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Album Review – Ewiniar / Another World (2023)

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Croatia’s own Melodic and Gothic Rock and Metal real-life couple will take you on a new distinctive sonic journey to the sound of their exciting sophomore album.

Two years after the release of their debut album Burning the Night, Split, Croatia-based Melodic/Gothic Rock/Metal duo Ewiniar is back with their sophomore effort, titled Another World, representing their commitment to reinforcing the band’s standing as a noteworthy musical entity. Produced by the band’s own Marin Tramontana, and mixed and mastered by Theodor Borovski at Slaughtered Studio, the album once again depicts the perfect synchronicity between the real-life couple formed of Katarina Tramontana on vocals and the aforementioned Marin Tramontana on the guitars, bass and keyboards, this time supported by session drummer Hugo Ribeiro, offering audiences another distinctive sonic journey recommended for fans of the most melodic and delicate side of heavy music.

As atmospheric as it can be, the duo invites us all on a whimsical voyage in the opening tune Shattered Illusion, with Katarina already showcasing her vocal potency accompanied by the classy riffs and keys by Marin, whereas Your Name is a Melodic Rock and Metal creation bringing to our ears more of the couple’s charming, captivating sounds, even presenting hints of the music played by HIM and Lord of the Lost, with guest Hugo sounding precise on drums as usual. Marin’s bass lines bring an extra touch of groove to Cyanide, flirting with Alternative Metal, and that fusion of sounds ends up working really well, consequently boosting Katarina’s vocals considerably; followed by Sister Moon, keeping the ambience dark and delicate, with Martin and Hugo’s groovy kitchen reverberating in the air. And once again venturing through the realms of Gothic Rock and Metal, Katarina will mesmerize us all with her vocals in Mistaken, supported by the stylish keys by Marin.

It’s then time to slow things down and invest in a more pensive, melancholic sound in the serene ballad Indifference Begins, with Marin once again extracting delicate yet piercing sounds form his guitar, accompanied by the slow and steady beats by Hugo. Only Darkness Remains is another Gothic Metal extravaganza by such talented couple, presenting minimalist guitar lines, classic beats and the trademark charming vocals by Katarina, followed by Never Again, a thrilling song with an 80’s vibe, in special in its riffs and bass lines, that should sound amazing if played live one day. Needless to say, Katarina steals the spotlight on vocals once again. Then their second to last blast of finesse and dark sounds, titled Shadows Still Align, brings forward more of their 80’s and 90’s-inspired Melodic Death and Gothic Metal the likes of Dark The Suns, Insomnium and Aeonian Sorrow, with Hugo dictating the pace behind his drums; and there’s no better way to end the album than with another power ballad by Katarina and Marin, entitled Watching the Night Go By, exhaling passion, darkness and melancholy to the stunning vocals by Katarina and the Paradise Lost-fueled riffs by Marin.

In summary, Katarina and Marin nailed it once again with Another World (which is by the way available for a full listen on YouTube and on Spotify), moving forward in their career and showcasing an evolution in their sound while of course still being loyal to their musical roots presented in their debut album. Hence, don’t forget to give the duo a shout on Facebook and on Instagram to let them know how much you enjoy their music, and obviously to grab a copy of Another World from their own BandCamp page, inspiring them to keep embellishing the airwaves and to keep guiding us to different worlds to the sound of their melodious and delicate music.

Best moments of the album: Your Name, Cyanide and Never Again.

Worst moments of the album: Mistaken.

Released in 2023 Independent

Track listing
1. Shattered Illusion 3:29
2. Your Name 3:34
3. Cyanide 3:52
4. Sister Moon 4:14
5. Mistaken 3:44
6. Indifference Begins 4:37
7. Only Darkness Remains 4:35
8. Never Again 3:55
9. Shadows Still Align 4:10
10. Watching the Night Go By 3:56

Band members
Katarina Tramontana – vocals
Marin Tramontana – guitars, bass, keyboards

Guest musician
Hugo Ribeiro – drums

Album Review – Ewiniar / Burning the Night (2021)

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From a mutual love of dark, moody and melancholic music emerges the debut album by a Melodic Gothic Rock and Metal husband-and-wife unity from Croatia.

From a mutual love of dark, moody and melancholic music emerges the sound of Split, Croatia-based Melodic Gothic Rock/Metal unity Ewiniar,  who has just released their debut effort Burning the Night. Combining female vocals over juddering drums and blistering guitar work to deliver a sonic experience that is all their own, the husband-and-wife duo formed of vocalist Katarina Tramontana and vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Marin Tramontana explores the broad range of their influences by producing music that lights their inner fire in Burning the Night, all enhanced by the top-of-the-line mixing and mastering by Theodor Borovski at Slaughtered Studio and the stylish artwork by James Hutton Illustration, therefore being highly recommended for admirers of the music by renowned bands the likes of Nightwish, Within Temptation and Epica, among many others.

As soon as you hit play a doomed atmosphere will embrace your soul in Against the Stream, with Marin delivering classic beats and riffs, and consequently providing Katarina with all she needs to shine on vocals. Not only that, all elements from 80’s Gothic Rock added to their music make things even more mesmerizing. Then blending the whimsical sounds of bands like Tristania, Nightwish and Paradise Lost, the band offers us all Under the Stars, a beautiful creation by the duo showcasing Katarina’s crisp vocal lines amidst the rumbling bass lines and rhythmic beats by Marin, followed by Years of Heaven, another enfolding creation by Ewiniar where Marian has an awesome performance as a one-man music machine, with his riffs and solos walking hand in hand with his ethereal keys. And a serene start to the acoustic guitars by Marin and Katarina’s gorgeous vocals evolves into Mother, presenting a solid sound but lacking the same punch and feeling from the rest of the album.

Adding hints of folk to their doomed Gothic Rock it’s time for the almost medieval ballad Midnight Sun, flowing smoothly until the very end (and all spiced up by a soulful guitar solo by Marin), whereas drinking form the same fountain as Epica, Nightwish and After Forever the duo brings forward Suspiria, with Katarina stealing the spotlight with her stunning vocals. Back to an 80’s goth sonority the couple delivers the melodic Until the End of Time, feeling like the soundtrack to a fantasy movie thanks to the cryptic ambience crafted by Marin; and the second to last blast of their fusion of Gothic Rock and Metal comes in the form of Seekers of the Sense, another stylish, gentle but at the same time dark composition. Lastly, the title-track Burning the Night is even more epic and imposing than its predecessors, with Katarina embellishing the airwaves with her voice while Marin brings thunder to the music with his riffs, beats and keys until the very last second.

Burning the Night might be available in its entirety on YouTube and on Spotify, but in order to show your true support to such talented couple you should definitely purchase a copy of the album from their own BandCamp page. Also, don’t forget to follow Katarina and Marin on Facebook and on Instagram for news, more of their music and other nice-to-know details about them, immersing yourself in the Gothic and melodic world of Ewiniar. Katarina and Marin deserve our full appreciation and respect for putting together such beautiful and embracing album all by themselves, and let’s hope that their aforementioned mutual love for dark music never dies and that they keep bringing forth an array of albums as good as their debut opus in the coming years.

Best moments of the album: Under the Stars, Suspiria and Burning the Night.

Worst moments of the album: Mother.

Released in 2021 Independent

Track listing
1. Against the Stream 4:43
2. Under the Stars 4:30
3. Years of Heaven 5:23
4. Mother 5:31
5. Midnight Sun 6:29
6. Suspiria 5:11
7. Until the End of Time 5:02
8. Seekers of the Sense 4:57
9. Burning the Night 5:09

Band members
Katarina Tramontana – vocals
Marin Tramontana – vocals, all instruments

Album Review – Second To Sun / Three Fairy Tales EP (2014)

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Dark instrumental metal for people who love fast and furious music, recommended especially for the ones that cannot stand harsh vocals.

Rating5

Album artI know a lot of people that really enjoy the vigorous instrumental parts played by most Thrash, Death and Black Metal bands and artists. However, because of the aggressiveness of the guttural or harsh vocals that go along with those types of extreme music, they end up running away from those bands. If you find yourself in a similar situation, I have a very decent alternative for you: Russian Blackened Experimental Metal band Second To Sun and their new EP, entitled Three Fairy Tales, provides you modern and avant-garde heavy metal music, with elements of Black Metal and ethnic Finno-Ugric music, without those vocals that usually give you some undesired shivers.

Second To Sun was formed in Russia in 2012 by guitarist Vladimir Klimov, having released an EP entitled The God’s Favourite Whore (when the band suffered some lineup changes) and their first full-length album named Based On A True Story in 2013, before releasing now in 2014 their new EP. Bassist Anton Danilevski and drummer Theodor Borovski truly help Vladimir in his journey to create instrumental music that doesn’t sound annoyingly technical and consequently too snobbish, neither so basic to the point it becomes stale or uninspired. And they actually succeed in their proposal as we can see in this good (but short) album.

Based on the name of the EP, each one of the three tracks represents a different fairy tale, and they even have a specific image created for them, but as there are absolutely no vocal lines in any of them you’ll have to figure out their meaning by yourself. Starting the EP we have The Trapper, which focus on a more Symphonic Black Metal sonority blended with some modern and progressive music elements, as if Dream Theater joined the “dark side” of music. In addition, its heavy bass lines follow the pounding drums really well, plus a weird Russian voice giving the song an extra touch of creepiness.

second to sunIn Merämaa, the best of the three songs in my opinion, their progressiveness reaches its limit, intensified by some Nu Metal riffs and electronic elements, with its guitar lines being a mix of traditional Black Metal and video game-ish music. It’s almost as if the guitar is “trying” to actually speak! And finally Second To Sun offer us the more traditional song Barmaley, with highlights to its amazing double bass generating a more apocalyptic sounding. They prove with this song why they don’t need a singer to create captivating music, with kudos to bassist Anton Danilevski for his extremely strong bass lines throughout the whole song.

You can find Three Fairy Tales available for purchase at Second To Sun’s official BandCamp page, where you can also check the exclusive artwork for each of the three songs (just click on their info link). If one day they’ll add a singer to the band no one really knows, but so far they have been doing an excellent job letting their instruments speak on their behalf, crafting music highly recommended for fans of extreme metal that are not really fond of guttural vocals.

Best moments of the album: Merämaa.

Worst moments of the album: As I always mention when I review an EP, let’s wait for a full-length album to choose one or more bad moments.

Released in 2014 Independent

Track listing
1. The Trapper 4:02
2. Merämaa 3:01
3. Barmaley 3:59

Band members
Vladimir Klimov – guitars
Anton Danilevski – bass
Theodor Borovski – drums