This is the fifth album by UK progressive metal band Esoterica.
Ether Metal contains 48 minutes of contemporary, electronically enriched progressive metal/rock. The first time I came across Esoterica was at this year’s Mangata Festival – although I didn’t catch them live, they seemed like a band I wouldn’t mind checking out. My tolerance for this sort of music is quite low though compared to other styles, as most bands playing it I find are just bland and bad. So, do Esoterica have what it takes to be worth listening to?
Obviously so, as otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that Esoterica have impressed.
The music is well-crafted and professional. The band obviously know what they’re doing with this sort of material, and they deliver the songs with passion and skill. For me, this type of progressive metal is easy to miss the mark on – usually in the vocal department, (although not always). Thankfully, the singer of Esoterica has a strong, expressive voice, capable of portraying the emotion that the music demands.
The songs are ripe with synths, electronics, and strings/orchestral elements – I believe the latter are from a real orchestra too, which is probably why they sound so good. Careful use of melody accompanies this, along with choirs and harmonies that back up the main vocals. This adds layers of feeling to the music and imbues it with cinematic scope. It’s all very rich and luscious, and even theatrical in places. Esoterica pull it off very well though, I have to say. Combined with the rest of the music and the skilled delivery, it makes for an album that’s detailed and textured, with sweeping sci-fi-feel depth.
Importantly though, Esoterica don’t just deal in atmosphere, but have hooks and catchiness too. This is ultimately song-based music, and Esoterica have the songwriting chops to back up their ambition. Somewhat unusually too for this sort of mood-focused material, Ether Metal also brings the heaviness here and there, when it needs to.
Ether Metal is a strong album. Ranging from the anthemic to the intimate, the music covers a good deal of ground across the 11 tracks. Esoterica have produced a collection of songs that have clearly had time and expertise spent on them. I honestly wasn’t sure how much I’d like this at first, as it’s a style that’s very easy to play poorly. However, the talent and skill on display across Ether Metal is undeniable.
Essential listening for fans of modern progressive metal and rock.
Wonderbox Metal 