Prog or Steaming Log? Escher – S/T EP

by orlandooom407

Time for another new segment specific to progressive metal. I call it: Prog or Steaming Log? Due to the overwhelming amount of incorrectly depicted progressive metal bands that are actually just alternative press trash attempting to usurp another demographic I wanted to objectively evaluate releases that I’m sent/find. I attribute this phenomenon to the lack of creativity amongst suburban white kids, I say kids because isn’t that the ultimate dream of every prefixcore band, to stay relevant, nineteen and a size 26 waist forever? Looking at Escher, from Raleigh North Carolina, I’m presented with a challenge. At first look the cover reminds me of how the Cartoon Network show Chowder and the way characters colors move like this.

I discovered Escher this morning while casually browsing some popular website on the internet. The post caught my attention because the title cited that this band SOUNDS LIKE (because everyone needs a warning before they listen) Sikth, Periphery and Between the Buried and Me. Seems standard enough, outside of Periphery I admit that Sikth and BTBAM are two of my influences personally as a musician. What I found after the first couple of seconds was a shrill guitar lead with tone equivocal to a half melted ColecoVision joined by a series of drum fills and disjointed nearly inaudible gitfiddle rhythms. It’s definitely not easy to count though, and I found myself having to rewind to fully comprehend the time changes amidst the jumble of elicited sounds. I’m not sure what’s going on vocally here either, because at moments vocalist James Broadhead catches a nasty pedantic wail that is quickly overshadowed by it’s lack of furious consistency. He’s using so many different voices in rapid succession. I feel that if each vocal tone was organized in a more consistent fashion he could exude a more powerful delivery. That way different muscles would impart the physical strain.

Second track. There’s that distracting lead tone again, but this time it doesn’t overstay it’s welcome before the breakdown. I feel The Faceless influence here more so than anywhere else on the record, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing depending on the listener. This track also contains wandering spoken word vocals, but the language doesn’t help to engage the listener (too many pronouns altogether). I’ll mention that with a record like this, though, lyrics fall in the arbitrary zone. They conclude with a calming instrumental section that was the most innovative organization yet. Going for the brief syncopated lead out rather than a predictable cheesy fade out is always a good decision. So far, no complaisant macho chugging. Thumbs up.

Track 3, entitled “Nerve Damage” i- uh-oh. Dissonance time. This could’ve gone many ways, most of them would’ve forced my stomach into turbulence. I’m thankful that these dudes broke into a unmemorable solo rather than another brutal down. The cold war era machinery guitar tone still distracts me three tracks in and I still can’t really hear the rhythm guitars, or the bass. I assume this was double tracked too since there is only one guitar player listed on their roster. Climactic reprise was this song’s saving throw. Following the solo similar to a swarm of infuriated 56k modem bees they close with a segue into some guttural vocals and jerking kick pedal patterns. All of this accompanied by more love/hate guitar digs. Fans of The Arusha Accord will definitely get their fix from “Nerve Damage”.

Fourth track. More unintelligible talking through a guitar filter. The guitar(s) are maintaining their off again on again style until the complete slow down. Leads are kicked up here with some palpable flange tinted atmosphere. Sadly, textural bliss is short lived, and I’m thrown headlong into a gelatinous tank of overly mixed solos led by more leading guttural vocals. I turned it off at the start off another breakdown.

What was Prog: Seamless time changes, impressive and athletic percussion, dynamic song arrangement



What was Steaming Log: Inconsistent vocal tenacity, overindulgent solo arrangement, spoken vocals into filter

Overall, I didn’t want to turn this off until the last minute. This is a strong and thought out freshman release, so while my criticism might seem excessive I am interested in hearing future releases from Escher. Definite room for growth and improvement here so:

FINAL RULING: “Not quite prog, but not quite hot steamy log”

– Jared Oates Haggard