Portland, Oregon natives Empty Space Orchestra play an intricate blend of progressive, jazz fusion, and post-rock. Their sound has numerous influences including The Mars Volta, King Crimson, and Tool, but this is just breaking the ice. ESO are innovators on all accounts and create a powerful and unique mix of jazz and post-rock that is completely their own. Their self-titled album opens with the track 'Brainjar' which is filled with funky bass and layered synths, creating an epic jazz fusion masterpiece. The entire album follows along the lines of 'Brainjar' and is a blend of rhythmic jazz, layered guitars, intricate drum patterns, and powerful synths. Another thing to pay attention to on the album is song length. 'Brainjar' clocks in at over seven minutes but is nowhere near the longest track on the album. While some of the tracks are well over the five minute mark, there are a few well written shorter tracks thrown in the mix. 'Tennessee Red' is a very slow-paced rock track, filled with a down-tuned rhythm section. 'The Hangar' is a beautiful piano medley that could very well be used as a film soundtrack or composition and is unlike anything else on the album. The longer tracks feature heavy ambience, psychedelic noise, intricate jazz drumming, funk-oriented organs, and a lot of delay-driven guitar work. The track 'Tiger Puss' starts off with ambient percussion that is very relaxing and then all of a sudden turns into a progressive metal masterpiece. The longer songs are filled with numerous styles of music and this is one of the many great treats while listening to Empty Space Orchestra. The standout track on the album is 'Clouds', which clocks in at eleven minutes and twenty-one seconds. Songs this long usually have a hard time keeping the audiences attention, but Empty Space Orchestra did a great job at keeping the listeners' attention throughout. The track starts off with an atmospheric introduction and then veers into a progressive metal journey, bringing to mind bands such as Genesis and King Crimson. Overall, Empty Space Orchestra's self-titled album is inventive, innovative, rhythmic, and entertaining, to say the least.
This is a promising debut album for a band that may not be the next King Crimson or Air, but for a band that are more accessible than King Crimson or Air. Please go out and purchase a copy of Empty Space Orchestra's self-titled debut and I guarantee that you will not be disappointed.
Check out the track 'Tiger Puss' off of Empty Space Orchestra's self-titled debut:
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