Vancouver progressive sludgers Empress originally came along when their debut LP, Premonition, was originally set to be released. It was delayed until now, and for once, the delay was due to some good news, namely that Empress had been picked up by a label, Petrichor (which appears to be an offshoot of Hammerheart Records). I guess the band and the new label needed a little time to get all their sludgy ducks in a row ready for release. Frankly, it seems like the universe owed Empress some kind of break anyway, after founding bassist Brenden Gunn tragically passed away suddenly in 2019 at the terribly unfair age of just 30.1 His bandmates, drummer Chris Doyle and guitarist/vocalist Peter Sacco, vowed to continue and complete the album, ensuring it was a fitting tribute to their lost brother.
Premonition is the follow-up to two EPs (one of them a collaboration with Germany’s Piece) and is very much a refinement and natural development of the sound Empress showcased on those 2017 and 2018 releases. On those EPs, Empress built their sound around a doom-laden sludge, very much in the vein of Remission’s Black Tusk and Mastodon. There were also strong hints of a more progressive post-metal sound, but Premonition sees these tendencies dialed up significantly. Without abandoning their hardcore-influenced sludge roots (“Sepulchre” and “Hiraeth”), Empress sound like they’ve been on the kind of journey ISIS went on, if you compare the caustic sting of Celestial to ISIS’ later masterpiece Oceanic. The heaviness, big riffs and thundering bass remain, but they’ve been toned down and many of the corners have been rounded out, allowing the more melodic and introspective passages room to breathe. Empress also makes room for some surprising (but welcome) old-school solos, such as the one that appears midway through «Passage.»
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