Espers - II

The original Espers album is one of my all-time favorites (evar), so I was expecting a lot from the second, or II as it prefers to be called.  Fortunately, it lives up to my expectations for the most part, and blows them away for the other.  It should be noted that it isn't simply a continuation of the first album - their sound has changed a bit, as shown by their work on The Weed Tree, so you can expect differences enough to distinguish the albums by more than the fact that there are different notes making them up.  For one thing, I don't hear that little pipe that was present on most of the first album, and for another, there are drums.  I'm not sure that a single track on Espers featured drums - and I loved it.  Howard Hello is another album without drums, though you never think about it, and it's another of my favorites.  The new album features drums all over the place, and it's a mixed blessing - not that they're around when they shouldn't be, it's just unfamiliar.

It would be ridiculous to choose my favorites this early into having an album, but early candidates are the first two tracks and "Mansfield and Cyclops."  "Dead King," their original contribution to The Weed Tree, but the biggest change is a frightening and noisy outro, and I think I prefer the original.  "Children of Stone," the longest track, lingers for longer than it should, and though it is beautiful, it doesn't move or excite me much.  "Cruel Storm" and "Moon Occults The Sun" are both good tracks, though I'm going to have to get used to the rhythm being set by a drum and not a guitar.  The second track, which I'm giving you, has a much darker air than the rest of the album, but it's so good that I can't pass up putting it here.  Hope you like it.

Here's "Widow's Weed," by Espers.

Comments

[cornbread]

I need to find their first cd after hearing this new one. It is quite enjoyable.