Review Summary: The mid-year report is in, and this enterprise is still thriving.
In the corporate and entrepreneurial world, mid-year reports usually make for one of the best ways to asses show a company is really doing. With enough of the year behind them to be able to spot any potential patterns and trends, and enough time left to steer, tweak or simply plan their trajectory forward, the transition from Q2 to Q3 usually yields the best insights for managers looking to plan ahead. And if this particular enterprise’s Q2 report is any indication, the least that can be said is that these Bearded Executives have very little to worry about, as the forecast for the second half of the year appears positive in every possible way.
Indeed, while
Vestiges by no means seeks to reinvent Bearded Executive’s trademark, tried-and-tested formula, or even significantly progress the band’s sound, this third EP from the mysterious, yet-unnamed duo is of good enough quality to at least maintain the band’s acquired cred within the instrumental stoner/psych circles. The four songs contained within – totalling roughly fifteen minutes of music – may not be as memorable as the band’s initial output under their previous name, Barfighter, but they are definitely a good enough standard to overcome the inexplicably low, muffled production job, which calls for the volume to be turned up about thrice as high as it normally would in order for the music to even be heard!
This unfathomable faux-pas aside, however, Bearded Executive are still their usual selves, crafting loosey-goosey stoner/doom quasi-jams which allow for plenty of space for the two actual instruments (guitar and bass) to shine. Fortunately, however, the band’s previous weakness – the simplistic and often plodding electronic percussion – has been addressed this time around, with the band largely refraining from jazzier sections, which have historically proven difficult for the AI drummer to wrap its circuits around; instead, tempos here remain largely straightforward, giving the songs a more organic sound which renders them much more pleasant to the ear – provided, that is, the volume is turned up high enough…
Production quibbles aside, however, at least half of the tracks contained here rank among the best Bearded Executive have done under that name, and as probably the best songs these musicians have put out since Barfighter’s second EP.
Mutual, in particular, is not only worthy of standing shoulder to shoulder with anything the musicians have done in their previous incarnation, but a genuine moment of progression in their sound - a surprisingly fast-paced, rip-snorting slab of traditional old-school instrumental hard’n’heavy, which would not sound out of place within the output of a lesser-known 80s NWOBHM or German heavy metal outfit.
Unfortunately, nothing else on [i[Vestiges[/i] ever approaches that level of innovation; however, as stated, this does not mean the remaining songs on the EP in any way go to waste; on the contrary, despite being ‘more of the usual’ from Bearded Executive, follow-up and longest track
Afterwards Many Are Strong is more than on a par with its predecessor in terms of musical quality, even managing to circumvent the problem of having programmed percussion when creating a proggy, counter-tempo section. The two bookend tracks – opener
Perpetual, a shred session over slow, deliberate percussion, and closer
The Window, a minute-and-a-half slab of Middle Eastern- and industrial-tinged psychedelia – are less remarkable, but do not substantially detract from the overall quality of the record, even if a case
can be made for
Vestiges having been slightly better off as a two-track release.
As it is, however – and despite some perpetually baffling production choice –
Vestiges is yet another notch in these musicians’ increasingly filled belt, and proof positive that there is not much at all for this enterprise to improve upon anymore; provided they can continue on the same path they are treading at the moment, the future looks bright for these two former Barfighters turned Bearded Executives…
[b][u]Recommended Tracks[/i]
Mutual
Afterward Many Are Strong
