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Release Date: January 20th 2025. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: CD/DD
Empire - Track Listing:
1. Empire (30:26)
Four Song Version (Parts I-IV):
I. Phase IV (6:28)
II. Masters And Slaves (10:12)
III. The Rebellion (8:50)
IV. Until The End (5:11)
Members
Phil Howlett (Lucifer’s Fall, Solemn Ceremony, Zlórtcht, Rote Mare & Devils Victim) - Everything
Review
Empire is the new album from Doom Metal/Punk Rock/Alt Metal collective Caprahead which is the work of Aussie Doom Rock overlord Phil Howlett who has been involved with the likes of Lucifer’s Fell, Solemn Ceremony and Rote Mare. Phil is now back working under his Caprahead persona which is a striking mix of Punk Rock, Alt Metal and Gloomy Doom Metal sounds with a sudden shift to Occult Metal and Proto-Metal when the need arises.
Empire is available as either a singular thirty minute track or as four individual tracks. The result is both the same with Caprahead drawing influences such as Cathedral, Saint Vitus and Black Sabbath from the Doom Metal world. However, Phil is not averse from splicing moments from areas of Alt Rock with nods to bands such as Talking Heads and Sonic Youth. Empire is quite a hard release to fully break down with subtle flashes of Psych Rock and Thrash Metal appearing out of nowhere.
The whole atmosphere is mostly dominated by that Doom Metal perspective but the Alt Metal/Indie Rock delivery of Phil’s vocals can easily manipulate the whole flow to an area of music you don’t expect. This allows the record to be quite unique with its creative perspective. The production values are fused by a sublime DIY Punk Rock aspect which adds a sense of Seventies DOOM ROCK based seediness to the mix.
The lyrics are quite bleak with Phil expertly tapping into the apocalyptic side of DOOM METAL but with a no-frills Punk Rock sound transforming the sound into different eras of music altogether. There’s a lot to get through this album even with the short running time as Caprahead adds a certain Progressive element within the middle part of the record or the actual individual tracks of Masters And Slaves and The Rebellion.
Empire seems to have all bases covered for fans of the Punk Rock, Doom Metal, Alt Metal and Prog Metal underground scenes to fully admire. This is the type of album where the journey and destination are as important as each other with Phil Howlett providing a virtuoso instrumental masterclass in places. The vocals and lyrics are bang on point that adds another layer of heaviness to the whole record.
Caprahed has delivered the goods with Empire and if you like your music with a unique style of freakish heaviness then wait until you hear this superb offering.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Good Boy PR for the promo.
Empire will be available to buy on CD/DD from Monday 20th January 2025.
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