East of the Wall, South of Comprehension
Some reviews write themselves. Some albums you sit and listen to and all it takes is once through and not only do you get the point, but you can write about it easily and feel you have developed as intricate an understanding as you’ll ever need of the material. New Jersey progressive instrumentalists East of the Wall (whose lineage traces back to the woefully unheralded The Postman Syndrome) are not one of those bands and their Forgotten Empire debut, Farmer’s Almanac, is not one of those albums.
It’s been days now that I’ve sat and sat with this record — and I’ve reviewed it before! East of the Wall have a sound that’s not the most unique in the world, it’s not like they’re reinventing heaviness or anything like that, but the four-piece offer music that has all the prowess of tech/jazz metal with the kind of presentation that it’s easy to step back from and just let wash over you. You can dig as far as you want into Farmer’s Almanac and it’s like a coal mine to the center of the earth, but you can also stand at the doorway and just look into it too. And it works equally well both ways.
In fact, and maybe this is just because this review has been hanging over my head for such an obnoxiously long time at this point that I feel by writing it I’m lifting a weight from my shoulders — like now I can get on with my life and do… the next review — I might actually prefer the superficial view of Farmer’s Almanac. That’s not to say it’s an unsatisfying listen when parsed to its most basic elements, but there’s a mystique in the music that’s best left to itself. I could analyze every change in “Winter Breath” and “Switchblade Knife” or talk about the scale work in “Century of Excellence,” but that would still only explain a fraction of the scope the record encompasses. It’s probably best if you just go listen for yourself.
But if there’s one point to this review, let it be that. See that you do go and listen for yourself, because these Jerseyans have stumbled on a songwriting process that feels just as open to future growth as it already sounds hyper-developed. Farmer’s Almanac has the kind of underlying feel that just lets you know East of the Wall can really do something special if they keep it in the right direction. It sounds important without sounding pretentious. Don’t miss out on it.
Tags: East of the Wall, Forgotten Empire, New Jersey, The Postman Syndrome
