EP REVIEW: Broken Horizons – State Of Ember

In 2017, Worcestershire three-piece STATE OF EMBER burst onto the UK hard rock scene with their debut EP, Clouded Views, which received good reviews, with many noting the band’s ability to blend a diverse range of musical influences, including punk, metal, and progressive rock, into a coherent sound consisting of monstrous guitar riffs, and ascending melodies.

In the run-up to the release of its eagerly-anticipated follow-up, Broken Horizons, the collective’s frontman, Chris Tamburro, said that Clouded Views had merely been a taste of what was to come, and things get off to a good start with opening track Time & Time. Energetic and fast-paced, with buzzing riffs, huge anthemic choruses, and enthralling melodic hooks, the song effectively shows that the outfit can create music that refuses to be confined to a single genre or style, and is an accurate representation of their eclectic musical tastes. On top of all this, the listener is treated to a rather lengthy guitar solo towards the conclusion of the number, and a vocal delivery overwhelmingly ridden with angst.

However, after such a promising start to proceedings, this offering soon settles into a collection of tracks that seem to have been built on pretty much the same musical foundations as the opener, with only a few subtle tweaks here and there to prevent the six songs from all sounding exactly the same, which, whilst enjoyable to listen to, leaves the listener with a sense of disappointment, rather akin to that of a child waking up on Christmas morning, and discovering that Santa Claus didn’t bring them the present that they really wanted.

Overall, Broken Horizons is indeed an improvement on STATE OF EMBER’s debut release, and does represent them making a step in the right direction musically, but it does have a rather comfortable feel to it, as it seems that the band have shown much reluctance to venture out of their comfort zone and take a few risks, which probably wasn’t intentional, but that is what stops the EP from being a truly great one.

Rating: 6/10

Broken Horizons is due for release January 11th via self-release.

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