Way back in the long-forgotten past of 2012, a New York/New Jersey-based act released a whopper of an instrumental debut entitled Waiting in Waves. While seemingly every other instrumental act came from either the Periphery/Animals As Leaders djent school or the Sargent House twinkly aggressive math rock university, Dead Empires’ proggy and sludgy take on instrumental rock followed one rule: riffs, baby, riffs. There were small injections of the Sargent House post-y, math-y style, but Dead Empires were more Mastodon and High On Fire than Tera Melos. Right from the start, the group manifested an impressive voice. The question is, fast-forward to the now (yes, the now, now), how well can the group add in an actual vocalist to their ranks?
The final answer: very damn well. Much like another Jersey-based batch of progressive rabble-rousers, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Dead Empires chose to utilize a vocalist whose manic personality manifests in even more musical zaniness. Jason Sherman’s vast range and his addition of electronics and background noise has allowed the group to elevate their musical dexterity; this results in a record that is certainly all over the place. Yet, Designed to Disappear rarely feels aimless or haphazard. Songs like “A Summertime Song” are carried by an impressive momentum to natural conclusions, while more frenzied numbers like “The Form” revel in their knowledge of packing loud music full of nuance. It’s hard not to notice a greater noise metal element in the band’s formula with Sherman’s addition, but it’s that metallic hardcore edge that helps elevate what could have otherwise been an admirable dose of Mastodon-meets-Dillinger noodling.
Not all is perfect, as the record does lose a bit of steam near the end, especially with the solid-yet-underwhelming 12-plus-minute title track as the finale. Also the rather Sargent House-esque “Ones and Zeros” is an admirable dose of Irish math-core, but its inclusion feels unnecessary. All in all, though, Dead Empires have released a mightily impressive dose of modern, noisy progressive metal that highlights that even great instrumental bands can improve with the inclusion of a very talented vocalist. The soul of what made the group interesting in the first place is still there in spades; it’s just augmented here.
