Firstly, I should say that I think I’ve been given this to review because I really like The Vision Bleak, have heard some Empyrium in the past and a some Noekk too. I’m not really coming at this like a devoted fan overjoyed that after 12 silent years a new Empyrium album has finally been crafted. For those unfamiliar with the band (and to bring those more familiar with Empyrium up to speed), they are basically a project by uber-talented multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Ulf Theodor Schwadorf (Vision Bleak, Noekk, Ewigheim etc) with the essential addition of Pianist/Vocalist Thomas Helm, as per their last studio release back in 2002 – “Weiland”.
Musically they seem to have continued in “Weiland”s musical territory of atmospheric soundscapes, acoustically driven, but not afraid to heavy things up to add a bit of drama when needed. Agalloch seem to be a popular comparison, but despite being German, their roots are obviously in the older Scandinavian Black Metal scene – with Ambient Gothic Metal and Atmospheric Doom too. There’s elements of early Ulver, Winds, Dornenreich, Dargaard, Of Wand & The Moon and even Green Carnation, Ihsahn and Fen. The point is we are talking melancholic moody soundscapes here, with mainly clean, low male vocals (I love the fact that I got given this to review straight after Alestorm…someone may be trying to mess with my head…).
Reviewing this in summer sucks! It needs to be dark and cool, or at least sunset, preferably an open fire roaring away, with a glass or two of red wine consumed! 26 degree heat at 7pm with next door’s kids sounding like they are killing each other doesn’t really do it. Screw this – I can do the red wine now and then go for a stroll into the fields in a few hours! I’m gonna sit me on a hill in the dark with my Tablet and Empyrium on the headphones – it’s what it deserves!
And so here I am. Wow. What a difference. Sometimes you just need to let an album envelop you, and that is what “The Turn Of The Tides” does (Just take a look at that cover art! A picture to perfectly sum up an album!). I’m lucky. A five minute walk and I’m in rolling countryside, 20 minutes later I’m on the side of that hill, and as I sit here gazing across fields lit by moonlight, a blanket of stars above, the distant city lights on the horizon, I really couldn’t have a better soundtrack. Maybe cliff top at dusk, a rooftop terrace, or just a candlelit darkened room – it doesn’t matter – just put on some headphones, close your eyes and the backdrop is where Empyrium take you. Yes, I’m lucky, I’m here. It’s been a lengthy walk and I’ve almost got the smell of cow dung from my shoes (the first field I picked was not my finest choice…), but it was worth it to appreciate the songs properly. There’s no choruses – just memorable, heart-rending vocal lines. There’s no riffs – there’s acoustic guitar lines, piano melodies or Symphonic swathes – sometimes all three and more! At times, when it needs to be, it is huge, multi-layered, immense…other times it is stark, solitary and bleak.
‘In The Gutter This Spring’ is a great example of Empyrium 2014. It has all of the above (except the cow dung of course – not that far above…) – the way it builds, the sonic pictures it paints, the way everything blends yet still allows the central acoustic refrain to shine through…quite stunning. But to single out one track is to almost ruin the entirety and completeness of the album. It flows beautifully, and whilst I can’t call Empyrium particularly uplifting, it made me do something just that bit different to really appreciate them. And appreciate what I have…right through to life itself! I could stay here all night, reflecting, thinking, pondering…but I won’t. I will return and do this again one day, with other albums as well as this one. This experience was too good to do only once.
Pretty deep eh? Idyllic too? Ha! On the way home I walked into an electric fence, got chased by cattle (I’m damn sure one of them was a bull but it was dark – and I wasn’t hanging around to take a closer look!), and I fell in a ditch full of mud and nettles. Bloody Countryside… But at least I had that moment, that time, when it was just me and “The Turn Of The Tides”. And back at home as I dab ointment on my nettle stings and wonder if my shoes will ever be wearable again, I realise it’s all about seizing that moment. Sharing the band’s craftsmanship and enjoying it, fleeting or not. Thanks for the memories and the experience Empyrium.
(8.5/10 Andy Barker)
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