Okay, it may be a few weeks after Halloween but that doesn’t mean we can’t still write about Pumpkin Palace, the Halloween-inspired EP from blackened tech-metal project Echopraxia. (Plus, let’s be honest – do we really want to start thinking about Christmas yet?!) Bringing influences from Danny Elfman’s Halloween and The Nightmare Before Christmas, as well as Dimmu Borgir, J.S. Bach, Django Reinhardt and Vildhjarta, it’s a varied and intriguing listen that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Five tracks of fantastic instrumental music, it definitely shouldn’t be written off as ‘background music’ because it’s an engaging piece that will keep you interested with each twist and turn it takes. A particular favourite of mine is third track Grasp Of Malok, which is a pretty massive-sounding track with a tonne of layers and it will just make your jaw drop after you hear it for the first time. It’s intense, gripping and all-round magical, and packs a serious punch.
Indeed, all of the songs have their own special sparkle, and you’ll easily notice cool little intricacies on each subsequent listen. There’s a lot of attention to detail on this EP and even though it may be Halloween themed, it’s good enough that you’ll want to keep returning to it all year round.
9/10
