Esoterica – Ether Metal

London based ethereal progressive rock/metal band Esoterica have a new album. It’s been five years since their last one – ‘In Dreams’ – so fans of the band will no doubt be hungry for more. With the release of album number five – “Ether Metal” – more will be provided. Eleven tracks over 47 minutes more to be precise, although some of the tracks have already been released as singles.

This is a band that I have wanted to check out for a while and this new album is the perfect opportunity. Admittedly I am a little bit late to this party but better late than never. Many others have arrived before me as the band has had over 10 million streams on various platforms.

It is easy to see why their popularity has grown. The music is very accessible, but heavy and varied enough to satisfy a veteran lover of metal music such as myself. The choir at the start of the opening track ‘Into the Ether’ does indeed evoke a very ethereal sensation. The main body of the song slowly gets heavier but remains melodic. Vocalist Tobias Keast has a good range and is perfect for this style of music.

There are three members of the band with the surname of Keast, and I am assuming that they are brothers. Avid fans of the band will no doubt know if they are or not. Will Keast provides much of the exquisite, beautiful elements through his keyboards and Luke Keast is the backbone to it all on drums.

I mentioned earlier that some of the tracks had already been released as singles. It turns out that the first four tracks on the album have accompanying videos. Following the one for the opening song we get to hear ‘I Am Just One’ and ‘Alive’ the latter being the last to be released just a week before the album. Both are a glorious mix of symphonic, subdued breakdowns & beautiful harmonies, punctuated by crunching chords and catchy melodies

 

The very first Esoterica song I heard was ‘Firefly’. It stuck in my mind and remains my favourite number on the album. It is also my favourite video of theirs as well. Although it is not necessarily typical of their sound, because their material is so varied. Nevertheless, it is the sound that I have come to associate with the band. The beautiful and delicate refrains appealed to me immediately.

There are a few tracks that haven’t been released as singles (yet). ‘ORIANA’ is melodic with electronic effects on the vocals. Heavy chords signal the impending end of the song and provide a full stop when it arrives. ‘Heathen’ has more of a tribal feel to it, with a rhythmic primeval beat and some chanting. This gives it a totally different sound to most of the other tracks.

Bass player Mike Watchorn lays down a solid rhythm in ‘Tokyo’. Although the track is quite short it has plenty to keep you interested, including one of just a few guitar lead breaks. When guitarist Matthew Diver gets the chance to show that side of his talent, he makes the most of it. While he does that, fellow guitarist Laura Conway keeps the riffs going in that department.

The futuristic sounding ‘dysUTOPIA’ portrays a dystopian life in an unknown city. Chilling, eerie public announcements echo out during the track, adding to the whole totalitarian vibe. Aside from that it’s a melodic and catchy song.

‘Enjoy’ starts softly with predominantly keyboards, drums and vocals, so that’s the three Keast brothers. The guitars join for the heavier choruses, but it’s one of the softer numbers on the album. Livening things up a bit before the finale is another single. ‘Paper Skull’ is a varied track which has a guitar solo, handclapping and harmony vocals.

The album finishes strongly with ‘Burn’ with Tobias delivering some passionate vocals. The style switches between bombastic and subtle with another fine guitar solo as the icing on the cake. Then it’s all over but the desire to start over again is compelling.

Here’s hoping that it’s not another five years before we hear from these guys again. My album of the year shortlist is getting longer, and this is another band on my watch list. Their material is quite often near the soft end of my taste in music, but talent like this cannot be ignored

Track-list:

1. Into the Ether
2. I am Just One
3. Alive
4. Firefly
5. ORIANA
6. Heathen
7. Tokyo
8. DysUTOPIA
9. Enjoy
10. Paper Skull
11. Burn