Label : Illusive Records
Review by Tony Cannella
From Canada, Embracing Soul was formed in 2009 and released their debut album “Shadow” only a year later. Their style is Gothic metal meets alternative metal, and you can hear this on their new 5-song EP “Luna”.
From the opening track “The Raven” the songs are very hard hitting and unrelenting. Vocalist and bassist Chelsea Pisano reminded me a lot of Amy Lee from Evanescence at times. There is no doubt she is an influence and it shows in her style. Guitarist Brandon Iajecznyk is also there to add death grunts to some of the songs. The songs have a raw quality to them, songs like “Luna”, “Immortal” keep things heavy and straight-forward. The almost 9-minute “Apollo” slows the tempo down, but just for a moment. This turned out to be one of my favorite songs – and the musicianship is just fantastic on this track, it’s got a classic Iron Maiden vibe to it (in my opinion). This is a mostly instrumental track with vocals present in the beginning and near the end of the song. It is pretty interesting. The final song is an orchestral version of “The Raven”.
“Luna” is a pretty decent EP from Embracing Soul. I don’t know if I’m crazy about the death metal vocals, but some people may love them – it’s all a matter of taste. Amy Lee-isms aside, I really liked Chelsea’s vocals and the musicianship is killer as well. Fans of Evanescence and Epica might want to give Embracing Soul a listen.
Rating – 78/100
Tracklist
- The Raven
- Luna
- Immortal
- Apollo
- The Raven (orchestral)
Line Up
- Chelsea Pisano – Vocals, Bass
- Brandon Iajecznyk – Guitar, Vocals
- Thomas Collier – Guitar