Embark is the debut EP from Canadian hardcore/prog outfit The Parallel and although the prog side of the music is great, the hardcore elements do need a little more work.
The main problem with Embark is the harsh vocals. There just doesn’t seem to be much thought going into the delivery, sounding more like tuneless monotonic yelling than a vocal performance to draw in the listener’s interest and engage them with the music, and it almost sounds like the vocals are fighting against the instrumentation rather than working together to create something that will remain with you.
That’s not to say Embark is wholly bad, though. The little technical proggy lines throughout are tremendous and closing number Endeavours features a gentler and more melodic section at the end with clean vocals that have buckets of emotion and clarity to them – it’s almost like the listener has been seeing in black and white up until this point and have suddenly become awash with colour! It’s certainly a great way to round up the EP because it leaves a positive impression on you and will remain with you afterwards.
As a whole, Embark isn’t a bad release. With a bit more work on the heavier elements of their music, they could become a band that is truly great.
6/10
