Funeral For A Friend

Event information

Funeral For A Friend

EMPRESS

It took a moment of clarity for brothers Ollie (guitars and vocals) and Alex Loring (bass) joined by Edd Unwin (drums) and Tom Meadon (guitars), to realise they’d been making music they never truly loved for years. It was time to start following their instincts 100 per cent. They trusted their music tastes implicitly so decided to ignore the trend and appease their own minds by forming Empress.

Empress have been writing since the start of 2011, honing their style together; quietly and carefully. The result is a sound that belies their young age – all are in their 20s. Soothing and vicious in turn, they juxtapose gentle harmonies with frantic ferocity; relaxed strumming followed by thrashy beats, time signature changes and other interesting meanderings that you’ll just have to find out about for yourself. There’s a comforting feeling of control about all of it though – as if Empress know exactly what they’re doing.

They know what they’re doing because they’re finally making music that speaks to them; music that they love. There are as many elements of metallers Mastodon, Metallica and Opeth in the music as there are of the more melodic Pink Floyd, King Crimson and Elbow – all huge bands and all huge influences on Empress.

The band also cites more recent but no less prominent influences such as the now-defunct Surrey rockers Reuben and American post-hardcore pioneers Underoath and Thrice. If that seems like quite the motley crew, you’ll understand why Empress’s sound is so hard to pin down. With an imposing arsenal of songs at the ready, Empress are preparing to become your new favourite band, currently on tour in the UK throughout March with Cancer Bats and Brutatlity Will Prevail, a bright future awaits.

Palm Reader

"Excellent hardcore - Excellentcore" - Rocksound

"What Hardcore should be." - Metal Hammer

"Sick, Sick, Sick, Sick, Sick... Thats what you guys are" - Kerrang!

"Simply Breathtaking" - Hevy Petal

"Most exciting thing to come out of Woking since Nadia won Big Brother" - Apple Juice

Their debut album 'Bad Weather' will be released 6th May 2013 through Small Town Records, pre-order it now from www.smalltownrecords.co.uk or iTunes from 25th March.