Whispers In The Maze are a melodic death metal band from Ottawa and this is their debut EP. At the time of recording they were Marc Alain Bonenfant (vocals), Emine Topcu (guitar, backing vocals), Vitto Ortori (guitars), Ben Bertrand (bass, backing vocals) and Mike Berrigan (drums), although I note that Marc Alain has since left the band and they are operating as a quartet. As a side note, it is always good when a band puts together an informative press release, as I still get sent music without any context, but in this instance Ben made a point of letting me know where he had obtained my details from, and also provided good information. They describe their music in an interesting manner, namely “A metal band without borders, Whispers In The Maze gathers its members from all around the world, bringing together as one a myriad of musical influence and creative vision.”
Their take on melodic death is interesting in that while the twin guitars are locked in as one might expect, the bass is often providing quite different melodies while the drums are working in another area, all combining together. Within the first 90 seconds of opener “I Can Show You Everything” there have been three distinct musical sections, as they mix things up and move around. Themes are discarded, returned to and reworked, always with a high degree of melody and control, and production is very strong indeed with a lot of emphasis provided to the bottom end. Bonenfant is a strong death singer, and his vocals sit slightly in front of the guitars without taking away any of the emphasis. They use different speeds and attacks, and the result is a four-track 22-minute-long introduction to the band which is powerful and interesting.
Rating: 7/10
