Thirty years beyond death and now a decade deep into their haunted undead tirade Verona, Italy-based doom metal quartet EPITAPH manage a freshly extra-dimensional breach on this impeccably achieved third full-length album. Though ‘Path to Oblivion‘ now finds their work decidedly within the ‘epic’ spectrum of doom metal tradition in terms of style the expected eccentric movements and dark occult muse is yet alive in their work, albeit with a new centre-set voice taking the lead. Easily their most refined running order and best clarified production values offered to date this’ll be a grand point of entry, and simply a well above-average doom metal record, per the greater sub-genre fandom.

The history of Epitaph is impossible to separate from the earliest days of Italian doom metal and more specifically the founding and early life of cult act Black Hole wherein drummer Mauro Tollini and guitarist Nicola Murari were founding members as part of the original trio, an important band for the ideation of progressive rock influences in traditional doom metal beyond the 70’s. If you are not familiar with ‘Land of Mystery‘ (1985) at the very least you’re missing out but the most important precedence is perhaps set a couple of years beyond as they’d formed this group in 1988 after a short stint as the proggy, late NWOBHM/Witchfinder General flavored Sacrilege (see: ‘Demo‘, 1987). Three demo tapes, each roughly ~30 minute albums which detailed their still pure-blooded doom intent (‘The Lord of Evil‘, 1988) something a bit more “epic” and heavy metal flavored (‘Sacred and Profane‘, 1990) as original vocalist Giampietro Tomezzoli‘s range expanded. By 1994 their third tape, ‘Mental Walls‘ seemed to have hit an impasse a sound which to me has an unsurety of its mood in the way that a lot of grunge era music does resembling a punkish almost early prog-era Demon (U.K.) jog and gloom. This was the end of their efforts for well over a decade, all momentum died there.

With a well-hidden history and key contributions to the cult of Italian dark and psychedelic doom at their backs, and likely no way to resurface as Black Hole, efforts to revive Epitaph via the two main founders eventually succeeded in 2013, adding second guitarist Lorenzo Loatelli and their vocalist for the next two albums Emiliano Cioffi. Heavier, pro-recorded, and strutting large with a revived step into their debut ‘Crawling Out of the Crypt‘ (2014) the ‘return’ of this band was certainly notable for those interested in the highly creative, influential niche they’d long carved for themselves and others. Hammond organs surfaced, some Candlemass-esque rouse elevated their creep, and more riffs than we’d ever heard from their station made for a welcomed return. The pairing of “The Battle of Inside” b/w “Daughters of Lot” is the sweet spot on that debut, horror-operatic but still doom metal in its movements. Their second LP for High Roller Records (‘Claws‘, 2017) was more focused, succinct and doubly weirding in its psych’d breaks and freaked out Liebling-esque vocal exaggerations which’d only emboldened beyond the first. This is more-or-less the trajectory I’d expected heading into ‘Path of Oblivion‘, increasingly focused yet experimental tautness.

If you weren’t the biggest fan of the raw guitar tone on ‘Claws‘ or found Loatelli‘s vocals too erratic much has changed in Epitaph‘s realm to the point that ‘Path to Oblivion‘ offers sleeker production values as well as their first LP with new vocalist Ricky Dal Pane, who is best known as the frontman for throwback heavy rock group Witchwood. This means that beyond the piano-dripping emergence from the cave of the beast (intro “Path to Oblivion”) our step into “Embraced by Worms” has a distinct Candlemass circa ‘Tales of Creation‘ sound to not only the vocalist’s delivery but the way that they’ve twined it with the slow slung twist of the main riff which greets. The sense of space allowed per production values which rest upon the thump of the bass drum and pulse upward helps lend an ‘epic’ doom metal quality to our introduction, a moderately stepping pace which seethes in its tension rich movement (see: intro to “Condemned to Flesh”) yet carries some threat of horror theatre in each of its building moments. The break in the midst of “Condemned to Flesh” is our first glimpse of the more relaxed psychedelia which creeps into the midst of the bigger riffs and rowdiness that defines ‘Path to Oblivion’ outright, note quite the dramatism or stoney reach of say, the first Wheel album, but a sound which feels fresh for this outfit today.

The major wound to start for my own taste is probably “Nameless Demon” as it showcases everything that Epitaph are doing both characteristically and anew on this album, making for a grand peaking moment for Side A which is perfectly equaled by its second half in terms of its tonal rise and the literal length/arrangement of its parts. “Voices Behind the Wall” is maybe more ‘Ancient Dreams‘ in its cadence, a thrashier core riff to its waltzing step. The bleeding out only intensifies from that point and I suppose the concern of any long-term fandom or those seeking the esoteric, progressive rock fueled weirdness of the band will be that ‘Path to Oblivion‘ just ain’t all that weird, at all. “Kingdom of Slumber” might fit in on a Sorcerer or Condenados album, even so there is no relief from the traditional ‘epic’ doom metal feeling reverberating throughout the full experience though I’d found closer “Fall From Grace” ties the slightly more aggressive thrills of Side B into focus and still finds space to feature some unexpected guitar work be it the thrashing push around ~2:51 minutes in or the mournful drift that hits around ~5 minutes into the song.

If you’ll take no issue with this being different than Epitaph‘s first two records in its tone and pacing, and even still a farther cry from their late 80’s/early 90’s demo tapes, then I’d suggest you’ll find one of the more exuberantly struck, dark doom metal records of the year here. There is a fine balance achieved within the equal-sided, neatly crafted experience here where the dramatism introduced by Dal Pane‘s wheelhouse should appeal to fans of traditional doom metal’s overall spectrum without fully losing the prog-rock headiness and sense of exploration one’d expect from this band’s lineage. Because they’ve kept each statement meaningful and every song counts as part of a complete, well-curated album (featuring prime cover art from Luciana Nedelea) none of this feels like a loss or a flat point of restart for the band but rather a fresh point of entry for folks who might follow any stoked curiosity back to the 2010’s and the decades prior. Is it “weird” enough to inspired horror rather than auld dread? Probably not for the seasoned fandom though I’d not found it and manner of detriment to the pleasure of listening. A high recommendation.

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