bright future ahead of them.