Music Review: Ephrat's No One's Words

Ephrat, brain child of band leader Omer Ephrat, is a new progressive rock/metal band hailing from Israel. They're currently signed to Inside Out and are, considering this a debut album, well connected-Steve Wilson (Porcupine Tree, Blackfield) produced this album (chances are, while he was working on his Blackfield project), they've got Daniel Gildenlow (of Pain of Salvation) doing guest vocals on one song, and Petronella Nettermalm (of Paatos) doing guest vocals on two others (one a duet, the other solo).

Musically, No One's Words is a mixture of many different styles. Heavy riffing with complimentary fast drums breaks into soft clean guitar accompanied by a flute. Or vice-versa. Also, toss in some techno beats and plenty of Middle-Eastern influenced synths, for good measure. And then enjoy the different time signatures and tempo changes, making the album a mostly interesting ride. And through it all, there are a slew of good melodies and harmonies to keep things inviting. Only on the closing song, Real, does the band really let the songwriting go. At 18:58, it feels bloated and I have to be in the right mood or it just drags down the end of the album.

The highlight of the album, for me, is track five, "The Sum of Damage Done." Musically it tends to be a bit heavier than the other tracks; however, that's not why it's my favorite. This track features Daniel Gildenlow and, to my ears, he's a large step above the regular vocalist, Lior Seker. Gildenlow has more grit, more passion, and a greater technical range-he simply sounds more interested in the music than Seker.

That's not to cast a this album in a bad light-there are a lot of good things going for it and I'm glad that I stumbled across it. Musically, this band has a solid foundation. And it's not that Seker is bad-just slightly generic-and when put next to Gildenlow, it really shows. Perhaps Seker will grow on me, perhaps he'll grow as a vocalist in future releases.

Regardless, if you're into progressive heavy music, this album is certainly worth checking out.