Collapse Under The Empire - "The Sirens Sound"
Collapse Under The Empire ease the listener into their latest release with a ten minute entrancing hum of synth pads; 3 and a half minutes in and you're under their spell. The backing of slow and heavy beating drums with the foreground of moaning electric guitars criss-crossing melodies like a tangled ball of string sucks you in and carries you through the 5 tracks as your mind performs loops and releases endorphins appropriately as a particularly satisfying guitar howl enters the ear.
Moments of MaybeSheWill make brief cameos throughout the record, but as soon as you think you've got them pinned, Collapse Under The Empire take you in a different direction from 65daysofstatic style yearning guitars to And So I Watch You From Afar crunching distortion, built up from bouncy synth-pop.
I very much like this band, one can always rest assured that most European bands know what they're doing (the two piece reside in Hamburg). The ambience is reminiscent of The Album Leaf which mixed in with the heavier breakdowns creates something relatively new in a genre where it's particularly difficult to stand out.
This is a satisfying album, everything sounds as it should with power and a great quality of sound. Its hypnotism is best described through the album title itself, like a Siren's call. The listener is carried through the tracks comfortably and therapeutically and buying 'The Sirens' Sound' is cheaper than paying for a massage.