Review Summary: Blank Page Empire try, and some would say, succeed in filling the gap left by As Cities burn.
I'm one of those people that, when I go to listen to a band, even whilst having an entire album, I find one or two songs on it that I really like and only listen to those two, until I get bored from listening to them for the nth time and decide to listen to something else from that album instead. In this regard, Blank Page Empire thoroughly confused my music listening gland, putting together one of these rare albums where every track stands out in its own way, causing me to want to listen to every song at once.
Starting off with The Stargazer, the listener hears an ambient guitar line for just over 50 seconds. The slow/ambient feel will make 3 recurrences in the album, on The Seas Lonesome Drone, The Beacon, and The Lighthouse Keeper. These tracks are a nice break from the rest of the album's emotional and aggressive feel.
As far as instruments go, none of them stand out, which actually ends up helping the album. You won't hear any super impressive guitar solos, or ridiculous drum fills, but all the instruments support each other, and brings the excellent songwriting to the forefront.
What does stand out; however, is the vocals from Ryan Menghini. I've seen this band live 3 times, and Ryan manages to bring all the emotion he has live onto this studio album, something that is very rare for singers to be able to do. He doesn't have the largest range of the vocalists out there, but the raw emotion he shows is what truly sets him apart from other vocalists out there. it should be noted that there are hardcore-style screams in this album coming from guitarist Nate Washburn, which contrast with Ryan's clean vocals. However, the screams don't get in the way, they only further the emotion displayed on this album.
The lyrics on this album are very well written and definitely have a deeper meaning to them. Blank Page Empire are a Christian band, with the most prevalent Christian moments coming on the outros of both The Vagabond and The Conclusion, with both outros consisting of a crowd-like proclamation of "Gloria, glory in excelsis deo". However, the Christian lyrics would not get in the way of any non-Christian listening to this album.
The production on this album is top-notch; one might even make the argument that it is too clean. All the instruments have their own spot in the mix, and yet they don't sound too thin, as often happens with the producer tries to make an album sound clear. If you listen to it, the bass guitar is even audible, something that I believe lots of bands nowadays are missing.
When listening to this album, one cannot help but think of
As Cities Burn ; there is no doubt in my mind that As Cities Burn influenced this band, but Blank Page Empire manage to sound reminiscent of As Cities Burn without sounding like a blatant rip-off.
Blank Page Empire have created an interesting, quality, album that leaves a lasting impression and that would make any fan of post-hardcore's spine tingle with joy.
