Review Summary: Simon Neil, Screaming Politely
Talking to British music magazine earlier this year, Simon Neil and Mike Vennart made it clear they'd formed Empire State Bastard because they wanted to make a record that sounded like ‘f*cking mayhem’. Biffy Clyro, the day-job band that Simon fronts and Mike tours with, have long become a soft beast who've damped down their jagged edges to settle into what we might call comfortable middle age. As life-long metalheads, clearly that head-banging energy needs to go somewhere and they set out to create something more in line with the music they loved as teenagers with heavy riffs, double-kicks and a distinct lack of melody. Once they'd roped in Slayer legend Dave Lombardo to play drums and a rumbling low-end courtesy of Lizzie Fitzpatrick from Bitch Falcon, this really started to sound like something which would tear ears off.
The album doesn't quite do that, though the boys do hit their intended target intermittently - you can practically hear them cackle with glee on the drums-and-vocals-only screaming freak-out ‘Tired, Aye?’, as well as any other undeniably HEAVY moments that run through this thing in whatever flavour of metal you like. How do you feel about thrash? Try the whiplash pace of ‘Palms of Hands’ or 'Sold!'. What about doom? The stoner riffs that enter part-way through Moi? should sort you out. As thrilling as these moments are though (and it really is great to hear Simon Neil shriek again), listening to the record straight through brings a nagging sense that they didn't take the extremities far enough, like they struggled to commit to the bit. I was initially left wondering what would have happened had they followed their first-thought-best-thought instincts and created something more dissonant and ugly.
After a few spins though, the record unveils itself as a compelling amalgamation of insert-genre-here metal song-writing and Biffy Clyro’s more melodic approach. Take aforementioned lumbering doom cut, 'Moi?'. The stoner riffs that run through the song hit harder because it opens with so many sticky earworm melodies that build tension, leading to a wonderful catharsis every time the distortion pedal kicks in. Or how about the albums longest and best song, the doom-meets-disco-slow-jam groove of closer ‘The Looming’? This soupy cocktail of high-end screams, low-end growls and droning guitars mixed with lilting singing and sparkling synth notes shouldn't work and yet it ends up being the highlight of the whole damn thing.
In fact, alongside the sticky melodies and Vennart's riff writing, which is top-notch throughout, synths emerge as the groups secret weapon - fellow bright spot 'Stutter' starts off sounding like the groups mission statement, full of snarling and screaming, before Lombardo settles into a weighty double-kick section midway thorough supported by an undeniably pretty synth lead. The lumbering outro to 'Sons & Daughters' sees a treacly riff descend across the song in a thick mist, with keyboard embellishments dancing in the background like fireflies in a swamp. Both of these moments might sound slow and cumbersome if they were played straight, yet the presence of synths elevates the music. Time and again, the blend works.
There are a few damp spots. This is very much the Mike and Simon show, and the supporting cast feels a bit let down - Dave Lombardo only gets a few moments to BE Dave Lombardo ('Stutter', 'Harvest' and 'Sold!' being personal favourites), and the bass isn't as prominent as I'd like it to be. There are also experiments which go nowhere; I like a palette cleanser, but late-album filler 'Dusty' doesn't really add anything beyond making up the runtime. There's also the open question I keep coming back to - what if they had allowed their freak flag to truly fly? I think these guys have a more extreme album in them which I'd have been very interested to hear.
However, I'm not convinced it would have been more enjoyable. They’ve ultimately created something slightly more accessible, and allowing Neil's canny way with a melody to muscle through to the front proves to be a vindicating choice which I think really works for the record. They may not have achieved what they initially set out to but they're definitely still KVLT enough to be wearing corpse paint. They just couldn't help adding some glitter at the last minute, and damn it if they don't look pretty.
