Few would have predicted that the future of heavy music would emerge
from Woking, a small commuter town buried in the Surrey countryside on
the outskirts of London.
But the release of Employed To Serve’s second album, The Warmth of a Dying Sun,thrust
the metallic hardcore quintet squarely into the spotlight, garnering
across-the-board praise, with Kerrang!, Metal Hammer, The Radio 1 Rock
Show, Metal Injection, Punktastic, That’s Not Metal, The Independent and
more all showing strong support.
‘The Warmth of a Dying Sun’was
also voted Kerrang!’s ‘Album Of The Year’ for 2017, an illustrious
accolade that has previously been won by some of metal music’s foremost
names…
So what do you do? What’s the logical next step once you’ve achieved this level of breakout status?
With Eternal Forward Motion, Employed To Serve have
chosen to sharpen their impact, to refine those signature elements that
made them so revered in the first place – the groovy licks, the
frenetic counter-rhythms, the searing discordant leads, the melodic
detours and the sick heavy head-banging riffs.
Like its predecessor, Eternal Forward Motion is
stuffed full of vocal & guitar hooks, yet never compromises its
inherent heavy ideals. It’s the same approach that allowed Pantera to
unrepentantly bust down mainstream walls in such an unruly, hard-lined
fashion in the mid-’90s, updated spectacularly here for today’s more
liberally-minded 21stcentury metal fan.
Simply, Eternal Forward Motion takes
as much influence from alternative metal heroes Deftones or Will
Havenas it does from the more sonically brutal palettes of Carcass or
Converge.
Across 11 uncompromising tracks, Eternal Forward Motion explores
our place within a society that is constantly shifting and moving
ahead. Finding constant contentment in such a fast-paced world is an
impossible dream, yet one we all strive for despite the difficulties
involved. This album examines both the fortitude of the human spirit in
trying to seek eternal happiness as well as the obstacles that are
perpetually thrust in our way, be they related to mental health issues
or the degree of FOMO (‘fear of missing out’) propagated by social
media.
Employed To Serve’s origins are essentially grassroots, with the core duo of Justine Jones (vocals) and Sammy Urwin (guitar / vocals) initially starting the band as a two-piece grindcore project backed by a drum machine.
Experiences
on the UK festival scene in 2012 expanded their horizons and
perceptions of what weightier music could be. Seeing heavy-hitters such
as Converge, Meshuggah and Glassjaw alongside smaller but no less
important acts like Rolo Tomassi, Norma Jean, Veils and The Chariot
inspired the duo to develop their vision.
2014 EP Change Nothing Regret Everything operated as a stepping stone into full band territory, before 2015’s critically acclaimed debut album, Greyer Than You Remember,became their calling card, followed up two years later by the aforementioned The Warmth of a Dying Sun.
Employed To Serve have
already proved themselves as a searingly intense and honest live
experience, sharing bills with the cream of the crop of modern heavy
music, including Code Orange, Stick To Your Guns, Counterparts &
Underoath. They’ve also decimated stages at some of the UK &
Europe’s leading music festivals, the likes of Download, Lowlands,
Graspop & With Full Force, and there’s an appearance at Hellfest
confirmed for this year.
Armed with fresh material and the new-found worldwide support of Spinefarm Records, it seems inevitable that Employed To Serve will take their place on the international stage as a metal act who can truly make a difference.
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