Album Review: Bryan Eckermann – Plague Bringers (Self Released)

Prolific melo-death/black metal artist Bryan Eckermann forthcoming eighth full-length album Plague Bringers will be released on November 5th, 2021. The album serves as Part II to 2018 concept album Winters Plague (The Final Eclipse).

Winters Plague (The Final Eclipse), or Part I, detailed an alien invasion of earth by blocking out the sun with a giant ship and freezing the planet in which humanity inevitably arises to defeat the aliens. Plague Bringers, or Part II, details the aftermath from the aliens’ perspective as they resurrect their long dead queen, clone an army, and escape their dying planet to enter earth once more. Using the power of a magic orb they open a portal through space, then hide in the darkness, manipulating human minds to force mass suicides in their attempt at revenge. The mission however is in itself a suicide mission without the use of their ship to block out the sun (their weakness). They know they will perish along with the humans, leaving earth as a mass grave of emptiness… “Tomorrow is a lie, we won’t survive” but revenge is sweet.

Such a detailed concept needs to fully capture the imagination of the listener and make them believe in the story being told. Eckermann did that wonderfully on Winters Plague (The Final Eclipse) and once again nails it here on Plague Bringers. All while never compromising on the twisted combination of melo-death and black metal.

Plague Bringers is a sci-fi laden blast of heaviness that aims high (to the stars you might say) and rarely drops in standards. From the horror-laden heaving heaviness of Ice Queen with its the sharp guitar solo to the eerie keyboard melody that interrupts the blazing ferocity of Sands of the Hourglass. The first two tracks drag the mind in to the darkness of this story and once in, there’s no leaving.

The Devouring Sun is eye-wateringly chunky sounding whereas Reflections in a Dirty Mirror has comforting melody warped by some hard-hitting black metal. A track that adds a sense of epic-ness to the concept. To counter that, Moonlight and Frostbite builds a sense of dread and pays it off with the most sinister sounding track so far. Before the halfway point of the album and this captivating story is reached with the chilling, but exciting, title track.

There’s no arguing that the concept is being fully realised here and the latter half of the album just deepens the connection. First, with the blackened horror of An Oath of Scrying Souls and the cold, murky and meaty power of Astral Realms. Then with the guitar driven Skin Walker, the howling beauty and revulsion enforced by Of Death and Decay, and the richly melodic and blistering noise of Tomorrow’s Lie.

How do you end such a concept? With Oblivion. The shortest track on the album and something that can be seen as more of an outro. A melodic finish that causes dark thoughts thanks to the sound of winds. It’s the wind blowing over the mass grave that is Earth. Horrifying but perfectly realised here.

Bryan Eckermann – Plague Bringers Full Track Listing:

1. Ice Queen
2. Sands of the Hourglass
3. The Devouring Sun
4. Reflections in a Dirty Mirror
5. Moonlight and Frostbite
6. Plague Bringers
7. An Oath of Scrying Souls
8. Astral Realms
9. Skinwalker
10. Of Death and Decay
11. Tomorrow’s Lie
12. Oblivion

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