Review Summary: All doom, no gloom.
Thanks to music labels such as New Heavy Sounds, the underground scene in metal, particularly in Britain, has been thriving with numerous doom bands that incorporate a greasy, 70’s style of stoner rock vibe into their music. Successful bands like Orange Goblin prefer to stick to a traditional outlook of meaty riffs and accessible themes whereas others, such as Blood Ceremony and True Widow, choose to crossfade matching genres such as folk, psychedelia and post rock together in order to stand out. While these bands are united by understanding Riffs are the central focus of their songs- so quintessential that it even warrants a capital R- showcasing a signature sound is equally as essential to distinguish one band from the next.
Ex People, a quartet from London, are another band that joins this 70’s loving, riff-worshipping roster and their debut album,
“Bird”, released by the aforementioned label, displays their personal take on this style of retro doom metal. Overall, Ex People’s method is incredibly simple as they opt for a highly distorted, lumbering bass driven approach that barely deviates over the course of each individual song. The album is bursting with thick, cumbersome and murky riffs that follow a cyclic, unhurried rhythm. Smothered in fuzzy production and drowned in distortion, songs such as “Without”’, “Dread” and “Erlenmeyer” witness Ex People forcibly hammering these chunky grooves into your brain until they become embedded there.
Granted, this comfortable method does make
“Bird” sound repetitive. However, Ex People offers enough subtle twists and turns to hold your interest. “Complainer” particularly demonstrates this delicate deviation as it features a trampling, nu-metal riff that would not sound out of place on an earlier album by Korn. The key feature that separates Ex People from the crowded nest of upcoming stoner rock bands is Laura Kirsop’s vocals. Her crystalline singing cuts through the dirty, stained riffs in the opener, “Not a Drill”, and persists with comprehensible clarity throughout the rest of the album. At the end of the album closer, “Crested”, the pendulous instrumentalism melts into one monumental wall of sound, however, Laura’s psychedelic crooning still manages to puncture the dense distortion until, finally, everything combines together in a cacophonous climax.
As for lyricism, Ex People draw influence from both real-world issues such as domestic violence in “The Host”, and fictional horrors in “Over” which describes worlds colliding into one another and dystopian landscapes. Along with the corresponding soundscapes Ex People illustrate through circular riffs and excruciating drawn out notes, this debut is a barefaced statement of intent. If Ex People continue to churn these infectious riffs until they begin to congeal and introduce a little more variation in their songwriting by building on the subtle progressions in select songs, they’ll soon be your next favourite newly-discovered band; as long as they avoid playing too safe to home. Belonging to a label of similar sounding bands,
“Bird” introduces the band’s own character and is a straightforward, enjoyable album. Overall, this debut is the sound of a band learning to fly, and this band is headed for greatness.
