ESCARION
Pillars Of The Faith
SELF-RELEASED Melbourne melodeath debutants own up to their vices
Escarion aren’t lacking for ambition. Their debut album offers a humanist refutation of the Seven Deadly Sins, proposing that each is a facet of human nature. These cerebral themes are accentuated by powerful, technical instrumentation most broadly recognisable within melodeath, albeit with the Aussies eschewing the near-inescapable influence of Gothenburg to instead explore death metal’s first flirtations with melody, more closely resembling latter-day Death, Carcass’s Heartwork or even Australian DM progenitors Armoured Angel. Although somewhat ponderous, Pillars Of The Faith is a solid foundation, additional shades of black and prog metal suggesting plenty of raw materials for Escarion to build into something truly formidable. ■■■■■■■■■■