Album Review: White Empress - "Rise of the Empress"

Paul Allender has long been a prominent name in metal, and equally so a person who refuses to be nailed down.  Allender came to his greatest game as the on-again-off-again (and currently off-again,) guitarist for Cradle of Filth, but has also extended fingers into a variety of other projects, up to and including painting and collections of art.  After moving to the United States in 2012, Allender is following his fancy to a new project, flying under the banner White Empress.  

The most unique and captivating feature of this debut record “Rise of the Empress” is that the music is totally impossible to ignore, not because it’s so cacophonous that it prevents cogent thought, but because it engages the listener with unique riffs.  Songs like “A Prisoner Unleashed” somehow find the mystical sweet spot between the competing fallacies of being too much and not being confrontational enough. The music engages the listener and demands attention without feeling overbearing, which in and of itself is a lot art, particularly in metal of this type. 

A lot of this feeling is owed to the idiomatically quirky guitar styling of Allender, who long ago admitted that he just plain writes off-kilter riffs.  Nothing about that part of his long career is different here, as the cadences of songs like “Darkness Encroaching” have that particular flavor of two independent thoughts mashed together.  While that probably sounds like an insult, it’s actually a huge chunk of what makes White Empress different from their contemporaries.  In a genre of also-rans and wannabes, having a trump card like that, and the ability to employ it with confidence is a great asset.

Additionally, the album succeeds in balancing the fragile juxtaposition of the harsh and the serene, blending the siren vocals of Mary Zimmer with the cruelest of death metal screams and the natural thrum of Allender’s rumbling tone.  It doesn’t take long for the record to get to “The Congregation,” and the evident melding of all these elements and a couple more into a complete stew.

Tangentially before we go on, take notice of the album’s scene setter, the opening title track, which reminds ever so faintly of the buildup and foundation of Van Halen’s “Running with the Devil.”  Neither here nor there, just an observation.

The mentionable rub here is that as the record rolls on, there is a sense of sameness during the latter half of “Rise of the Empress.”  Whether the crushing brutality of “The Ecstatic and the Sorrow” or the hyper near-thrash of “Dethroned,” the concepts really start to blend into a single, indistinguishable whole.  That’s partially excusable, both because the album maintains its weirdly magnetic quality and because this is clearly the effort of musicians who are still feeling each other out and opting for easy wins out of the gate.  Even so, it does mean that the record’s bright moments (and it does have them, as we discussed earlier,) start to lose luster after repeated listening.

“Rise of the Empress” doesn’t capitalize on all of its promise, but it does shine in extended moments and can be genuinely captivating for stretches.  Fans who are looking for a new permutation of Cradle of Filth will find several fresh takes on familiar veins.  There’s more than enough here to make “Rise of the Empress” worth checking into.

 

D.M

Music Editor

D.M is the Music Editor for Bloodygoodhorror.com. He tries to avoid bands with bodily functions in the name and generally has a keen grasp of what he thinks sounds good and what doesn't. He also really enjoys reading, at least in part, and perhaps not surprisingly, because it's quiet. He's on a mission to convince his wife they need a badger as a household pet. It's not going well.