That’ll Do

There is something uniquely listenable about Empress AD. One can’t quite put our finger on it, but it is a “thing.” The heavy progressive rock group coming from near London has a comfortable quality that is like what you already know, but interesting enough to be something completely different.

From this transcontinental album, we hear Alex Loring (bass), Edd Unwin (drums), Ollie Loring (vox/guitar) and Tom Meadon (guitar) present an album that seems to be a long awaited gift in the works, something that has truly carved a niche for itself, filling a void in the middle of a whirlpool of music that is preexisting and finding that vacancy of “new” music.

No news yet if this is the guys first big band break, but if it is, they are going somewhere. Still Life Moving Fast is the title of their debut album as well as the opening track, a brief introduction that gives the listener a calm prelude to the heavy music that is Empress AD. It’s not all fast, its not all slow nor screaming – as we were initially expecting. Progressive music like Empress has a melancholic soul felt sentiment in addition to being melodic. Empress AD is everything and nothing one has ever heard before. With musical abilities that are simple enough to contemplate but uniquely intertwined so to make a highly complex musical equation.

To sample a slower, more Incubus type of feel listen to “From Where I Cannot Reach,” near the ending of the album. This simple song has a melody that is entirely feeling and whole-heartedly possible. If you are looking for a faster, but not too heavy “Blurred Perception” is the track to listen for. “Deeper in Disguise” is the heaviest track you’ll find. There is not doubt this album is heavy, it is rock, but it is not metal. This album is a great find for those who need the melody and the depth that is Empress A.D.