MUSIC REVIEW: Break from Bedlam - “Escaprism” (demo edition)
Two summers ago, I was talking to a friend of a friend’s cousin that I had just met as we wandered over to Tuska Festival, about our mutual love of Turisas and I was explaining my theory about what had happened to that band. It turns out, this fellow, Tomi Tiippana, also makes music as a hobby, under the name Break from Bedlam, though he’s certainly not doing any sort of Viking/folk metal. In fact, the album he shared with me, entitled “Escaprism,” leans more towards classic heavy metal in style. The album is currently only available on SoundCloud, so if you enjoy checking out demo tracks before their official release, you might just be able to find the album there!
Ahhh, “Escaprism”… I like that word—the portmanteau of “escapism” and “prism” works nicely on my ear aesthetics, while simultaneously invoking a feeling of a kaleidoscopic trip through things that inspire and help survive this terrible world of ours. It’s worth mentioning again that the album is currently only in demo format, so it goes without saying that the full recording and production simply hasn’t happened yet, so if you do give “Escaprism” a spin now, know that it will all sound even better once it’s properly recorded and mixed and all that.
After having heard “Gunslinger” first, I had the mistaken idea that this was a concept album about Steven King’s The Dark Tower series, though that was inaccurate. Upon properly spinning the full album, the first impression was of a deep appreciation of classic Iron Maiden tracks, as the guitar sound and even songwriting style threw back to the earlier decades of their work. The opening track, “Storm Clouds,” for example, really feels akin to the classic Paul Di’anno days of Iron Maiden’s sound, nodding towards “Prowler,” but elevated a bit through, for example, the vocals, which include some growling.
Speaking of Iron Maiden, there’s also a very eastern “Powerslave” vibe to “Under the Sands,” though again, it adds some fun flavor from other classic metal bands, such as Dio or Symphony X, which makes for a pretty interesting spread on this catchy track. Meanwhile “Plains of Glass” is a little more laidback and “Gunslinger” is a little grungier and faster. “Gunslinger,” incidentally, has some really fun guitar lines and is a personal highlight from this release.
“Way of the Wanderer” sounds like an Ensiferum song in name, but stands out as another highlight for the acoustic guitar twiddling that permeates it, being a nice instrumental interlude. The album then moves on to “Carcosa,” which is one of the most diverse tracks, with many different singing styles and really solid guitar parts that drive things deep as it proceeds. The song references the city of the same name from Ambrose Bierce’s short fiction piece, An Inhabitant of Carcosa, but was perhaps made more famous by the works of Robert W. Chambers.
Long, dramatic notes start off “Out from the Fire,” which feels like a fun, straightforward metal track to rock out to when you’re in a good mood. “La Frontera,” on the other hand, almost has a more Mediterranean/Latino vibe to the guitar sound, all while feeling exploratory or perhaps even adventurous in sound. “Jamais Vus” I would assume relates to the French phrase, jamais vu, which is often considered the opposite of déjà vu, meaning a feeling of newness in a situation the person knows they’ve already experienced (randomly, I also just discovered a Star Trek episode with the same name). The track’s intro is really strange and trippy, while the song itself fits in with “Under the Sands” stylistically, and also boasts a fun solo.
The album then wraps up with an 11½ minute epic called “Diver Down.” It begins on a slow and ominous note, with some strange, warbling effects pervading its soundscape. After around 1½ minutes, the song kicks up a bit. It’s currently kind of grungy, though that’s probably largely because it’s still a demo. There’s a bit of guitar riffing, before the track goes into a nice, long, melodic segment, which then kicks up in energy. After 7ish minutes, there’s a spoken-word part that’s dressed up with some tasteful guitar, before going into some more soloing that leads up to one more conclusive vocal part, as everything reaches its climax. It works really effectively as a final track to the album.
Overall, this is a pretty fun album that I’m really interested to hear again, once it’s moved on from its existence in the demo-zone. Currently, the biggest issues I’ve noticed with it relate to the sound quality, which even then is not bad, it just gives the release a grungier feeling, when it’s probably going for something a little more traditional heavy metal. There’s a lot of really good material though, with some pretty hot riffs in there, which should appeal to the heavy metal fans of the world (especially those who really like and appreciate their classic ‘80s and ‘90s metal)!
Tracklist
Storm Clouds
Under the Sands
Plains of Glass
Gunslinger
Way of the Wanderer
Carcosa
Out from the Fire
La Frontera
Jamais Vus
Driver Down
Enjoy Bear’s writing? Consider joining her mailing list to keep up-to-date!
