Building from a slow, shimmeringly atmospheric introduction, the heavily processed vocal drifts in a supple tide of rippling guitars. Ponderous, introspective, spacious and entirely worthy of the Pink Floyd, Perfect Circle, Oceansize and Porcupine Tree comparisons that have been drawn already, the three tracks that make up ALW’s debut EP really are breathtaking in their expansive yet controlled intensity.
Midway through the second track, ‘Page # 18 (Grin), everything bursts to life in the first of a succession of epic choruses, and the final track ‘Page # 66 (Sixes) is dark and brooding, growing from a whisper to a roar.
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With their combination of post rock and contemporary progressive rock with a serrated metal-edge, ALW combine powerful dynamics with passion and precision musicianship to create a sound that’s worthy of the description ‘Epic’. As debut releases go, it’s night on faultless and I suspect they’ve got the potential to be as big in terms of audience reach as their musical ambition.
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