EP REVIEW: The Last Stand – Echo Splinter
ECHO SPLINTER span three countries. During the pandemic, Ameya Khare from Switzerland shared some guitar demos that intrigued David Bartlett from America. Wanting to add his vocals to the mix, Anders Ekenstierna from Sweden joined and thus the band was born. Following a handful of singles, the band have now released their debut EP The Last Stand. Genre means nothing to ECHO SPLINTER as they seamlessly blend post-hardcore, alternative metal and hard rock across seven songs.
The first song – Armageddon – is almost eight minutes long, which is an ambitious start for an EP. It’s a prog-metal track that justifies its runtime with extended guitar solos and telling a story through the lyrics about the end of the world. Despite being spread across the world, the band sound natural together and you’d be surprised to know that this was their first EP; they sound like they have been playing music together for years.
Whilst the rest of the songs are between the three to five-minute mark bar the interlude, that doesn’t mean that they are any less important. Whether it is the soft rock of Footsteps On The Sun or the acoustic-turned-hard rock of Draw The Line, the EP manages to stay consistent in sound and pacing. What is most impressive about the EP is how natural it sounds for a debut. Some debuts from musicians are slightly rough around the edges or just plain terrible, but on The Last Stand the band work extremely well together, despite having only released three singles before this.
Overture: Weight Of The World experiments a little with classical music, perhaps hinting at more experimentation in the future. There are also some violins that occasionally come out in closing track Nothing To Be Done, a euphoric rock song. Whilst the EP is fantastic, the only issue is that it rarely strays out of its designated rock zone, apart from the opening song and the interlude. On one hand, this is clever of the band because they are just starting out so they do not want to complicate things, but on the other hand the EP does sometimes suffer from sounding a little stale.
Overall, The Last Stand is a very impressive EP. It is concise, expertly-produced and each song feels like it deserves to be there. Whilst the band don’t experiment as much as they could’ve done, this is still their first complete offering to the world, so it is understandable that they may have played some things safe. Either way though, the EP is still fantastic and it is great to follow it as it unfolds from its ambitious start to its gorgeous ending. The members of ECHO SPLINTER sound so at home with each other, and they have definitely proven that they are a name to watch.
Rating: 8/10
The Last Stand is out now via self-release.
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