ALBUM REVIEW: Eulogy - Memento Mori

EULOGY (Wales)
"Memento Mori"
(One Eyed Toad Records)
Release date: February 21st 2020
Genre: Hard rock, heavy rock

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Heavy rock is probably not the first thing that comes to mind whenever Wales is mentioned, unless you're a die hard Budgie fan, of course. Cardiff based EULOGY is a power trio formed in early 2017, and released their three track debut EP "Back to Life" already in December the same year. After their debut, EULOGY have been streamed no less than 200.000 times on Spotify, which itself should be an indication of success, and they spent 2018 on stages within and beyond the Welsh borders. A new track, "Blood Red Skies" was released in November 2019 as a teaser from their then upcoming sophomore EP "Memento Mori", which has now been out for almost a month on One Eyed Toad Records.

After their success with "Back to Life", the lads in EULOGY wanted to explore a darker and heavier sound on their next release. Whereas the debut had a melodic, energetic and feelgood vibe, the four tracks on "Memento Mori" sure are darker around the edges. Mike Williams' guitars are heavier and more fierce, have quite an amount of low-end, and with Neil Thomas providing the even deeper frequencies with his bass he creates an almost impenetrable wall of powerchord oriented riffs.

The opening track "Cross to Bare" introduces the darker side of EULOGY. In terms of composition it is a fairly straight forward tune, but the genre in which this Welsh power trio operates there has never been focus on anything else but energy and power, something this track suffers no shortage from. Thomas' vocals have a raw Blackie Lawness-ish feel that to this listener fits really well.

"You'll Die Alone" is another track that was released as a single, and with its emphasis on melody and vast quantities of catchy hooks it is what many would probably call a perfect choice for a single. The lyrical theme on "Corvid" is based around the final moments before death, just before the soul's departure of the soul. Tempowise it is faster and balances on the edge between heavy rock and metal.

"Blood Red Skies" was mentioned further up in the article, and also contains the ingredients that make up a natural choice for a single. The riffs are once again more melodic than on the non-single tracks, and the song sounds overall a bit 80's inspired.

EULOGY have been set for touring throughout 2020 to support their most recent release, so if you get the chance to catch them somewhere along their trek across Great Britain, be sure to pay them a visit.

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Tracklist:
1. Cross To Bare*
2. You'll Die Alone
3. Corvid
4. Blood Red Skies*

*Added to the Subterranean Noise - 2020 playlist on Spotify.

LINE UP:
Neil Thomas - bass and vocals
Mike Williams - guitars
Darran Goodwin - drums