Have you ever found a band that never lets you down, from their very first single? That’s been EMBER FALLS for me. From their initial big hit, “Shut Down with Me,” released in 2016, through an album and six or so singles, they have never once disappointed me with a release. Naturally, when they announced a new single, “The Wall,” scheduled to come out on the same day as a live show, it was no surprise that I’d be here writing this feature, nor that I’d go check out the new song live.
The new single is pretty fresh right off the start, as it’s shockingly stripped down for these guys with almost no electronic elements, sticking to a more heavy metal approach, despite the digital feel of the intro. The wailing of “unbreakable” works nicely and the guitar line that follows is alluring as hell. Thomas Grove‘s clean vocals are ever fabulous and Oswald on bass makes sure that he’s heard, with some funky bass lines here and there to dress things up, while Ace‘s drumming shows tight, short blasts – he’s wildly talented at keeping the rhythms interesting and avoiding basic disco drums. The guitars continue to be stylish, as brothers Jay V and Calu are so good and there’s something wonderful about the way the guitars move around. Also speaking of Calu, his vocals are a little different from usual in this track, but in a good way, as he’s not simply screaming, but there’s a bit of melody in his growls as well. Their C-parts remain slightly proggy in an understated but very effective way, culminating back in a powerful final chorus and an exciting outro that includes more awesome bass.
The lyric video was released the day after the song (November 6th, 2021), featuring yet another new symbol to represent the track on a pulsating red heart. The rest of the video strays from the band’s regular style, with very little of their trademark red-pink shown, but a lot of interesting visuals of silhouettes and darkness. It’s also always worthwhile to read EMBER FALLS‘ lyrics too, as they have more poignant lyrics than any other band I know of right now, and one of the more poetic lyrical styles as well.
Naturally, we did go check them out live to see how the new material sounded (along with EDGE OF HAZE and MERTA). Their set was laden with new material, notably skipping “Heart Shaped Black Scar” again but played all of the other new singles. “The Wall” was a highlight among them for its different sound and unusual style for the band, going to show that they aren’t a one-trick pony and have been experimenting with and developing their sound a bit over the last few years. Indeed, it has been an obscenely long time since these guys have released an album (at least to me), but they seem dedicated to quality over quantity. I, for one, still remain on the edge of my seat for this upcoming new album and we’ll definitely go see them again in Tampere on the 25th!
