Empty Silos Echo War

Inner Working Mechanics of a Failed Construct with Puritan Cement (2005)

Jesse Raub

If the name of the band and album doesn't turn you off, then maybe their brand of spacey, sparse, dissonant rock will. But if that sort of stuff is your bag, then consider Empty Silos Echo War your new favorite band. I mean, why not?

The album starts out with "Thin Blue Lipped Wind Wave of Nothing's Goodbye," a song title that just makes me want to slap someone. Melody-heavy slow key and guitar riffs float up and down over a solid moving bass line until the drums kick in loud and heavy. And then ripping guitar riffs. Dissonant `80s double-tapping with plenty of distortion and feedback. Fucking awesome guitar. Like if Godspeed! You Black Emperor grew balls and listened to "Eruption" over and over, giving prayers to Mr. Van Halen himself.

And the rest of the album follows in that vein, which is sort of cool to the fact that yes, this band has defined a sound for themselves. But it also kind of sucks because the album is about two minutes away from boring me to tears at some points. And I can't stand the song titles and lyrics -- just pretentious art school blathering, and trust me, I knows when I sees it; I go to art school.

Maybe if I were in a different place I'd love this album. I probably would have about three years ago, but now all I care about is Hank Williams, Bruce Springsteen, and Slayer. Maybe I'll cycle along again and warm up to this stuff (I have been rotating King Crimson a lot more lately). For now, I think I'll take a pass at songs like "Realization(S)(Thru a Greasy Windscreen)" and "From The Heart(S) of Space" and settle on "Honky-Tonkin'" and "Angel of Death."