While certainly a busy melodeath metal band similar to Arsis, there’s a lack of totality and cohesion amid the no doubt skilled, and at times, very well done material. Plus, I can’t quite shake the fact that beneath its more chaotic and underground Willowtip-y exterior As Eden Burns are merely a more typical US styled melo-core (i.e The Black Dahlia Murder and their ilk) type band. And truthfully there are a breakdown and a clean production away from being a Metal Blade band. As it stands their slightly murky production and relatively non linear song structure keep them lightly rooted in more death metal realms.

Still, the guitars swirl and weave with an almost controlled chaos with solos abound and there are lots of dual growled/screamed vocals amid the flourishes of galloping and slightly unpredictable structures. The end result is 8 solid songs of well done and undeniably above average music, but nothing that really throttles you or tries to re-define a genre as Arsis did, but I’m sure this isn’t the bands goal. Instead, they are attempting to give Willowtip’s rosters some sense of melody and restraint amid the latter part of 2008 assault (Crowpath, Kill the Client, Maruta, etc) and it works. Tracks like “Ever Again”, “Conceptual Decay”, “Guilds” “Lost Counsel and Untimely Doom” (pretty much the album’s better later half especially), seem to thrive on a more feverish take on melodic death metal without being too In Flames-y or sugary, instead being a little more raw and snarling, while still have some melodic chops.

A solid debut but with some room to grow and hopefully this lot will indeed grow and come to be as good and creative as some of their current and prior label mates