EMPROS

This was an incredibly formative album for me as a youth. Bit random, I know, as it's not really considered their best or even an important album, but it was a landmark for me. This was the first instrumental rock album I liked, and by god 15 year old me thought he was grown up and sophisticated for it. I have a theory about crescendocore these days - everyone has a phase in which they discover it and decide it's the best genre ever, and then when you come to the quick realisation that it's all simplistic, formulaic and incredibly easy to compose. Most of these bands could write an entire album in a 2 hour jam session, because musically it's incredibly simple, as effective as it is when on song.

But whatever album happened to be your gateway will always remain a favourite, even years after this realisation. For me it was this. For my band's guitarist, when he had this phase a few years later, it was We Lost the Sea's Departure Songs. For plenty out there, it must be God Is an Astronaut, because I don't know how else people like that band.

I still do like this, but I'll acknowledge the bias, because there's a lot of it - "Schiphol" was a big deal to me once, but now that I've heard that divebomb scratch guitar effect a billion times since, I recognise it's probably not as otherworldly as I once thought. "Mladek" though, I'll bat for that one, because the opening arpeggio is pretty special. It's a tired and true chord progression for sure, but they play it with such conviction that I can get behind it. And the rest all have their moments - from the pseudo-prog metal of the opener to the odd dream pop of the closer. It's not a world beater, but it's an important record for me, as cynical as I sound right now.

7.4 (15th listen)

Part of my listening diary from my facebook music blog - www.facebook.com/TheExoskeletalJunction

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