‘Welcome To Ember Falls’ is an intriguing and ominous title, one that hints at a strong story or concept within. According to the band, Ember Falls is “a fictitious town in an imaginary multiverse somewhere in the distant future,” yet it never seems that much is made of the potential that such a setup has. Thankfully Ember Falls concentrate on what matters, and they provide a succession of exciting and at times inventive songs that sit at the more accessible end of the metal spectrum.
Opening track ‘The Cost Of Doing Business’ immediately delivers complex guitar riffs and pummelling drums, with the vocal interplay between the clean vocals of Thomas Grove and the screams of Calu sounding well-honed and impressive. It’s also apparent that Ember Falls are fans of guitar solos and the one that appears here wouldn’t have sounded out of place in Guitar Hero. ‘Falling Rain’ moves effortlessly from a symphonic metal intro, underpinned by the keyboards of OneOfHaze, to a solid chorus that is the perfect launchpad for one of the most technically impressive examples of face-melting, finger-breaking guitar work on the album.
It quickly becomes clear, only a few songs in, that Ember Falls have found a style that works for them but with it comes limitations. ‘Rising Tide’ and ‘Shut Down With Me’ are decent songs on their own but are too safe to really stand out, particularly when compared to the acrobatic guitar work of ‘COE’ or the choppy quickfire riffs on ‘Of Letting Go’.
It’s only on ‘Freedom’ that Ember Falls allow themselves to experiment as they completely embrace the power ballad. You can almost feel the wind machine in your hair and smell the dry ice as the orchestral strings and purposefully epic guitars underpin Thomas’ arena-filling vocals. The slower pace certainly provides a breather from the sometimes predictable nature of a handful of the songs.
The other breath of fresh air is delivered in the form of ‘The Lamb Lies Down In Sacrifice’, a passionate and energetically delivered slice of metal that stays well clear of the repetition that mars the album. The song swaggers around with a heaviness and confidence that is intoxicating and you almost want to start a circle pit by yourself when you hear it. It’s just a shame that, those two songs aside, Ember Falls often limit their experimentation to just the intros and outros, which becomes a pattern of repetition itself. The combination of electro and metal is never going to be everyone’s taste, but it adds energy to tracks like ‘The Enemy You Need’ and ‘Open Your Eyes’ before they all too quickly revert to type.
‘Welcome To Ember Falls’ almost lives up to the intrigue suggested by the title, but disjointed songs produce a disjointed album. It has to be remembered however that it is a debut album and Ember Falls are still a very promising and exciting band to keep an eye on.
CHRIS HILSON