Full disclosure: I grabbed this promo as I thought it was a new album from Finland’s doom/death band Noumena.

Then I actually read the promo, saw some stuff about a female singer and production/mastering credits from some folks responsible for Lacuna Coil. At that moment, I braced for the worst, preparing for some sugary female-fronted goth metal.

What I actually got was some surprisingly good modern/groove/industrial-ish metal with some truly feral vocals from Vivian Nigro that has more in common with Fear Factory than Lacuna Coil.

Honestly, Echoes probably won’t register with too many folks here, or even on the metal community as a whole, as it’s not a stellar album, but any means, but it does have some sturdy, beefy, often mechanical riffs, and carried by Nigro, some nasty, snarling blast furnace vocals. And other than a few whispers and cleans here and there, she keeps things savage from start to finish.

The production is a nice, modern, hefty production, and the riffs have some nice weight and groove. The Fear Factory comparisons will come clear when you hear moments like opener “Blind Idols” or the opening of “The Circle,” as various whirrs and beeps back the songs pretty consistently.

The pace of the album rarely gets too fast or complex, preferring simple, mid-paced, hefty riffs and song structures. Other than a few more urgent stomps like “Outsider” or “Outbreak”. They even get a more restrained/moody approach for slower tracks like “Fractures”,  “Fall Apart,” which almost falls into ballad territory structurally, but not at all vocally, and “Black Oceans” (the album’s midsection pretty much).

Ultimately, though, there isn’t much other than Nigro’s vocals to get to entralled by, as the simple songwriting never really matches the intensity of her voice, and she feels a bit wasted here.

[Visit the band's website]

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