Published on May 25, 2005
By all marks, I should hate The Esoteric. This Kansas-based
quintet follows in the well-trod footsteps of many other nu-metal
bands with a combination of crunching D-chord guitars, melancholy
lyrics and vocals screamed like the singer’s balls were caught in a
meat grinder. Yeah, I
should hate The Esoteric.
But, I don’t. Actually, I
like what I’ve heard.
Where this group takes a lead among their brethren is a display
of some real musicianship, as heard on their third disc,
With The Sureness Of Sleepwalking. With a solid combination
of good songwriting and interesting twin-guitar interplay,
everything else in the genre seems to fall right into line. While
The Esoteric still could benefit from breaking away from some of
the genre’s cliches, they seem like they’re well on their way on
this disc.
The real key to The Esoteric’s success, to my ears, seems to be
the guitar duo of Cory White and Eric Graves. It would be one thing
to just play crunching barre chords with heavy distortion — and,
frankly, that wouldn’t be anything unusual. But White and Graves
actually work in some musicianship, sometimes with chords that
don’t totally sound like they resolve 100 percent. I don’t know why
it works, but it indeed works well.
In fact, it makes all the difference on
With The Sureness Of Sleepwalking. Tracks like “Ram-Faced
Boy,” “His Eternal Enemy” and “Until The Grave Gives Up The Ghost”
turn into some songs that are not only interesting, but dare to
challenge the stereotype of nu-metal that many people may have. Add
into this Steve Cruz’s anguished screams – which, more often than
not, are decipherable, another unusual trait – and you have a
mixture that borders on becoming grindcore metal.
Yet The Esoteric never dip their toe into that musical pool.
Credit the rhythm section of bassist Anthony Diale and drummer
Marshall Kilpatric for keeping the tempo on an even keel – and
furthering the argument that The Esoteric may indeed be something
special.
Granted, the formula starts to wear a little thin near the end,
but the strength of songs such as “Unavoidable Conclusion” and
“Somnambulist” prove the positives outweigh the negatives on this
disc. (Admittedly, the disc gets off to a bit of an uneven start
with “Disappearing…”, but they’re able to right the ship quickly
enough.
What the future has in store for The Esoteric is not known, but
if
With The Sureness Of Sleepwalking is any sign, it should be
an exciting ride to be part of.