Ephel Duath "Pain Necessary To Know" CD

Having listened to this album countless times, knowing each song like the back of my hand, I have been in love with this album for quite a while now; however, I will do my best to write an unbiased review.
I think the best way to describe this album is that it takes a minimalist approach to music but don't think that it is not complex because it is full of intricate melodies. This is a band that isn't afraid to use silence as a part of their music. The songs are not fast; they don't try to cram twelve notes in a second. The songs are "spacey" with weird silences and quiet moments but also consist of punchy moments where bursts of energy have been released. The song structures are hard to describe since they don't have a constant structure. With more listens you can really see how the whole album flows. Rarely are the guitars and bass playing the same thing. Dynamics is a big part of this album. The drums play an important role well, with fantastic cymbal work, further enhancing the dynamics. It doesn't just go along with the other instruments, serving as just a rhythm keeper, but has a musical flow of its own. Being a drummer myself, I have really grown to appreciate the drumming work on this cd, in additiong to everything else. In addition, they have dropped the clean vocals for this album, which just happens to suit my personal taste.
I can easily understand why people don't like this album: it's weird, it's "spacey", it takes patience and a lot of listens to get to know, or it simply just doesn't suit their taste. All of those reasons are legit. I just happen to love it for the same reasons. I highly recommend it if you're looking for something musically complex when it comes to composition - keeping in mind that silence/gaps can be part of the music.

Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...