Empire Demolition - Defenestration

Empire Demolition – Defenestration
Release Date: 12th January 2024
Label: Self Released
Pre-Order
Genre: Screamo, Hardcore, Grindcore.
FFO: Napalm Death, Portrayal of Guilt, Fear Before the March of Flames.
Review By: Mark Young

Empire Demolition drop their debut release following the component parts coming together in 2022. Taking in from numerous genres, some of which I admit give me pause as to whether I will like it. So, let’s go and see what this three-piece can do!

Well, Defenestration just explodes in a cacophonous noise that is just hard, with dual vocals bringing the low and high amongst discord with a phenomenal bottom end, ending in tortured screams…and NEXT!! (no body) continues with that combination of anguished scream and some ungodly tight riffing. It lives up to its promise of offering something different, at least to these ears. It is anger beyond anger, yet the music behind is super controlled and focused like you would not believe, and then they drop this lush melodic breakdown, all chorus and echo at 3 minutes in, and it is the calm before the storm. It’s stunning in its effect.

.nemo / Sematary is all blast beats and that glorious low end again, this just puts everything into a mixer and turns on to max revolutions per minute. Within its 4-minute runtime, it goes everywhere, whilst maintaining an organic feel. The interlude at 2.15 is a fantastic break without resorting to leaden riffs or manic drumming. They offer so much more just within one song, and it is mesmerizing at times, providing beauty and ugliness in equal measure. Ruby changes the approach now, leaning more into the emotionally charged side of their sound, this is a leave everything out on display song, managing to squeeze as much out of themselves as is possible. It’s a wall of crafted noise, subtle touches here, heavy touches there, and you know that live this will grow and take on a life of its own.

Entangled brings us back to almost normal ground, with Justin Redlington and Kendrick Lemke fighting for vocal supremacy whilst they batter you around the head, with stop-start rhythm and drums that don’t quit (Nicholas Herrera – take a bow) and then done.

This is a class start for them, the breadth of ideas on display and the manner of execution is spot on. Try not to let that Screamo tag put you off, for me, it’s misleading and what they deliver is not what I expected at all. Give this a go, it’s what January was made for.