Rocker (feedbot)
Gold Member
- Messages
- 4,543
- Reaction score
- 32
- Points
- 16
Since the release of 2017’s ‘The Warmth of a Dying Sun’, Employed to Serve have been one of the UK metal scene’s most consistently high quality acts. Whenever you throw on a new Employed to Serve record, you can be sure of one thing; it’ll be extremely heavy, and of the very highest quality. So is that the case with their fifth record, ‘Fallen Star’?
Of course. It was never in doubt. But it’s even better than that, ‘Fallen Star’ is Employed to Serve’s most complete record to date, and a contender for their best ever.
While ‘Fallen Star’ features all of the shrieked vocals and fat, low-end riffs fans have come to expect, it’s also the Woking hellraisers’ most experimental effort to date with more melody than ever before. There are glitchy electronics, melodic synths, and best of all – some massive choruses.
It’s very much a case of evolution not revolution – after all, this is hardly the first time Employed to Serve have written clean choruses – but on this record, there are plenty. And they’re damn good. Just try and listen to title track ‘Fallen Star’ or ‘The Renegades’ multiple times without singing along in your head. Combine that up with top tier songwriting and catchy melodies, as well as the trademark fury you’d expect from an Employed to Serve record, and the result is absolutely intoxicating.
On the theme of experimentation, ‘Break Me Down’ and ‘Last Laugh’ are perhaps the most experimental songs Employed to Serve have lent their name to, while still being extremely heavy in moments. The former opens with melodic synths and clean vocals – both of which are massive hooks when they come back in on the chorus. Meanwhile the latter features cleanly picked guitars, and an incredible vocal cameo from Svalbard’s Serena Cherry, both of which are used as recurring motifs throughout the song.
Speaking of Cherry’s cameo, she isn’t the only vocalist who lends their voice to the project, with appearances from Lorna Shore’s Will Ramos on ‘Atonement’ and Killswitch Engage’s Jesse Leach on ‘Whose Side Are You On?’.
While both men give a strong performance on their respective tracks, neither can keep up with lead vocalist Justine Jones. She is a force of nature on this record, a singer whose visceral growls have been finely honed by over a decade on the road. As ever, guitarist and co-vocalist Sammy Urwin is an absolute riff factory, but he also delivers the best vocal performance of his career on clean vocal duties, delivering hook after hook in infectious fashion.
‘Fallen Star’ pulls off a tricky balancing act. It’s heavy, it still sounds like Employed to Serve, but it’s melodic and experimental in ways that only serve to accentuate the core of the Woking hellraisers’ sound. They’ll still pulverise your eardrums in the way they always have, but they’ll have you singing along to their choruses and humming along to their hooks as well. It’s a strong contender for Employed to Serve’s finest work to date, and instantly becomes the starting point for anyone listening to the band for the first time.
ASH BEBBINGTON
Of course. It was never in doubt. But it’s even better than that, ‘Fallen Star’ is Employed to Serve’s most complete record to date, and a contender for their best ever.
While ‘Fallen Star’ features all of the shrieked vocals and fat, low-end riffs fans have come to expect, it’s also the Woking hellraisers’ most experimental effort to date with more melody than ever before. There are glitchy electronics, melodic synths, and best of all – some massive choruses.
It’s very much a case of evolution not revolution – after all, this is hardly the first time Employed to Serve have written clean choruses – but on this record, there are plenty. And they’re damn good. Just try and listen to title track ‘Fallen Star’ or ‘The Renegades’ multiple times without singing along in your head. Combine that up with top tier songwriting and catchy melodies, as well as the trademark fury you’d expect from an Employed to Serve record, and the result is absolutely intoxicating.
On the theme of experimentation, ‘Break Me Down’ and ‘Last Laugh’ are perhaps the most experimental songs Employed to Serve have lent their name to, while still being extremely heavy in moments. The former opens with melodic synths and clean vocals – both of which are massive hooks when they come back in on the chorus. Meanwhile the latter features cleanly picked guitars, and an incredible vocal cameo from Svalbard’s Serena Cherry, both of which are used as recurring motifs throughout the song.
Speaking of Cherry’s cameo, she isn’t the only vocalist who lends their voice to the project, with appearances from Lorna Shore’s Will Ramos on ‘Atonement’ and Killswitch Engage’s Jesse Leach on ‘Whose Side Are You On?’.
While both men give a strong performance on their respective tracks, neither can keep up with lead vocalist Justine Jones. She is a force of nature on this record, a singer whose visceral growls have been finely honed by over a decade on the road. As ever, guitarist and co-vocalist Sammy Urwin is an absolute riff factory, but he also delivers the best vocal performance of his career on clean vocal duties, delivering hook after hook in infectious fashion.
‘Fallen Star’ pulls off a tricky balancing act. It’s heavy, it still sounds like Employed to Serve, but it’s melodic and experimental in ways that only serve to accentuate the core of the Woking hellraisers’ sound. They’ll still pulverise your eardrums in the way they always have, but they’ll have you singing along to their choruses and humming along to their hooks as well. It’s a strong contender for Employed to Serve’s finest work to date, and instantly becomes the starting point for anyone listening to the band for the first time.
ASH BEBBINGTON