"Eros|Anteros" is the breathtaking follow up to Oathbreaker's critically
acclaimed "Maelstrom" album. Where "Maelstrom" acted as individual
fragments of shrapnel, "Eros|Anteros" is a shockwave of sound. It is
Oathbreaker's story of love and the anti-love (life and death), and the
growth they have experienced through these trials.
In
opener "Beeltenis" (Dutch for "Portrait") layers of melodious guitar cry
out to one another through the blackness. Acting as a ghostlike warning
before Oathbreaker whips calm to chaos. "No Rest for the Weary" then
abruptly crashes forward with breakneck speed and from there the
floodgates of "Eros|Anteros" are open. As vocalist Caro Tanghe lets out
the hair raising screams of "I'll never know what it means - this deadly
calm inside", it's clear that this album is more potent and personal
than most heavy music; this is a collective soul searching for the band.
This is most apparent in brother and sister songs "As I Look Into the
Abyss" and "The Abyss Looks Into Me". A stunning pairing that shows
Oathbreaker racing through razor sharp metallic riffing before erupting
into a vicious emotional explosion. This quarrel continues throughout
the "Eros|Anteros", finally coming to a head in the haunting closer
"Clair Obscur". An eleven minute epic that carefully balances shoe-gaze
leanings with their wounded post-metal heart.