REVIEW: Empress, "Reminiscence" [EP]

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 Empresstake 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’smoody, 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. Empresshave 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

Band info: facebook || bandcamp