After seven full lengths, an EP and a demo, Ephel Duath has decided to call it a day. More specifically mastermind behind the project since 1998 Davide Tiso has put the project to rest. Tiso released the following statement and it's actually pretty heartbreaking to read through. He basically say he loves the music with all his heart and soul but decided to stop the project because he can't stand to see people not enjoy the music.
Better to put the project to rest than to let it limp on, right?
"I decided that it's time to put Ephel Duath to rest.
"This beautiful beast has been my life companion for a very long time, I cannot see it struggling any longer and I decided to kill it myself. This post is a way to make peace with the idea itself and, I guess, a way to keep you part of this.
"For many years I felt conflicted with the idea of sharing Ephel Duath's music with its small public, now it's time to let go. Ephel Duath changed shape and color many times, crossing different genres and musical styles, toward the end though, it started looking too much like me and I didn't feel like giving it to you any longer. This is the reason why this has to end, because this band mattered so much to me that I didn't get any joy in letting it be heard and dissected by you any longer.
"As I've never really found a comfortable place for myself in this society, my music has always experienced the same problem. Ephel Duath never quite reached a large public and it never really exploited its potential. I suffered for that but what I know is that I've tried my very best to make this band work and I stand behind every record we released.
"When I started Ephel Duath I was young, naive and tremendously ambitious. Now I'm 16 years older, and still naive enough to think that songs have their own souls, I just poured too much of my own in them, and it has been brutal to let them go. A part of me was let go. A big chunk. In the end, I'm not sure it was worth it.
"I've a gift that I cherish deeply, I can talk through my guitar. It's easy for me to distill my feelings through riffs and everything I say that way has more weight and impact than my own words. In order to keep honoring that in the future, Ephel Duath needs to die today and so it will be.
"Thanks for reading, I could do a long list of thanks but I choose not, now it's my time to be ungrateful."
Enjoy Ephel Duath's last record, Hammed by Light, Shaped by Darkness, which was released a little over a year ago. I wonder if Tiso will continue making music or if this is the end for him completely?