All You Need To is the debut release from Escapethecult and although the band features some big names from the world of prog and metal, it doesn’t quite seem to go the distance and leaves a lot to be desired.
The main problem is the album doesn’t immediately grab you. There’s no massive introduction or fanfare to signify All You Need To has begun as the first track Backfired kicks in; it almost feels like you’ve interrupted a song halfway through and the vocals don’t have a lot of body behind them so subsequently there’s not a lot of momentum to get things moving.
Things do improve a bit as things progress, though. The instrumentation in second track Clandestine is superb, with great and intricate guitar lines, and Feel The Flight is a good inclusion that takes a bit more of a laid-back approach with a slower tempo, helping to mix things up a tad as the rest of the songs all follow largely the same format.
However as a whole, All You Need To just isn’t that much of a rewarding listen because none of the songs quite jump out at you – it’s difficult to maintain interest throughout due to there not being much differentiation between most of the tracks. It’s a shame because the members are clearly capable of better but it just doesn’t seem to work as they come together as a collective.
4/10
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