The Entity - Salt (2003)

Formed in 2001, The Entity was a short lived Norwegian band that released a demo, single and this EP, 'Salt' in 2003 before shortly thereafter breaking up. I will admit I originally bought the EP just because I liked the cute sad looking Goth chicky on the cover and since The End Records was selling it for something like $5 I couldn't resist. Fortunately it wasn't just a novelty thing as I've enjoyed this EP immensely since those seven years ago that I bought it.

The Entity were a bit hard to describe as their sound was something like depressive Gothic rock/metal similar to Katatonia, but I honestly think this band had their own thing going on. The title track is an absolutely beautiful semi-acoustic song, which kicks off with acoustic guitars, cello, violin, light percussion and Håkon Viken's sombre voice. During the chorus however things pick up and it's here that the music takes on a Gothic metal sound and Håkon displays the true power and range of his voice too. 'Duality' is my favorite song on this EP and it's a bit heavier, amazingly catchy and somewhat more typical Gothic metal, but I absolutely love it. Again the music is quite engaging here and Håkon's vocals are incredible and that chorus always gets trapped in my brain for hours after listening to this song. Great stuff. 'Nemesis' is a cover from the popular Norwegian rock band Seigmen who later transformed into Zeromancer. This song continues the heavy Gothic metal sound shown on the previous song and whether or not this cover is close to the original is beyond me, but I certainly do enjoy it considerably. Finally, 'Acoustic Salt' closes out this nineteen minute EP and as you probably already guessed its a full on acoustic version of the title track, which swaps out all of the electric guitars and adds a piano instead of the cello and violin. Brilliant stuff, indeed.

If somehow you ever come across this EP definitely give it a shot. The Entity are unfortunately a very underrated band, which I'm sure had they continued they could very well be one the bigger names in the depressive Gothic rock/metal genre.