It’s been a whirlwind six months for UK five-piece Employed To Serve. The end of 2018 saw the band ink a deal with Spinefarm Records, with the first half of 2019 preparing them for the release of their third album Eternal Forward Motion. After the success of 2017’s The Warmth Of A Dying Sun, is this highly anticipated release going to propel Employed To Serve even further or leave them stagnant?
Title-track and single Eternal Forward Motion kicks things off in a riotous fashion. The bouncy song shows off the band’s melodic side, building into an uplifting peak, whilst the sinister basslines in the likes of Beneath It All and Suspended In Emptiness make you feel uneasy in the best way possible. Dull Ache Behind My Eyes is a vicious number, and when the fast-paced back-and-forth vocals of Justine Jones and Sammy Urwin are coupled with one of the heaviest breakdowns on the album – it will make you want to tear the room apart.
Instrumental interlude Sore Tooth Twin may lull you into a false sense of tranquility, but while you get a chance for a breather it builds into standout track and previous single Force Fed. There are plenty of opportunities to get involved with this one, in fact there are plenty of moments on this record that will excel in a live atmosphere, from the chanting in Eternal Forward Motion and Owed Zero to the haphazard breakdown in Beneath It All.
The lyrical themes of Eternal Forward Motion are not to be undermined, as the quintet explore the battles of self-doubt and the influences of external obstacles, in particular the prevalent issues of social media. “In the fast paced society we live in, it can cause many people to burn out and chase unobtainable expectations of themselves,” Jones has previously commented. “All these distractions can cause one to dwell on what they don’t have and take for granted some the aspects of life that we should be thankful for each day.”
This isn’t your typical hardcore record. This is an ambitious and forward-thinking set of tracks that, as Jones has said herself, is “five years of perfecting the kind of band [they] wanted to be.” Eternal Forward Motion has got what it takes to push Employed To Serve even further into the spotlight, and makes their success to date all the more plausible. We may only be halfway through 2019, but this is a worthy contender for album of the year.
9/10
Standout Tracks: Force Fed, Beneath It All, Owed Zero
For Fans Of: Norma Jean, Code Orange, Will Haven
Written by: Hannah Gillicker
