Ego Planet Premiere Self-Titled Debut in Full; Out Friday
Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on October 25th, 2023 by JJ Koczan
This Friday, New Jersey-based heavy rockers Ego Planet will issue their self-titled debut through Argonauta Records. The band took kind of a roundabout path to existence — as you can read below, the songs on Ego Planet began life as solo demos by Chris Baker, who plays guitar and bass on the album; vocalist Jarrett Mead lived in Seattle, etc. — but you’d hardly know any of that from the music. Comprised in its vinyl edition of 10 songs that run 38 minutes — the LP has two bonus tracks; the hook of “Dead Man’s Float” is enough on its own to justify shelling out for the whole record but thankfully isn’t close to being on its own making the argument — Ego Planet engages classic structures and rock songwriting forms while interpreting them through big, accessible hooks and a style that borders on the commercial.
Now, when I say commercial, there’s a bit to unpack, particularly as relates to Ego Planet. Where a lot of modern heavy plays atmospherics through effects or synth or just noise off of verses, choruses, bridges, and so on, perhaps in intros or outros or breaks; it becomes a distinct thing within a whole work. The ambient parts. Ego Planet have some of that as well, at the beginning of opener “Swallow the Sun” to immerse the listener at the outset, or as a preface to the tense metal chug of “Entertainment” — the acoustic start of “Order of the Tree,” but even the openness of the verse in the two-minute “Leviathan” holds depth in its sound en route to its even-bigger-hook ending, and Ego Planet use that space effectively in changing the mood and character of their songs without indulgences. The album is sharp and professional in a way that many heavy rock records are not interested in being, and Ego Planet‘s drawing from ’80s metal in cuts like “Entertainment,” “Butcher’s Blade” and the first of the bonus tracks “T.H.E.N.” brings that much more personality to the deftly set course through grunge and heavier styles that show up in the songs.
But “commercial” as regards heavy rock and roll doesn’t exist. There’s no MTV to shoot for, no radio play. Chasing streams 
and cynically manipulating algorithms feels lesser in scale than “The Call” and “Reflection,” which round out the opening salvo after “Swallow the Sun” — presumably not about the Finnish band, but you never know — impact-swings to its cold finish. Among the messages conveyed in those first three songs before “Entertainment” and “Butcher’s Blade” start roughing up the place is the focus on songwriting throughout, but performance meets that on every level across the span, whether it’s Steve Iannettoni‘s drums declaring the apex of the leadoff or maximizing the roll in the already-noted chorus of “Dead Man’s Float” or Mead‘s harmonizing there. And that remains true as Ego Planet explore the post-grunge hard rock of “Faceless Children” with hints of Dehumanizer-style Iommism in the riff of its verse, following up in the chorus of the subsequent “Order of the Tree” with a metal-informed largesse that’s not aggressive in the delivery and defined in no small part by its likewise expanse of melody.
They’re more than flirting with heavy metal here, and that’s not a negative judgment by any means. Without tipping over into outright anger in the presentation, Ego Planet find and successfully manipulate a balance of elements that makes their self-titled feel even less like a debut and even more professional. Some bands just know what they’re going for at the outset. As “T.H.E.N.” bases itself around a sharper, defined chug en route to its chorus, it seems to be working toward a big finish and bounces its groove with extra stops in the second half, but if it hasn’t gotten across yet, it’s “Dead Man’s Float” that delivers on that promise, with Lo-Pan soul, Alice in Chains breadth and a roll that makes its four-minute runtime feel short. It is the kind of track that rings in your head afterward, and so is impeccably placed.
And if you didn’t know, this is the part where I generalize that last statement to Ego Planet as a whole, because while “Dead Man’s Float” has that memorability and is positioned to highlight it, the awareness on the band’s part of the moves they’re making here resonate with intention. I don’t know where Ego Planet see themselves going in terms of sound — there are hints dropped in a few progressive twists, and I’ll just mention that they haven’t actually thrashed out at this point and they wouldn’t necessarily be out of line if they did next time — but moving forward from such an expertly-crafted first LP, they’ll be in that much better position to continue to push themselves as they audibly do here.
That’s it, kids. Album streams below, followed by the preorder link and PR wire info. Hail Garden State heavy.
Enjoy:
Ego Planet, Ego Planet (2023)
Preorders are up at this address: https://www.argonautarecords.com/shop/
Ego Planet is a Heavy Rock band based in New Jersey, formed in 2020 from a collection of instrumental demos founder, Chris Baker, wrote in the midst of the Covid-19 quarantine.
After several months of writing, Chris partnered up with vocalist/lyricist, Jarrett Mead, to add a voice to his music. The two collaborated to finish 10 songs remotely while Jarrett was living in Seattle, WA. In January of 2021 recording began at Backroom Studios in Rockaway, NJ with owner/engineer Kevin Antreassian. The studio band features Jarrett Mead (Vocals), Chris Baker (Guitars/Bass) and Steve Iannettoni (Drums).
TRACKLISTING:
1. Swallow The Sun
2. The Call
3. Reflection
4. Entertainment
5. Butcher’s Blade
6. Leviathan
7. Faceless Children
8. Order Of The Tree
9. T.H.E.N. (Vinyl Bonus Track)
10. Dead Man’s Float (Vinyl Bonus Track)
