History & Biography Formed under other monickers in 1990, Epoch Of Unlight underwent many changes and released many tapes including As The Image Slowly Fades in 1993. When the band signed to Last World Records in 1995, it did not realize the label will not be around long enough to help the band. Several songs were then released independently as Within The Night… CD. With the release of the Black & Crimson Glory demo two year later, This demo was taped and mastered in less than a week. The End Records decided to sign the band. A debut was released. What Will Be Has Been was pressed with the wrong song order on the back. Robertson and Totty left the band. One Totty was replaced with another, his twin brother! In 2001, the band added ex-Incineration guitarist Josh Braddock and played at The Milwaukee Metal Fest. The band also planned a split 7" with Goat Whore on Bloated Goat Records. Smith left the fold in the spring of 2002 with the band announcing an immediate search for a replacement.
The band entered Big Blue Meenie studio in New Jersey in October of 2004 and recorded The Continuum Hypothesis with Erin Farley. The album was issued in February, 2005 and marked the debut of singer B.J. Cook a.k.a. Lord Hellspawn. This coincided with the end of the band's work with The End Records.
The band went on a hiatus until the 2015 demo, Foreshadows. This was followed by the availability of old demo tracks by the band. Scott Baggett came onboard. Josh Braddock returned in 2018 after being away for 16 years. A 2022 demo was also pressed by Dark Horizon. The act was playing random concerts in the nearby states including an appearance at the Arkansas Death Fest in 2023.
Reviews EPOCH OF UNLIGHT - CAUGHT IN THE UNLIGHT - THE END
First allow this writer to take exception to the label's notion that this album's performance is worthy of an Oscar. Oscars, Grammies, Junos and other self-congratulatory instruments of corporate ownership are an insult to what for heavy metal and its fans stand - not to mention that Oscars go to movies. On a more positive note, Epoch of Unlight is a hell of a band. Clearly influenced by Scandinavians like Marduk and Dissection - witness the musical performance or titles like Caught In The Unlight (Marduk?) and At The Threshold Of Might (Immortal?) - the underground entity mixes a malevolent musical attack with tight rhythm changes and very snarly vocals. Caught... is obviously not of Dissection-like stature, but the trio clearly manages to put together an album above and beyond your average death metal release. If I were to suggest one thing to the band it would be to turn up the bass in the mix and double up the guitar sound during the break and changes. Otherwise the sound is good, the songs better and the speed/heaviness scale the best. May I suggest a trip to the record store then? Incidentally Dissection is releasing a live album and Jon's been writing music in jail in Sweden. - Ali "The Metallian"
EPOCH OF UNLIGHT - THE CONTINUUM HYPOTHESIS - THE END
Perhaps it would be interesting to chat with someone in Epoch Of Unlight to find out what exactly The Continuum Hypothesis is, but there would not be a need to ask the members about the name of the band's newer musical style. It is called European deathrash metal.
Epoch OF Unlight has undergone an almost complete overhaul in its line-up which might explain the gap of several years between this album and 2001's Caught In The Unlight. The music too has shifted over to harsh thrash a la Hypocrisy with some residual death metal apparent in the band's text. The vocals are scratchy and the slide into techno-thrash territory - listen to the technicality of Quicksilver To Ash - is none too infrequent. The over all feel is harsh and the speed is swift. The band's solos, like the one on the opening cut, are chaotic and rather original. The guitars have a high gain sound and the drums are almost relegated to background status which is often a Swedish production style.
There is more than fifty-minutes of bruising thrash here with enough speed and complexity to keep the listener engaged over repeated listens. - Ali "The Metallian"
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