By: Jay Hampshire
Album Type: Full length
Date Released: 12/02/2018
Label: Independent
Empress have taken a tried and tested formula of sludge metal and
shot it through with enough outside influences to revitalise, and executed it
with both obvious competency and righteous flair. If you’re interested in a
change of pace, ‘Reminiscence’ is definitely it.
“Reminiscence” CD/DD track listing
1.
The Offering (03:54)
2.
Immer (08:06)
3.
Baptizer (02:50)
4.
They Speak Like Trees (09:27)
5.
Dawn (03:30)
The Review:
In
a genre as swollen as the current sludge metal scene, it’s getting increasingly
difficult for bands to stand out from the heaving crowd. Sure, your riffs are
peppered with groovy blues shifts and groaning under the weight of distortion,
but whose aren’t? The last word you’d expect to use when describing a new
sludge release is ‘surprised’, but Vancouver based trio Empress
take the framework and contort it into something still recognisable, but near
wholly original.
‘The Offering’
kicks things off with enough familiarity; burbling sci-fi synths are crushed
under the weight of jarring chords, striding into a typically sludge riff with
Peter Sacco’s blistering roars arcing atop. Slowing down and teasing with
rumbling, fuzzed-out bass, it stalks into a brooding main riff with an
undercurrent of atonal tremolo, ending on a strong feedback drenched chord. So
far, so sludge.
But
you’ve been lulled into a false sense of security, only to have the rug pulled
out from under you.
‘Immer’ positively bounces with an
incredibly energetic, movement heavy riff, with all the pop sensibility of a
good Torche track. It’s punchy, a ‘good time’
vibe that Sacco’s vocals don’t really match until the trio shift gear and move
into a muscular riff straight out of Mastodon’s early era
playbook. Rattling snares usher us upwards into a soaring, sweeping post-rock
ascension that is infectiously uplifting and a world away from the hard riffing
of ‘The Offering’.
‘Baptizer’s
moody, Nirvana-esque bass line is swallowed by the
sudden impact of a dense layer of heavy riffs, punctuated by Chris Doyle’s
constantly shifting drum work. Weighing in at under three minutes, it’s shorter
and sharper than the two tracks it’s sandwiched between. ‘They Speak Like Trees’, the album’s zenith, ambles slowly and ponderously,
backed by pounding toms and lances of feedback. Steadily building to a locked
in chugging riff, it continues to climb through passages of unexpectedly
stripped down hard-rock and wandering, clean contemplation, driving home to an
energising finish.
Closer
‘Dawn’ is a shimmering dreamscape of
guitar noodling and rushing synths, a gentle comedown from the album’s lofty
peaks, a touch messy but pleasing nonetheless. Empress
have taken a tried and tested formula and shot it through with enough outside
influences to revitalise, and executed it with both obvious competency and
righteous flair. If you’re interested in a change of pace, ‘Reminiscence’ is definitely it.
‘Reminiscence’
is available here
