One of the more well-known names in the new resurgent British Black Metal scene, EASTERN FRONT have received countless amounts of praise from the community and deservedly so. With their brutal self-styled 'War torn Black Metal' sound and war inspired lyrics, they're a band in the same vein as Black Metal heavyweights MARDUK. Their first release after new signing to Cacophonous Records, the new album EmpirE features not only the debut of their new vocalist Marder, but also guest vocals from Dani Filth.

The first song "Empire" is an introductory piece full of layered guitars and synths, and slowly building drums topped with foreboding spoken lyrics that builds quite nicely into the next track "Veiled by Blood", a heavy track that starts a little underwhelming but gains an epic vibe as it delves into more melodic sections later on in the song. Unfortunately, it still seems to fall a little flat and not one of the strongest songs on the album, possibly not the best choice for an opener. "The Fire Consumes" is a much faster paced and harder song again keeping a generous mix of blastbeats and double kick sections with melodic tremolo guitars and a rather abrupt but well-orchestrated ending coming a little sooner than expected and perhaps premature, being the shortest real song on the record. "No Snow Falls for Sorrow" follows much the same format as the first two songs, but with more focus on the epic melodic chorus, bringing some haunting background clean vocals in gives it a nice touch. It also features a breakdown section with some rather catchy lead riffs, spoken vocals and acoustic guitar parts buried in the mix as well as a nicely downtempo ending. This song is the first real sense that EASTERN FRONT are doing something a bit more different and interesting than just sticking with the stereotypical 'black metal methodology' that can end up being so underwhelming. The rumbling sound of tanks treads and resonant lead guitars lead "Husks of Kursk" into a bombastic opening with a little bit of a thrash flavor, a great opening to a good song. Pounding drums drive the song in a marching, head nodding rhythm that feels just right for the thematic roots. Although the piano interlude towards the end of the song does seems to break up the momentum that it has been gathering thus far, but does build up towards the ending, it is a nice, if somewhat overtly simple change from the rest of the song. Overall a very grand feeling song and definitely one of the high points of the album.

"Crimson Mourn" is another mid paced track that's leaves a little to be desired with the main guitar riffs and ends up being quite forgettable aside from the few parts of the break in the middle with where Danny filth lends his vocals, and the music box-esque outro. "1000 Winds That Blow" is a complete change from everything so far. The shortest track on the album, it is an ambient interlude with lines of Mary Elizabeth Frye's poem "Do not stand at my grave and weep" read over reverberant distant guitar feedback. While a good idea and a nice lead into to the final track "Die Reise in den Tod Pt. II," I feel it does still fail to garner the full emotional impact intended, let down a bit by its lack of content and some of the production choices.The final track goes back to the epic vibe touched on earlier in the record but with much more conviction and direction. Clean guitars giving way to huge chords and solid kick drums backed by epic feeling orchestrations that crop up through the song with a much more central role than before. Structurally it also feels a lot more coherent and progressive, sections transitioning more naturally into each other rather than feeling like they were just put next to each other with little thought for the flow of the song.

Overall, I feel though whilst short at only 40 minutes of runtime, EmpirE still struggles to maintain interest and focus. Partly due to the guitars and vocals being placed further back in mix and partly due to the amount of repetition of more mediocre and forgettable melodies and riffs. There are some solid ideas on the record but unfortunately it does feel a little like it flounders around with lots of filler and little memorable content. There's a few moderately good song on it, namely "Husks of Kursk" and "Die Reise in den Tod Pt. II" but the times between high points feels a bit too much like a plod rather than a blitzkrieg.