Eminentia Tenebris - Whispers of the Undying

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Eminentia Tenebris is an atmospheric black metal band from France, who formed in 2020.  It’s actually a one band project from musician Cryo (Black Light Era, Hrad, ex-The Fire Source).  His latest album under this moniker, “Whispers of the Undying,” is the fourth full-length album.

This is my first time hearing this band but I’m absolutely enthralled with it!  It’s atmospheric, melodic, and each song is something that truly earns the often overused word ‘epic.’  I’m impressed by how balanced it is.  A lot of atmospheric bands, particularly blackened ones, tend to let the keys overpower everything and it just results in a noisy wall of sound.  


“Whispers of the Undying,” doesn’t have this issue.  While their keys are obviously very present, they don’t take away from any of the other instruments.  Across the album’s  35 minute, 8 track runtime, there are more than enough moments with cool riffs, engaging melodies, a primal blackened screams.  With that being said, the bass is pretty much nonexistent but, hey, you can’t have everything all the time. 


What’s important is how good the songs are.  The first full song, “Echoes of Triumph,” immediately displays Cryo’s knack for catchy guitar melodies.  While the drums hammer through the atmospheric storm, he screams his ass off and it adds a lot of raw power to help offset the less intense instrumentation.  The middle party is great–a blanket of keys, guitar and drums creating a passage that demands to be replayed multiple times. 


The clean guitar on “Beneath The Moon,” adds a nice flavor to the extra dimensional receipt before the song explodes around the 40 second mark.  This approach is used several times throughout the song, a welcome respite from the cosmic terror and a fantastic way to color in the lines with little details that make the song even better.


The album turns on the melancholy for “Embers of Glory,” with use of clean chants and at, at times, slower pace.  This is a somewhat somber track but it still reaches for the stars, wrapping harmonies around them and pulling them down to illuminate the surroundings.  


The album ends on what is perhaps the most menacing song, “Time’s Cruel Reign.”  It’s fast, loud, and loaded with dense drumming and darker soundscapes.  However after the halfway mark it gets playful with its melodies for one of the more catchy passages on the album.


All in all Eminentia Tenebris’ “Whispers of the Undying,” is a solid album that’s loaded with hooks and melodic tinges. that make it much more adventurous than a lot of black metal I’ve heard this year.  


Not on Bandcamp yet; will update when it drops but there is a link to a single in the meantime.


Rating:  SOLID





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