Effloresce – Coma ghosts

Effloresce are a five piece band from the Nurnberg area of Germany.  With a sound influenced by Prog rock, classic metal and psychadelic prog they have a fairly unique sound.  The band released their debut EP, “Shades of fate” in 2009 and have just released “Coma Ghosts” –  their first album.

At a first glance, 6 tracks doesnt look like a full album, but then you notice once track is over ten minutes and another over sixteen minutes, so the album clocks in at a whopping 54 minutes – an impressive length for any album, let alone one with only six tracks.

Listening to the album, Opeth does sound to be an influence for the band, particularly when the growling vocals come in and you get that blend of Prog and melodic death metal.  There’s quite a lot of variety in the album with changes of pace and style and that certainly helps keep things interesting.  Singer Nicki has a great singing voice, and quite surprisingly also does the growling vocal parts too – usually you find male band members doing those while the female singer limits themself to the clean vocals.

Prog isnt a genre that normally appeals to me, but with this album, Effloresce have made a prog album that I enjoy listening to, which is quite an achievement.  Definitely an album thats well worth checking for fans of Prog metal and fans of bands such as Opeth.

“Coma ghosts” is available now

Rating: 8/10

Effloresce are:

Nicki (Vocals, Growls, Flutes, Percussion)
Dave (Guitars,Mellotrons)
Tim (Guitars)
Basti (Bass)
Tobi (Drums)

Track listing:

1. Crib
2. Spectre Pt1: Zoryas dawn
3. Pavement canvas
4. Undercoat
5. Swimming through deserts
6. Shuteye wanderer

About Ant May

I spend half my life at gigs or festivals and the other half writing the reviews and editing photos, and somehow find time for a full time job too. Who needs sleep - I've got coffee.