Eva Can’t - Emisferi

Angry Metal Guy

Written by Nameless N00b 86

Eva Can’t is ready for a musical expedition. A global, transoceanic expedition, judging by the promo sheet which says that Emisferi is “imagined as a journey from pole to pole on an uninhabited planet.” Accordingly, the album title translates to “hemispheres” from Italian and is organized into four trios of songs called Ghiacci Boreali (Northern Ice), Mari Boreali (Northern Seas), Mari Australi (Southern Seas) and Ghiacci Australi (Southern Ice). A quick scan through previous releases and Dr. Wvrm’s review of their last full-length Gravatum in 2017 reveals a group distinguished by transformation, now with a style unrecognizable from its original configuration. To navigate such an ambitious concept this time around, they must be adventurous enough to explore new waters yet focused enough to avoid drifting aimlessly. Let’s set sail to discover how well Emisferi traverses this fine line.

The melodic death metal that once defined the Eva Can’t sound is now little more than fossils scattered in the seabed of a post-rock ocean. While Gravatum was a seismic shift to prog-rock with traces of post, Emisferi morphs more subtly into post-rock with traces of prog. Irrespective of genre labels, vocalist Simone Lanzoni seizes the listener’s attention from the moment he utters his first rich, silky notes and every time he opens his mouth thereafter. He sings, speaks, growls and roars with perfect enunciation throughout the voyage.¹ Accompanying his inimitable vocal style is instrumentation resembling a more upbeat Agalloch and a less aggressive The Ocean. Metallic edges in the form of blast beats and rapid tremolos occasionally surface like a dorsal fin, but one belonging to an amiable dolphin rather than a menacing shark.

The ship’s crew joins their respective strengths together exceptionally well. This is unsurprising, as all four original members have remained since formation in 2009. Many groups with strong vocalists are tempted to always place them front and center, but Eva Can’t rejects this idea. While there are moments written around Lanzoni’s voice (“La Volta” and “Di Stanze Assenti”), he humbly shares the spotlight with his fellow bandmates. The entire Mari Boreali trio (“Prima Tempesta,” “Nottetempo” and “Avamporti”) is instrumental, mixing The Ocean’s opus Pelagial with the buoyancy of Unreqvited, and the trilogy contributes the most to the album’s maritime theme. When appropriate, Diego Molina and Andrea Maurizzi fill the sails with forceful, deliberate drum hits and bass notes (“Oracoli” and “ARCA”). The technical guitar solos of their previous work are gone–and missed–but Luigi Iacovitti and Lanzoni tie everything together with guitar lines both serene (“Gli Ultimi Alisei”) and stormy (“Genoma”).

Certain choices on Emisferi on a macro scale compromise the successes of the individual songs. At just under 70 minutes, it’s the latest in a series of ballooning Eva Can’t records.² The tracks are laid out logically: intro “Emisferi I,” all four trios with interludes sandwiched in between, then outro “Emisferi II.” The short instrumental tracks alone add 13 minutes of empty content that I suspect was mainly kept to fill out this tracklist blueprint. By excising them and trimming the meandering instrumental sections (“ARCA” and “Agartha Sommersa”), Emisferi could have easily been under an hour and more purposeful for it. The wasted time is made more frustrating by ideas toyed with but not fully committed to. For example, the saxophone segment tacked onto the end of “Agartha Sommersa” feels like an afterthought. “La Forca” is the odd duck of the album–with a faster tempo and goth-kissed guitar leads recalling Unto Others–but a few similar songs would have made it feel less conspicuous.

Emisferi made some good headway but became lost too frequently and shed too much momentum. The individual songs are smooth like an eel and likely could have carried the ship through its global expedition if not for the extra weight. Notwithstanding, anyone looking for a mellow getaway to break up the monotony should climb aboard. After all, enjoying the beauty of the journey is just as important as reaching the destination.



Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: My Kingdom Music
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: September 20th, 2024

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