London prog/post rock quartet Only Echoes Remain have today released emotional and heavy live single Monolith, their first since last summer’s acclaimed debut concept album ‘The Exigen’t, filmed live at their recent Chaos Theory show with Godspeed-collaborator thisquietarmy.
The band says “the new record definitely feels like a natural evolution for us. There’s a lot more riffs and some heavier sections, while keeping the delicate moments we’re known for, but then further developing the melodic interplay we started to explore in songs like Aurora last year. Monolith is almost the perfect transition between the records, as it has a feel of The Exigent about it yet our sound has clearly moved on from that – I think we learned a lot about each other musically while on the road last year and are really starting to make the most of that.”
We at Progradar thought that ‘The Exigent’ shined in a sky full of instrumental stars and glimmered brightly enough to be picked out from among the hundreds that shone on a daily basis.
Monolith takes that wonderful post-rock feel of the first album and adds massive doses of crunching, monolithic guitar riffs that give the band’s music some welcome added bite and grit and should make their forthcoming new long player a definite force to be reckoned with. Intelligent and thoughtful instrumental music with enough energy, and power to appeal to a wide kaleidoscope of music fans.
When asked if the next record will also be a concept album, guitarist Arran Oakes said “while it won’t tell a full narrative like The Exigent did, there is a concept that ties the next record together, loosely covering the events and times leading Earth to the position where the Exigent mission became necessary, so on that level it’s a sort of prequel to the last album. It’s a lot more energetic than the last one though – even louder too, somehow!”
“We’re very excited about the next chapter for OER!”
Only Echoes Remain’s sophomore album will release in late 2018, meanwhile see their captivating live show:
13/4 – Urban Bar, London
8/5 – The Star Inn, Guildford
14/5 – The Exchange, Bristol (supporting Toundra)
16/6 – Portals Festival, London
/16/8 – ArcTanGent Festival, Bristol
https://onlyechoesremain.bandcamp.com/
Band picture courtesy RIFF.Underground