Empyrium
The Turn of the Tides

4.0
excellent

Review

by bahlof USER (1 Reviews)
July 19th, 2014 | 49 replies

Release Date: 2014 | Tracklist

Review Summary: After twelve years Empyrium confidently revisit nature and human emotion through music, in familiar and unfamiliar settings.

In 2010 Empyrium announced its return alongside their contribution to Prophecy Production’s compilation album Whom The Moon A Nightsong Sings. The song “The Days Before the Fall” heavily foreshadowed the musical style to be heard on The Turn of the Tides as well as being featured as a track on the album. Twelve years since the release of Empyrium’s folk masterpiece Weiland begs the question if they still have it in them. The short answer is yes, but not in the strictly neo-folk form many may be expecting.

Once again Thomas Helm returns as the focal singer on the album with his recognizable deep operatic vocals backed by Marcus Stock’s soft-spoken vocals and brief gruff screams. The album begins with the track “Savior” which starts out with a soft piano melody that breaks into acoustic guitar with a backing synthesizer that immediately reminds one of Empyrium’s debut album A Wintersunset. It has a very uplifting feel that serves as the perfect reintroduction to a band that’s kept silent for so many years.

The overall mood of the album is very faithful to their 2006 re-recording of “The Franconian Woods in Winter’s Silence”. They keep their folk roots intact throughout the album but in a much more subtle style like that of A Wintersunset and Songs of Moors and Misty Fields than in their more recent strictly acoustic albums Where at Night the Wood Grouse Plays and Weiland. The distorted guitar makes a return as well but is only occasionally used and much less aggressive than their early work. While the overall musical style certainly stands out more different than any of their previous efforts, many nods are made throughout the album to songs of the past. “Dead Winter Ways” brings back the dark romanticism from “Mourners” and “We Are Alone” features a piano piece similar to Thomas Helm’s classical piano tracks on Weiland. Not all sounds are familiar though, as the album progresses you’ll find some post-rock like elements in “With the Current into Grey” and the closing track “The Turn of the Tides”. Although this is not necessarily a bad thing as the emotion felt is just as strong as any of their other work.

The album takes you on a journey through a vast amount of different emotions in what feels like a short amount of time clocking at under 44 minutes. Along the way you experience what could be compared to the tranquil Franconian Woods with the track "Savior", the cold bitterness of winter in "Dead Winter Ways" and all it leaves behind in "In The Gutter of This Spring". The album ends on a very strong note with "The Turn of the Tides" as you journey out of the wilderness and drift away into the ocean. My biggest complaint on the album was that the journey there wasn't long enough.

Turn of the Tides feels like a very fitting name for the album because it represents the evolution of Empyrium over the years and their venture into new musical territory. The natural emotional essence of Empyrium has remained but it incorporates different musical influences without any kind of genre restraint. If you were hoping for the next acoustic masterpiece like their latest releases you unfortunately might be a little let down. However, for those who have appreciated all aspects of Empyrium’s career this is a very solid album that draws out nature and emotion as one would expect from any Empyrium release.

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