This is probably the fourth review I write on The Painter’s Palette. I threw the others away, disappointed as I was in not being able to pinpoint the band and the album. Ephel Duath is one of the bands that successfully operate in the outskirts of hybrid sounds. Out there in the murky swamps of extreme metal/hardcore one can find numerous adventurous, inventive styles of music, produced by bands that are not afraid of the challenge that limits might bring. Ephel Duath from Italy is one of those bands - actually a jazz band - that strategically use extreme metal elements to spice up the complicated structures that construct their songs. A fusion between technical metal, extreme metal and jazz.

The result is a two-way street. As long as the band can keep the balance between jazz and metal, like in “The Unpoetic Circle” and “The Passage” it all sounds absolutely fantastic.

Davide Tino’s singing may not always be overwhelming; the melodies he brings forth go hand in hand with the at times abstract sounds. However, as soon as the jazz blood of the band members starts to boil, like in “The Picture” I feel like I’m listening to John Coltrane who just discovered the distortion pedal. Hell, they even use a trumpet on “The Passage”. Kinda like John Zorn and Naked City or O.L.D. on Lo Flux Tube. It’s that drive, that search for new limits, which makes bands like Ephel Duath so interesting. Downside of this is that, as soon as they lose the balance between abstraction and structure, the sound and songs become too detached to make The Painter’s Palette an album you want to listen to again and again and again. Perhaps a new limit for the band; try to put all the abstract ideas into a structured, recognizable sound. Difficult? Come on, these guys play jazz.