Empires "Through Trial & Tribulation Comes Triumph

This is another write-up from longtime contributor Andrew Faust. Check it:

When you think of music, you normally think that the message being conveyed consists of words and lyrics, in addition to sounds. Normally you would, at least in part, paint your own picture of what the artist is speaking, screaming, growling or singing. Such is not the case with the recent influx of instrumental bands, who leave the pictures more open for interpretation but often wind up sending the message, "hey, we can play music!" or "hey, we couldn't find a singer in time for this recording." Not Minneapolis's Empires, a sonic experience that sends vivid imagery of life and style through listeners' minds.

This band has been around for a while but on a very small level. As such, this effort is not only exciting and highly anticipated but overall a fantastic debut and a sign of good things to come. Empires plays a melodic and doom-y take on instrumental music, in the vein of Jesu or Explosions In The Sky. Their songs might average six minutes or more, but they've got me excited and willing to listen through the whole, expansive tracks. Pulling that off, Empires may have transcended one of this genre's most annoying aspects -- parts of songs that often just don't fit and effectively take up time. Empires doesn't slow down and takethree-minute breaks of drudgery in the middle of their songs. When they write songs, they only build them up; they never look back, adding and modifying great riffs that match into each song. Each song even paints a dark, moody picture, helping listeners feel emotional highs and lows.

This album clocks in around forty-three or forty-four minutes. Although that might seem long for a six-song full length, I say fuck that. Empires inspires listeners to stay attuned. If you ever want to be under the influence and listen to something that will give your neck a good workout, get fucked up and throw this into the mix. A solid effort, if not the best album of this genre I have heard in a long, long time. I can only hope the young masterminds behind Empires stay motivated enough to bless us with another effort sometime in the future.

Listen: Empires - Climbing Towards the Infinite

And support these Minnesota instrumental rockers.