Alternative and hard rock are hardly dead, but you do have to dig a little more to find new bands than before. Luckily there are still plenty of labels still bringing rock to us like Kscope, who often skew towards the progressive side but have also brought some other variants of the genre with them. One of their latest additions is UK based Empyre, who bridge the gap between softer alternative and progressive rock with the huge booming sound and hooks of hard rock. They’ve been busy throughout the pandemic time period, as following their 2019 debut Self Aware they recorded an acoustic effort The Other Side and began working on their sophomore effort. This has resulted in Relentless, which brings an even fuller sound with additional layers and continues the balance of airier melodies and big, booming grooves. While a few of the softer moments do blur together due to the similarity of their construction, this is still a strong showing from a band that’s sure to have quite a bit of widespread appeal.
The title track kicks things off in high energy fashion and showcases a little bit of everything Empyre has to offer, as after a lighter acoustic guitar melody that draws you in the rest of the band comes roaring in with a heavier groove that expands outwards into a huge sound. It’s clear that these guys are trying to capture the same sound as those rock bands that have filled massive arenas while also exploring some of the softer textures and layers of their prog rock peers, and Relentless succeeds at sounding big without sacrificing the details of each track. It’s an interesting mixture of rock styles that could’ve easily been on every FM radio station had this album dropped two decades ago, but I appreciate that Empyre is capturing this same sound while still feeling fresh. At times the heavy grooves and slight blues tinges remind me a lot of Audioslave, and there are also shades of Soundgarden too at certain points, but a slew of other artists across the progressive and alternative rock space also come to mind as you make your way through the material. Songs like “Silence Screaming”, “Road to Nowhere”, and the title track succeed thanks to memorable hooks and bursts of more playful instrumentation and will easily be stuck in your head for days. But there are also a handful that also run together across repeat listens, as when Empyre tries to layer orchestration and other melodic flourishes they do so in a way that makes the material come across as a bit more uniform. It’s not a deal breaker by any means, as there’s still plenty of substance and standout moment here, but I found myself returning to the harder, burlier riffing more often than some of the softer exploration.
While there’s plenty to enjoy about the instrumental arrangements, the powerful vocals of Henrik Steenholdt are what will likely draw quite a few people to Empyre’s music. Steenholdt has the type of versatile range that is able to hit some extreme lows (just listen to how his voice rumbles over “Parasites”), but also heads into higher ones that soar over top of the recording. There are quite a few moments where his performance comes off sounding pretty close to Chris Cornell, but just as many that offer something a bit different and keep Empyre on a path of their own. Even though this is only the band’s third release, Steenholdt already has the charisma and power of a singer who’s been around for three times as long, and he’s able to draw you in with both soft and more aggressive approaches. It’s also nice to find a band who captures almost the whole span of alternative and hard rock in both their instrumentals and vocals, moving seamlessly between the 90s and 2000s styles without mimicking one specific band.
Empyre has a lot to offer rock fans of all types, and while they might not be as outwardly progressive as some of the other Kscope bands they still have enough variety and depth to be of interest. Their ability to move seamlessly from alternative and hard rock styles of the 90s and 2000s touches upon a sound not enough bands are doing right now, and they have the hooks to back it up. Admittedly the huge and more aggressive moments are what stand out the most, as even though they try different things on the softer side of the spectrum things still blur together. But with even more experimentation and refinement I think they could easily reach truly staggering heights, as Relentless isn’t far off from that level.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg