My Epic

Yet

Written by: TL on 03/09/2010 00:02:59

I actually first heard about "Yet", the new album from the American progressive trio My Epic, waaaaay before it was due to be released. An early preview caught my ear, and after making a mental note to review the album when it came out, I sought out the previous record "I Am Undone" to get some background knowledge. That album however, never managed to buy itself repeat appearances in my headphones, so when "Yet" finally came around, it actually took me a while to get around to listen to it, and even longer to absorb it.

Now however, I am finally quite ready to introduce you to My Epic, who on this release manage to step up as a highly relevant and unusual band, boasting of a soundscape that provides a reviewer with plenty of admirable reference-points. Their style is a sort of indie/progressive, with songs that climb steadily from humble beginnings towards monumental crescendoes. Tides Of Man and Three come to mind as primary comparisons, but other bands, as different as Coheed & Cambria, As Cities Burn, Brand New and mewithoutYou have all seemed similar to me at one point or another.

Essentially, "Yet" provides an ensemble of songs in which the brilliant singing leads the listener from brooding atmospheres on a journey of ascension towards riffage that gets increasingly corrosive and lyrics that get increasingly desperate. Religious themes are hiding in said lyrics, but while this mere fact is enough to scare off some, there's never the kind of preaching going on as is the case on for instance an akissforjersey album, or an UnderOath live show. Hence I do advice you get over any sort of prejudice against Christian music, lest you be in serious danger of missing out.

Anyway, one could argue that My Epic could be blamed for not varying the tempo enough, keeping things exclusively slow-to-mid-paced throughout "Yet", but honestly, I'm finding it hard to fault them for having complete faith in their sounds, when the album is as riddled with quality moments as is the case. Basically, everything from tracks one to six rocks hard, featuring plenty of moments that will quickly embed themselves in ones memory, readying one for a singalong upon next listen. I have found the four tracks that follow the grand album centre-piece "Sound And Fury" slightly harder to become intimate with, but this is just likely to either be due to a shortage of repeat listens from my side, or simply because it's hard to measure up to the instant onslaught of quality presented in openers "Author" and "Lower Still". Regardless, trust me on this one, "Yet" is an epic album of much growing potential, and it is easily the album of the week for me.

8

Download: Lower Still, Sound And Fury, Author
For The Fans Of: Tides Of Man, Three, As Cities Burn, Coheed & Cambria, Brand New (on "The Devil And God...")
Listen: myspace.com/myepic

Release Date 07.07.2010
Facedown Records

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