The alternative hard-rock band bring in a choir and an orchestra to good effect on their expansive 5th album. Out September 19th on Year Of The Rat Records.

Esoterica are one of those bands who are big enough to book the Shepherds Bush Empire for their tour, but don’t necessarily have the name recognition for casual rock fans to have an awareness of them. They are not the most prolific of groups and it has been five years since they released arguably their most successful album to date, In Dreams. The new album spans a range of styles, dipping into elements of metal and rock. For an album that tilts at the heavier end of the music spectrum there is a remarkably chilled element to it. I would have been scratching around for an appropriate description if the band hadn’t already came up with their own rather clever label of “ethereal progressive hard-rock.”

An awful lot of Ether Metal has already been released, seven of the eleven tracks in fact. So, the overall direction of the album is not going to be a surprise to fans. Of the four unreleased tracks, ‘Oriana’ has a mellower slow build-up, bursting into life for the final minute with orchestral accompaniment. ‘Heathen’ has a fun chorus built over an intriguing backing. ‘Tokyo’ is a bit more ‘Thirty Seconds to Mars’ with a sweeping, epic vista. ‘Enjoy’ has an almost hip-hop beat underpinning it to start off and brings favourable comparisons to the Deftones genre classic album White Pony.

The singles were mostly accompanied by some very cool anime style videos. ‘I Am Just One’ is a standout track, the band generating a huge sound. ‘Alive’ has a wonderful vocal performance over some classic hard rock guitar. ‘Burn’ sounds as if it was written for The Traitors soundtrack. The reality show has a great ear for ethereal rock and interesting cover versions, and this would fit onto the show well with the very apt “I’ll watch you burn!” It has a wonderful guitar solo to boot.

‘DysUTOPIA’ has a really strong intro. Listening to tracks like this you could imagine them doing some sterling soundtrack work should they be given the chance. The whole album could easily be made for a very coherent and interesting science fiction film.

Adding Choir Noir and the Parallax Orchestra gives a real depth to a number of the tracks, conjuring up extra reserves of emotion and power. From the intro of ‘Into The Ether,’ to the climax of ‘I am Just One,’ to the emotionally weighty ‘Alive’, these are brilliant additions to the band’s sound.

This is a very solid album that will delight long-term Esoterica fans. For newcomers there is a treasure trove to explore in the back-catalogue. This is an album that benefits from repeat listening.