Wednesday 2 March 2011

Orders Of The British Empire - Act 2


Orders Of The British Empire really need to be seen live to appreciate them in all their ample majesty but failing that then ‘Act 2’, surprisingly the band’s second EP, is a good taster to whet your appetite.

While all four and a half tracks are pretty damn fine it is the opening ‘When Machines Fall Silent’ that is truly breathtaking in its scope and grandeur. Mixing pig and beauty in equal measure it opens with industrial samples over a thumping, almost 65Days ish, beat, a brooding bassline and gorgeous glittering guitars but it’s not long before they let rip with the serious artillery and some crushingly heavy riffage. And then halfway in, like sunshine after the storm, it all swirls down to reveal a heartbreakingly pure piano line before building and building once more to a glorious crescendo. Seven and a half minutes of pure magic.

Sadly, ‘Machines’ is so good, so utterly resplendent that what follows pales slightly in comparison. Not to say that any of it is bad, not by a long shot, but it just never again quite scales the heights of what has gone before.

‘Cor-tastrophe’ is a very different kettle of cetacean, starting as it does with a dramatic reading of Jonah’s story from the bible before slowly, slowly over its opening four minutes before soaring off in to the stratosphere and then coming down the other side with an intricate, mathy entwining of guitars.

‘Freaky Jackson’ is possibly the most ‘post rock by numbers’ track in the collection and separated from closer ‘Beksinski’ by the brooding interlude that is ‘{}’ and another use of a great piece of sampled dialogue. It’s only really on this last track though that OBE come close to repeating the triumph of ‘Machines’, crashing out of ‘{}’ with a heavy as hell riff it then strips down to some lovely wailing guitar before one last valiant swoop of beauty.

All in all, a hugely enjoyable EP that promises plenty more to come. However I still advise you to see them live and it will all make so much more sense.

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