Empty Tremor

Apocolokyntosys

(c)(p)1997 Rising Sun Productions

Review by Neil St.Laurent

Thanks to Empty Tremor for the CD

The term progressive metal sometimes scares me, as there are too many bands out there that hide behind the term in an effort to have their pop music appeal to the metal listener. Fortunately, Empty Tremor is not of those ranks and offers a decent set of eight songs that will surely appeal to the open-minded metal head.

The music certainly never lacks an electronic element. Whether it be in the piano opening of "Rules Of Time" or in the muted chords of "The Eyes Of The Universe", the from ambient to classical keyboard is almost always there. The ability for the keyboard to fit with the percussion is very appeasing; in "The Message Keeper" the keys go so far as to be a part of the drum beat at times -- albeit with a sort of string ensemble sound.

As with other progressive metal the shift away from having the guitar drive the sound is very clear. All guitar riffing is in itself quite simple and any complexities in the sound are achieved by song structure and track layering. Even for those not fans of this genre, the combinations of guitar styles ranging throughout the heavy music spectrum is something that should be heard. Be it the eccentric soloing from the 80's, the crunchiness of power metal, or the slightly slowed rhythms of thrash, there is room for all of it in the clever arrangements of "Apocolokyntosys".

Empty Tremor achieves a wonderful sound without any significant problems in the production. The only hangup there seems to be, and is present in much progressive music, is that of the vocals. That is not to say that the voice of DeLuigi is bad, quite the opposite, he has quite a decent singing voice. However, it is just that, the singing, which doesn't really belong. The music is quite rich and diverse on its own, the pressence of a constant vocal style unnecessarily flattens the music (a point the band has realized considering the lengths of music without singing). An all around vocal contribution, rather than just singing, would be better suited to the music.

Empty Tremor's "Apocolokyntosys" is nonetheless a wonderful recording, with the only significant problem being the album title, it is quite annoying to type, let alone speak. Definitely a recommended title for the progressive listener or anybody with an interest in structuraly rich music.

Empty Tremor is:
Stefano Rizzi - Drums & Percussion
Christian Tombetti - Electric & Acoustic Guitars
Giovanni De Luigi - Lead & Backing Vocals
Daniele Liverani - Keyboards
Dennis Randi - Bass
Marco Guerrini - Electric & Acoustic Guitars

Contact:
Empty Tremor
P.O. Box 21
48011 Alfonsine (RA)
Italy

Email: emptytremor@ra.nettuno.it
Web: http://www.akros.it/emptytremor/index.html

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