Review by Saxy S for Ethereal Darkness - Echoes (2026)

The sophomore album from the Belgium death doom outlet, Ethereal Darkness, comes with a smattering of high praise from those who have heard it. I found this a little surprising, considering I believed that the bands debut record, Smoke and Shadows, was a fairly pedestrian and overall uninteresting piece of death doom metal. So after almost seven years, Ethereal Darkness have put in some effort to make Echoes sound much more thoughtful. The music within is not cookie cutter and even attempts to branch out from its roots; I particularly liked the shaded black metal influence that appeared on songs like "The Cycle" or "On the Edge of the Cliff". The number of tracks has been considerably reduced from the debut, but have been replaced with extended runtimes. And on some level, these longer songs can work. The closer, and longest song on the album, "Realization", has a sense of wonder as it recounts all of the influences and styles that Ethereal Darkness took to get to this point. However, those points of reference aren't always the best. Those tracks that have that hint of black metal foundation are really the only high points on Echoes. The rest still sounds like run-of-the-mill death doom that I've heard and forgotten about many times. This is all coming off the back of the most recent Fires in the Distance album, Circadian Promise, that exceeded my expectations and then some. I mean, it is an improvement from the debut, but after seven years of smoldering and bubbling, the eruption should have been a lot more noteworthy.

Best Songs: The Cycle, On the Edge of the Cliff, IV

For Fans Of: Fires in the Distance, Sun of the Dying, Jord