|
Course of Empire
Telepathic Last Words
(TVT Records)
There’s something oddly familiar about the resonating twitch of Course of Empire, and it’s not the band. The Dallas-based quintet has been undeservedly out of the national spotlight for the past three years, burned by the business side of the industry before being released by Zoo Records, home of their first two albums. On Telepathic Last Words they return with an eerie air of familiarity - not the “been there, done that” safety net that too many bands cloak their sound with, but a warm, inviting tone that interweaves a blanket of originality and rhythmic warmth around a heavy-handed sensibility and musical muscle. Much like 1994’s Initiation and their self-titled debut four years earlier, Telepathic plays like a soundtrack of the electronic age clashing head-on with an array of metallic influences and worldly devices. The album is rock hard and steel-bolted, whether sauntering through the Middle Eastern-inspired “Houdini’s Blind,” jerking along with “Persian Song,” or applying pop-smeared melodies to “Kaptain Kontrol.” The quirky culmination? A meandering cover of “Blue Moon,” an oldie but goodie that translates a capella into coming-of-age dementia. Throughout, Vaughn Stevenson’s vocals tread a fine line between droning chants and purging revelations as guitarist Mike Graff and bassist Paul Semrad lay a devilish din over the drumming tandem of Michael Jerome and Chad Lovell. The result is a sound that simultaneously batters the senses with streamlined intensity and wide-reaching melancholy, creating an unnerving tonal assault of iron-clad power chords and twisted percussion.
Paul Gargano |
