Earlier this month Guildford instrumental four-piece Eschar released their latest album – ‘Nova’. The album takes in elements of dazzling post-rock and groove-filled prog to create a rewarding and engaging record.
‘Nova’ seems to be influenced by a number of bands, so to find out who exactly inspired Eschar, drummer Rory Gilhespy and guitarist Sam Beattie have put together a list of 5 bands that they consider influences.
TOOLRory: It may be an obvious example, but what recent progressive band doesn’t owe even a little something to this wonderful band?! For me personally, ‘Lateralus’ is my favourite record ever put to tape. It’s just perfect. When I was a naive 15 year old metalhead, TOOL quite literally opened me up to a whole other spectrum of music.
KarnivoolSam: We’ve been fans of Karnivool since they released ‘Sound Awake’, and we’ve found ourselves being influenced by each member of the band in some way; I (Sam) personally love the way Drew and Hoss (guitarists) bounce ideas off each other. (Rory) Steve Judd also has an incredible style and has directly influenced my playing on ‘Nova’.
DeftonesRory: The incredible thing about this band is just how they seem unable to release a bad record. I honestly adore everything they have released from ‘Around the Fur’ through to ‘Koi No Yokan’. Everyone in Eschar loves them because of their huge sound, fantastic songwriting… and Chinos voice. Enough said.
IncubusRory: After Linkin Park’s ‘Hybrid Theory’, Incubus’ ‘Make Yourself’ was one of the first records I owned. It was also one of the first records I loved. Luckily everyone in the band loves Incubus. That first bunch of records – ’S.C.I.E.N.C.E’ through to ‘A Crow Left of the Murder’ are perfect and their songwriting and great musicianship had a big influence on our respective early years of playing.
MeshuggahSam: For us, these guys have always been (and will continue to be) one of the most ground-breaking and forward-thinking bands of our time. The djent/tech movement has gained a lot of momentum in recent years, but there will never be another Meshuggah. Their calculated, mathematical approach to music is inspiring and unique, and no one seems to be able to come close to the weight of their sound. Awesome.
‘Nova’ by Eschar is out now.