The Demo Review:
Eczema There are currently 1 Reviews of this Demo.
Average Rating: 5
Band Name: Eczema
Demo Title: Soledad, El Llanto De La Muerte
Band Members: Pablo, Ivan, Dario
Location: Spain
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  • Kefka X's Review:
    Well damn, this one had practically taken me by surprise. Eczema has been around for a little over eight years and had released a couple of albums previous to this one, which was self-financed after taking grand prize at a rock contest in Spain. These guys are no newcomers to the scene, and the music proves so on Soledad. There's little to no history behind these guys on the web (their official site is still under construction) and the entire CD is in Spanish (I'm lucky I could make out the band's title on the cover or I'd be completely lost.) It's so frustrating that this is such a wild musical act and you can barely find anything about them anywhere.

    The demo runs for nearly a half an hour. Instead of sounding like a collection of songs as a promo, the demo is instead a long concept. What it's a concept of, I have no clue (although the translation of the CD title is "Loneliness, The Cry of Death", if that helps). Consisting of five pieces spread throughout seven tracks, Eczema takes you through a short (but beyond adequate) musical journey through their vision of sound. The first piece, "El Tiempo," starts off the concept powerfully and stretches eleven minutes before transitioning to a soft intermission, which lasts a few tracks and all but a total of seven minutes. The final composition, "El Miedo," finishes the demo in a maelstrom of insanity and speed, until coming to a sudden halt...and the demo ends.

    Musically this one is a mix of everything: death, speed, thrash, black, you name it. The heaviest styles I can pull out of the band's sound is a bit of the older melodic death (Dark Tranquillity) and early 90's thrash/death (some riffs are very reminiscent of Nocturnus and older Morbid Angel.) What makes the band so interesting is that there really isn't anything on the market that's as equally mature and chaotic as this one is. The style and concept of the band is fresh like the first time you heard Orchid (Opeth) or Skydancer (Dark Tranquillity.) Some of the musical passages are deep and melodic while others are very raw and crazy. The whole thing has an unbridled feel that great bands like Opeth have seem to have lost over the years. The drum machine (yep, no real drummer) is fast and heavy, but not to the point that you're immediately convinced of its artificiality. It's really cool stuff. And the implementation of Eczema's formula is equally jaw-dropping. The musicianship is GREAT. Everything about the band's music screams maturity, intellect, melody, beauty, power...you get the general idea.

    It's just a shame that this band is going to go unheard by so many people. This is something fresh and exciting being brought to the table. Do yourself a big favor and try to get your hands on this any way you can.
    5 out of 5



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