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Monday, May 23, 2005

Review: The Esoteric - With the Sureness of Sleepwalking


artist: the esoteric
album: with the sureness of sleepwalking
label: prosthetic records
released: april 2005


by: rob tatum

Pleasantly surprised. Those are the best words I can use to describe the new release from Lawrence, KS based band The Esoteric. I hadn’t heard the band for a couple of years (not since the split with Saved by Grace), and to be honest, they hadn’t left a lasting impression on me. Unfortunately for me, that means I missed some pretty solid music in the last couple of years.

Forming from a plethora of bands and genres, the band’s sound, while heavy, is erratic at times. Normally this frustrates me with bands, but the song structures on With the Sureness of Sleepwalking manage to satisfy even the toughest critic. The band experiments with a variety of beats and sounds, but stops short of getting carried away with it. I really like the band’s ability to maintain solid melody while changing time signatures. You can tell from listening to this album that this band knows each other’s abilities really well and forms a very enjoyable sound. All aspects of the sound are very strong, with tremendous drumming and creative string work.

Vocally, lead singer Cory White reminds me a lot of Adam from Twelve Tribes, but a little less guttural and stays away from the clean singing. This fits the band very well and seems to enhance the flow of their songs at times. I know that I regret not paying more attention to this band in the past, and this album will ensure that I will be paying plenty more attention to them in the future.

favorite song: "mapping the fall"

rating: 88%/100%

listen to the esoteric