EP REVIEW: Idolatry – Embr

It takes confidence to drop a covers EP., especially when the tracks chosen are by four seminal grunge bands. With Idolatry, EMBR pull this off with aplomb, walking the line between faithful recreation and an individualist take on each song.

Things kick off with Down, by STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, with swaggering guitar work and a gravelly vocal performance from Crystal Bigelow. It allows EMBR to display a mastery of pace and tone – slipping with ease between beautiful, ethereal moments and crushing, heavier moments.

Jumping to Junkyard, the band let their ALICE IN CHAINS worship show through. It is a crushing five-minute journey with excellent instrumental work swirling around a layered vocal line. SOUNDGARDEN’s Mailman is the one song that could be cut up and changed, given its spot as a deep cut on Superunknown. Instead, EMBR boost the distortion and drop the tuning and tempo to add a little crunch to proceedings, but never stray too far from SOUNDGARDEN’s distinctive sound, ending the EP with some stunning guitar work that will knock you back to the early-90s.

Heart Shaped Box is the song where EMBR kick off the shackles and mould their own sound to NIRVANA’s classic. All the recognisable parts are here; that slow, atmospheric opening that builds with Cobain’s unhinged delivery, but EMBR extend the introductory segment and slow the pace of the whole song, adding a minute to the running time, before diving headfirst into pummelling doom territory.

As the track hits the halfway mark, Bigelow’s melancholy vocals become aggressive screams and it all falls away into reverb, starting the build again to a crushing finale. It’s fitting that the most revered song on Idolatry is also the best, and the one where EMBR feel most at home.

In lesser hands, a four-track cover EP would be little more than a cash grab masquerading as hero worship. With Idolatry, EMBR have paid tribute to four of the most influential bands in the last thirty years, while also showing a huge amount of growth in the few months since their debut 1823.

Rating: 8/10

Idolatry is out now via self-release.

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