Giant Walker- Silhouettes
Giant Walker- Silhouettes
Church Road Records
Release Date: 20/09/2024
Running Time: 38:00
Review by Rory Bentley
8.5/10
As someone that spent over a decade fronting one, I realise that us UK Prog Metal bands have to stick together, because it’s hard work out there! At one point I was convinced Black Peaks were going to be the band to break through and put this rainy isle on the map with challenging, yet melodically pleasing, progressive heavy music. Sadly the world is a terrible place, devoid of justice and it never happened for them. It also didn’t happen for my band but that was significantly less of an injustice!
Now stepping up to the plate on their sophomore album, Newcastle quartet Giant Walker, are bringing the technicality of Prog and chucking in huge hooks and choruses. “Silhouettes” shows a band that have the skill to stealthily squeeze off-kilter riffs, bonkers time signatures and intricate polyrhythms into punchy, commercially viable Pop songs. Those of you who know me will understand that I never use ‘commercial’ or ‘Pop’ in a derogatory manner-quite the opposite, in fact, so it should come as no surprise that I really dig this record.
The wonky riffing that kicks off ‘Time To Waste’ is the perfect example of everything the band do well. It slinks along with a Classic Rock groove, but one that’s been reflected in a hall of mirrors, refracted and contorted out of shape, yet somehow really catchy. When Steff Fish lays down her swaggering, powerful vocals over the top it all makes total sense, as towering melodies and a strong chorus make any technical wizardry easy to swallow for Prog-phobics and beard-strokers alike.
‘Make Me’ follows next, and for those of us that still aren’t over Reuben splitting up and still worshipping at the church of Jamie Lenman, the stabbing Post-Hardcore combined with breezy harmonies will go down a treat. If you’re deeper into Prog territory, though, the title track features some impassioned, beautiful singing interspersed with the kind of clean, intricate melodies and arpeggios of peak Opeth before they made the mellow stuff their whole personality.
Time and time again the album smacks you in the face with something awkward and jagged such as the feral intro to ‘Halcion’ or the Doomy yet warped riffing on ‘Round and Round We Go’, yet it manages to stuff it into the mould of a catchy fist pumping banger that would sound great on big festival stages. It is that rare album that manages to be instantly engaging, yet offers plenty of reward for those who want to delve deep and nerd out over the galaxy-brained virtuosity that holds everything together.
With 9 rock solid Prog Rock/Metal ragers crammed into a slick and powerful 38 minutes, “Silhouettes” is an album that deserves to be heard by as big an audience as possible. Giant Walker are a band too good to sleep on, and it will be true injustice if they go the same way as so many of their Prog forebears, so crank it up, tell a friend and let’s get this fantastic act where they belong!
‘Silhouettes’ OFFICIAL VIDEO
TRACKLISTING:
01. Time To Waste
02. Make Me
03. Silhouettes
04. Use On You
05. Halcion
06. Eraser, Obscurer
07. Round and Round We Go
08. So You Say
09. What It’s Worth
LINE-UP:
Steff Fish – Vocals
Jamie Southern – Guitar
Jordan Gregory – Bass
Alex Black – Drums
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Rory Bentley and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
