It was back in 2014 when I last heard Geramany’s own soundtrack to the beautiful Rhön Mountains, Empyrium’s last full-length outing “The Turn Of The Tides”. An Empyrium album is always an immersive and emotive display, and this latest offering takes up right where that one left off…and then some. For those new to the band, Empyrium are a project masterminded by multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Schwadorf (Vision Bleak, Noekk, Ewigheim etc) with the addition of Pianist/Vocalist Thomas Helm, an essential part of the Empyrium sound since 2002’s “Weiland”.
An Empyrium album is also always a melancholic affair and here again the band naturally continue to paint their atmospheric musical soundscapes, topped off with clean, baritone, whispered and harsh vocals. Empyrium have always veered towards the sombre, but the amount of variation this time around might suggest more time has been given to let the songs grow and build in the writing process. Abundant melancholia is Empyrium’s usual benchmark…but I do seem to be getting quite a few melancholic releases at the moment (can’t think what could have happened in the world to bring people down eh?) and the last review I’ve done made me think of describing Empyrium 2021 as a polished version of Lake Of Tears.
Maybe a little left field, so to elaborate, Empyrium also have elements of “Still Life” era Opeth on tracks like ‘Moonrise’, reigning in Opeth’s progressive side and stripping it back to its heart-rending core. But it’s not all floating rhythms and lilting dark melodies (well, it mostly is…), there’s even smatterings of ambient Black/Folk Metal on tracks like ‘The Wild Swans’ and ‘A Lucid Tower…’. Some well-placed cello, violin and flute add even more emotion and depth too. Overall, this is a slightly more diverse album than its predecessor, building the same drama and ambiance, but coming across as a little more edgy and unpredictable. Empyrium might have only done 3 albums in the last 20 years, but when they do release one, at least it’s well worth the wait.
(8.5/10 Andy Barker)
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