By Justin Smulison

Ereley

Diablerie

Massacre Records

Ereley is a Czechoslovakian group whose second album, Diablerie, drops on Jan. 24. The collection is a physical and existential exploration of a soul’s journey through metal music. The story focuses on the concept that all souls are created pure, while decisions made throughout life will impact the spirit’s final destination. In the case of a soul followed through Diablerie, the journey becomes progressively darker with each track.

The music from Diablerie has some expected thrash elements, but never feels like the songs pummel listeners; nor does the album ever truly enter death metal territory. Between the use of keyboard and synth and slightly muted guitars and vocals that range from harmonic to guttural, Ereley’s sound may best be described as prog-metal with a heavy doom vibe. The title track opens with something of a clean slate, highlighted by expectant synth and programming touches. But listeners quickly learn from the lyrics that, “…With every choice I have made, I’ve sold a piece of my soul to the devil.”

Before rushing to judgment, listeners should know Diablerie is not another downtuned, shock value-based metal album praising Satan. The consequences of demon lore are explored in compelling musical chapters which detail the agony within spiritual and metaphysical descent. Another of the album’s most redeeming qualities, the music is not heavy for heaviness sake. There are enough tempo changes and mellower distortion-free sections to provide enough variety in all ten tracks, thus also satisfying the progressive label.

Ereley uses melodic flourishes during songs like “Enchantress,” which opens with riffing on Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue.” “Nephilim” features piano in the foreground and a wind instrument effect before wading through metal riffs and singer Lukáš Réda’s diabolical growls. Thankfully, Réda has an ample clean-singing voice, which sometimes borders on hypnotic. The seamlessness of his approaches further illustrates the protagonist’s conflict.

Ereley should be commended for finding a unique way of presenting an album about black magic, since the concept almost has become genre cliché. The band’s take on a descent to hell may prove to be its pivotal step up in the international metal community.

For more about Ereley please visit:

Ereley’s Facebook Page

Twitter

Instagram

Spotify

Massacre Records

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Justin Smulison is a professional content writer and producer whose first love is music. Smulison’s digital and print copywriting experience spans music, law, true crime, advertising and real estate, among other subjects. You can often find JS in Long Beach, New York, either running on the boardwalk or in the sand with his family.