EP Review: Thread of Life by Etherius (Self Released)

Progressive metallers, Etherius, have released their new EP, called Thread of Life. Thread of life is self released, came out on the 24th of August and is a fully instrumental record.

Etherius officially formed in 2017. While that makes them very new, they were brought together by Jay Tarantino who has huge amount of experience in metal, especially in the New Jersey area. Most recently, Tarantino spent a lot of time touring and recording as rhythm guitarist with guitar virtuoso, Angel Vivaldi. It is from his experiences there that Etherius really came to life. Tarantino wanted to step out of the shadow of such a huge name and into create his own project. That project is Etherius.

A long term friend of Tarantino’s, Zak Ali, joined on drums. A few months later, the line up was complete with the addition of Chris Targia on the bass and Jon Perkins as the second guitarist.

I love a good instrumental. Personally, I must admit I do prefer to have one on an album full of songs with lyrics though. I have, on occasion, found other fully instrumental albums or EPs as a little lacking. I love lyrics and the story that gets told. Sometimes, with these instrumentals you can find them to be lacking a point. It can be really great music, great solos and drumming over a song, but over a whole release, sometimes I need the story to go with it.

With Thread of Life being just 5 tracks, or around 20 minutes long, I am hoping for some very individual tracks that don’t just blend together and become a fragmented exercise in showing off hooks and solos.

For the most part they pull it off, managing to make exciting music that stands out on each track confidently. EP opener, Thread of Life, has a slower, melodic start before entering into a furiously fast, thrash based riff with speedy drum blasts. What comes next is what you expect with a ton of intricate guitar lines and harmonised solos shooting off in many directions over the fast and rocking main rhythm. The Soothsayer jumps straight in with a glorious lead guitar and crunchy riff. It has a bit of a melodeath feel to it at first before heading into almost power metal esque soloing over emphatic drums and punchy bass lines.

March and Defy sees the pace upped even further with forceful drumming and a frenetic underlying riff. The track switches things up a bit with a slow down to a steady drum rhythm and less full on guitars to give you a brief respite. It doesn’t last long, however, with you soon being thrust straight back into finger destroying soloing. The Inevitable End is not actually the end and has a pleasing, darker tone to the intro. The drums are impressive and the bass really stands out here. The guitars come in taking you on a journey and we also get a really heavy, melodic death metal section with crushing riffs and thunderous drumming.

The EP closes with Lament which has a bit of a ballad style to it. Drawn out notes make up the lead guitar line coupled with an acoustic melody and gentle drum and bass rhythm. The pace picks up occasionally to quick picked, sliding lines but always returns top that softer intro sound. The end solo stands out as, to me, the best individual solo on the EP. Thread of Life is an impressive piece of work from 4 guys who are obviously masters of their chosen instruments. You can’t help but be impressed, and jealous of the vast talent on show. Each song works well and every metal head will dust off the air guitar while listening.

I do miss the lyrical content though. Some of the songs are so good musically, I almost found myself waiting for the vocals to jump in. That isn’t a slight on the band or EP. Just my personal preference. The lack of lyrics also makes it difficult to remember which song was which. Silly, I know but sitting here now, I just remember a shit ton of soloing and amazing drumming and can’t think which bit of music belongs to which song title. Still, for an instrumental EP, it is up there with the best I have ever listened to.

Thread of Life is out now and available on the usual streaming services, like Apple Music and Spotify. You can also pick it up from the band’s Facebook store here or from their Bandcamp page here. Find out more about Etherius on their Facebook page and be sure to give them a like while you are there.

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