Tuesday 15 December 2015

EGYPT - Endless Flight (Album Review)


Release date: December 14th 2015. Label: Self Released. Format: CD/DD

Endless Flight – Tracklisting

1.Endless Flight 09:44
2.The Tomb 06:06
3.Tres Madres 05:43
4.Black Words 07:47
5.Shaman's March 05:36

Band Members:

Aaron Esterby - Vocals/Bass
Chad Heille - Drums
Ryan Grahn - Guitar (MK I)
Neal Stein - Guitar (MK II)

Review:

After weeks of endless changes and deliberation, I finally had my best albums of 2015 sorted. And then Egypt comes along to change my mind yet again. As their new album – Endless Flight – is a work of pure brilliance. Egypt announced the arrival of this album in a low-key announcement middle of last week. The announcement was so low-key I didn’t know Egypt was working on a new album. Well I was excited and surprised just to hear what Egypt had in store for us.

So I pressed play on my MP3 player and your welcome with open arms as Egypt open with a bluesy riff on opening track – Endless Flight. It takes a couple of minutes for the heavy riffs to appear and then BOOM, The unmistakable vocals of front-man Aaron appear like a Stoner Rock whirlwind with the blazing riffs not too far behind. It’s a very bluesy psychedelic doom based affair and one that takes you by the scruff of the neck to Doom/Stoner Metal paradise. Endless Flight takes you on a journey to the stars where you will to fully experience heavy layers of FUZZ that Egypt create with passion and true vision. Sure the vocals can be very distorted at times but that’s a good thing as it only adds to the doomy fuzz based atmospherics held on the album.

Second Track – The Tomb – opens with a slow-paced bass guitar before Egypt add a simple but highly effective Doom/Stoner riff. The vocals are once again slightly distorted but still doing a great job of telling a thrilling story. The drums from Chad is what truly drives the song through. Heavy, intricate but ever so precise which allows the other band members to build their music upon. With this being Egypt, the trippy psych based riffs are never too far behind. The band even find time to experiment with their sound by adding different noises towards the end of the song.

Third track – Tres Madres – is perhaps the most straight-forward Stoner Rock song on the album as Egypt leave the distorted FUZZ behind for a pure and thrilling hard rock song. This song will appeal most to fans of 70s/80s Classic Hard Rock/Heavy Metal though Egypt still manage to include more modern based Doom/Stoner Metal sounds. Expect a few epic guitar solos to show you that Egypt know how to have fun on this album.

Fourth Track – Black Words – is perhaps my fave song on the album. It pays homage to Black Sabbath whilst still offering Egypt’s classic take on amplifier worship. Egypt return to the realm of distorted riffs that’s packed full of doomy atmospherics. Vocalist Aaron delivers a creepy and menacing performance. His pitch-perfect tones will send chills down your spine. Egypt speed things up on the second half of the song for to create some of the albums most exciting moments.

Finally, we have – Shaman’s March – another deliberately slow-paced song that sees Egypt offer one final round of Doom/Gloom Stoner based sounds. The vocals once again have a sense of dread to them as Egypt bring the curtain down on Endless Flight. Egypt tap into their psychedelic personas for some intense trippy riffs and it makes you feel sad that this is the final song on this intense and brilliant album.

Egypt have been together as a band for the best part of a decade. They’ve released a string of acclaimed releases but Endless Flight is perhaps their most defining work to date. This album is an essential release for any serious minded Doom/Stoner Metal fan. Don’t let this album pass you by. This has the potential to be a future classic in the years to come.

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp