HARDWARES

One of metal’s most underrated bands and without a doubt the most effective element to come out of the Lee Barrett/Earache alliance that was Elitist Records, Italy’s EPHEL DUATH made its profound artistic statement with 2005’s Pain Necessary To Know, a record that re-wrote boundaries while also revelling in their caustic nature. On Death And Cosmos introduces the group’s new supergroup lineup that features Trent Reznor-ish omnipresence and founder Davide Tiso, vocalist Karyn Crisis (CRISIS), bassist Steve DiGiorgio (ex-DEATH/ex-CONTROL DENIED) and drummer Marco Minnemann (ex-NECROPHAGIST/ex-ILLOGICIST) and while, on paper, it would seem that this collection of mad men (and woman) would create the kind of life-altering, reality-decimating album that any of their earlier units was capable of during their tenure and peaks, On Death And Cosmos mostly stays in dirgey and spacey realms, enacting the kind of material that seems so appropriate at 3 AM but then feels entirely out of sync and just too meanderings the next morning. It’s painful to be an Ephel Duath detractor given the impressive nature of Pain Necessary To Know and even 2003’s The Painters Palette, but in this instance Tiso and his new musical compatriots have missed Ephel Duath’s brand of successful markers entirely.