Having steadily built their reputation by playing the long game – singles started appearing over six months ago as part of a lead-in to the release of All In Good Time (Self-Released), Giant Walker’s self-released first full-length – the UK progressive four-piece are displaying a patience that is reflected not just in the title, or their release approach, but also in their music.
While the fare on offer here is inherently progressive metal it is imbued with a stronger emphasis on melancholic atmosphere, songwriting, and reflective dynamics than most of their contemporaries. There is no reliance on ripping off Meshuggah or any threat of style over substance and with Steph Fish’s vocals painting a sepia retrospective tone over everything in a way that really enhances the overall feeling, there is something a little different and something a little more interesting to the norm happening here.
Don’t let the angular guitars that lurch and stagger at the outset fool you, either; there are elements of tech and djent to play out across the album, of course, but these are a tertiary colour in the wide palette. Indeed, by the time ‘The Fact In Fiction’ and ‘Katoomba’ have finished setting the scene as an opening pair, a fuller landscape is about to be revealed.
While the framework – Jamie Southern’s sharp, elastic opening riffs stepping back for a more reflective verse and a louder chorus before the band explore different territories ahead of tying it all back up within a cosy four and a half minutes or so – is set, those additional colours are about to be introduced to help create something very interesting and promising indeed.
‘Podha’s lurching groove reveals a darkened grunge underbelly, before Fish’s voice takes on a retro bluesy tone during the mid-section, as with the verses of ‘Left To Wreck’, while ‘Inertia’ takes a more sedate and reflective stroll through the Deftones side of Giant Walker’s album collection: the further we dive into the album, the more the progressive and softer influences reveal themselves. ‘Past The Peak’ shines glorious post-rock light onto the canvas, and perhaps takes the podium with its lush reflective dynamic , ‘Optophobia’ plays in the Tool sandpit as bassist Jordan Gregory and drummer Alex Black lock into a thick groove with an understated nineties post-grunge vocal decorating the track, while ‘All We Have Is Gone’ sees Southern adding cool inflections under the chorus and linking a wasp and wail solo that expands into an entrancing cascade over a looping rhythm. Indeed, the latter songs prove the stronger half of the album, despite (or, perhaps, because of) the songs being more reflective and less catchy.
‘Coda’ further enforces this, reminding at times of the missed Black Peaks, if stripped down a little; a contemplative closer to an album that builds from initial strong brushstrokes to create an increasingly more intricate and emotionally powerful picture.
Buy the record here: https://www.giantwalker.co.uk/
7 / 10
STEVE TOVEY