{"id":2325,"date":"2017-05-04T12:49:30","date_gmt":"2017-05-04T12:49:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-employed-to-serve-the-warmth-of-a-dying\/"},"modified":"2023-01-24T15:05:10","modified_gmt":"2023-01-24T15:05:10","slug":"review-employed-to-serve-the-warmth-of-a-dying-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-employed-to-serve-the-warmth-of-a-dying-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Employed To Serve –\u00a0The Warmth of a Dying Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ETSIn the two years since the release of Woking metalcore outfit Employed to Serve<\/b><\/a>\u2019s debut, \u2018Greyer Than You Remember<\/a>\u2019<\/i>, the band haven\u2019t really gone away, touring relentlessly up and down the country. As a mark of their workmanship, it\u2019s clear that a lot of effort has gone into their sophomore album, ‘The Warmth of a Dying Sun\u2019<\/i>.<\/p>\n

The album successfully executes a more focused, refined songwriting approach than on ‘Greyer\u2026\u2019<\/i>, maturing their existing sound, but sacrificing none of the crushing, immediate heaviness of the band\u2019s debut.<\/p>\n

The first half of ‘Warmth\u2026\u2019<\/i> has an abundance of riffs and fantastic guitar work, with ‘Void Ambition\u2019<\/i> in particular showing off just how many great riffs ETS<\/b> are capable of writing. The two singles, ‘Good For Nothing\u2019<\/i> and the especially enjoyable ‘I Spend My Days (Wishing Them Away)\u2019<\/i> both feature exceedingly bouncy riffs and honest-to-god mighty hooks, which is unprecedented in ETS<\/b>\u2019s repertoire thus far.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

‘Warmth\u2026\u2019<\/i> isn\u2019t all big riffs and bigger choruses, though \u2013 the frenetic, chaotic nature of ETS<\/b>\u2019s sound is still here on songs like ‘Platform 89\u2019<\/i> or ‘Never Falls Far\u2019<\/i>. Both these tracks implement this chaotic nature by jumping through a lot of ideas, while still incorporating riff-based songwriting without it ever sounding clumsy.<\/p>\n

The back-half of the album introduces some post-metal elements and in the case of the title track, prog-rock-inspired song structure. It allows them to explore and experiment, making good use of longer run-time (over six minutes), meaning it sounds less chaotic and more open than some of the band\u2019s other work.<\/p>\n

Closing track ‘Apple Orchard\u2019<\/i> is like nothing else ETS have ever recorded, beautifully implementing some of the latent softer parts present throughout ‘Warmth\u2026\u2019<\/i>. It builds up to some harsher, bigger riffs, but never fully erupts, meaning the album ends on a somewhat reserved note.<\/p>\n

‘Warmth\u2026\u2019<\/i> is a significant improvement on ETS<\/b>\u2019s debut, implementing some more interesting musical elements, while still staying true to the band\u2019s trademark chaotic heaviness.<\/p>\n

4\/5<\/p>\n