Album Review

Autumn’s Grey Solace – Eifelian

• 3rd Mar 2011

Scott Ferrell and Erin Welton are back for their sixth album; bringing as another sea of vast sounds. It does not disappoint either as the duo continue to grow their unique sound.

A long standing band with Projekt records (which specialises in this breed of music) it has been 3 years since their last album, Ablaze. That album took them in new directions, and Eifelian is no different. There is a heavy concentration on echoed sounds here, especially in the vocals making it sound almost distant and even gospel-like. Erin Welton is self trained and it defies belief what she has done with her voice over the bands career. It is never a disappointment either and has become pure fantasy and escapism at best.

AGS create music that really engages the mind and for any creative force is fuel to that fire. Eifelian begins as it means to continue with a vortex of swirling sound. It is a very different approach for the band and we don’t get a return to the immediately familiar for them until we reach “Halfway Underground.” But we don’t linger on the too familiar for very long as the moodier “Unfamiliar Spirits” alternating back to this more haunted and shimmering sound for this new album. But whilst the song is unsettling and wistful in its tone – that tone changes suddenly towards the end into something altogether much more bright.

This alternation of moods recurs again in the title track itself. It’s nice to see Ferrell toying with this in his songs instead of letting songs only be about one kind of mood.

There are obviously moments of Robin Guthrie coming through in an ode to one of their key inspirations. But this is a work they have built on creating their own sound of majestic chimes, the acoustic and the ethereal. Whether you are a new age hippie or a pure lover of Darkwave, Eifelian has it all.

3 years is actually quite a big gap for the band in their decade-long career, but it was a spell worth waiting it out for. Scott Ferrell is an extremely talented songwriter and composer of tunes. It isn’t a job I’d like to see him jacking in any time soon – and he is very lucky to have such a talented and inspiring muse to add vocal textures to his compositions. Eifelian is a must have for genre fans as well as long term fans.