Review Summary: Galloping riffs that build atmosphere, rather than clobber it.
For a subgenre that’s still basically experimental by virtue of its newness, instrumental metal doesn’t really see all that much diversity. Bands tend to come down only a handful of roads on their way to forming their sound. There’s the “like post-rock, but heavier” mentality of groups like Pelican, which itself is only a few steps away from the “Neurosis without the vocals” progressive / doom inspired camp. But very few instrumental bands seem to set out to just write all-caps METAL -- metal that doesn’t have time or space for vocals. Metal that needs to make room for all those riffs.
Waitings in Waves, the first full-length by NY-based Dead Empires, is written and structured with a density that vocals might just mask. Songs move from idea to idea with a sense of urgency that will seem like either an abundance of ideas, or restlessness, depending how well you can keep up. From a lesser band, all these ideas could easily spiral into tangents, but Dead Empires succeeds by keeping a tight grip on two dueling, yet complimentary moods: heavy and atmospheric. Most post-metal acts will write a melodic, ‘pretty’ section building gradually into a brutally heavy riff that tears it all down, but Dead Empires embraces both these tactics at the same time, creating something punishingly heavy that’s still accessibly melodic.
The band unfurls its jams with a psychedelic smoothness, blending a sense of groove into the galloping, obliterating riffs of songs like Crystal Cages -- one of the standout tracks. A blend of progressive and psychedelic sensibilities is the undercurrent for the whole album, tying the heaviness together with spacey textures and effects-heavy guitarwork. Those unaccustomed to instrumental music might find the song structures a bit disorienting -- it’s easier to latch on to slow-building crescendos, or vocals, than to jam-oriented riffs -- but it’s hard to ignore the relentless, twisting guitar leads that pinball you between stanzas, or the slowed-down moments of psychedelic, trippy introspection that give you time to catch a breath and reorient yourself. Based on my highly scientific surveys of friends, Waiting in Waves seems to be the rare metal album that appeals to metal-phobic music listeners -- without going soft to the point of alienating metalheads.
Dead Empires is one of those bands that deserves to leap from “most interesting local band around” to “obscure but well-regarded sub-genre band you flout for coolness points.” Waiting in Waves shows a confidence in song-writing that makes it seem like the band perfected their sound two or three albums ago, with a creativity that indicates they’ll be keeping it up for many more.
