SLOUCHER MAGAZINE / August 2011

Say it out loud. Go on, say it: “A Coastal Dance on the Grave of Romance.” Doesn’t it just roll off the tongue?

The titular track, which also serves as the opener to the EP, A Coastal Dance on the Grave of Romance, is similarly catchy in parts, with its deathly waltz rhythm, though it then descends into heavy progressive guitars during what must be the chorus. The stop-start of the style is such that you have to sit up and listen; no bad thing for a small band trying to get heard.

‘Versailles’ is similar in its ‘loud chorus quiet verse’ structure. But it’s better than its predecessor; the intricate details such as the well-timed bass guitar notes come across far more easily and it’s also arguably lyrically stronger (although lacking a similarly clever title). There’s just something about any line regarding the undressing of people with eyes that can’t fail… The last minute is where ‘Versailles’ really takes off though, following on from a wonderful bass solo that grows into noisy beast.

Martyn Hughes’ vocals haven’t been mentioned yet, have they? Well, they’re really good. They tie everything together with an unfaltering confidence, yet come across almost dreamily delicate at times, such as his stretched-out singing “young and lost” in ‘Versailles’. They’re certainly the highlight of the EP, if not the entire band itself.

That said, there’s nothing about A Coastal Dance on the Grave of Romance EP that really says…coastal. There’s no use of seagull or wave noises for example. Everyone An Army seem happy to eschew the use of any noises that don’t come from the three-piece themselves – and so they should. They’re noisy enough as it is.

So it must be assumed that the ‘Coastal’ influence comes from their hometown of Scarborough – although it’s pretty hard to think of any other music that’s come from the city to compare the band to, or even anything good that’s come out of Scarborough since that one famous ‘Scarborough Fair’ song. You can’t especially trace Everyone An Army’s songs to any particular geographical point, but that isn’t a bad thing. Perhaps it’s worth focussing more on the ‘Dance’ and ‘Romance’ parts of the EP’s title – there’s certainly enough off-kilter lyrics to fulfil the latter’s use, and as for dancing…well, it might be tricky but let’s not forget the opening track is a waltz.

‘Venous Hum’, aside from being more of the same noisy brilliance, is apparently a benign phenomenon where blood flow causes vein walls to vibrate and hum, typically near the collarbone (thank you internet!). It’s also known as ‘bruit de diable’, or ‘the Devil’s noise’, which happily makes for a good description of the track. It’s just a little bit too similar to the previous two tracks to really be a stand-out on the EP, but is still good all the same, with clever guitar sequences and punishing percussion.

Things come to a close with ‘The Christmas Truce’, which aptly begins with militant marching drums before introducing an exquisite track that plays with time structures and sounds much more delicate than everything else on the EP. The reverb feeds into Hughes’ vocals perfectly, and this song more than any other showcases just how clever Everyone An Army is. There is thought behind their EP, and no doubt meticulous planning to make everything work. Whatever they did, it’s paid off.

Words: Coral Williamson.

Links Facebook. Myspace. Twitter. Bandcamp

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SLOUCHER MAGAZINE, August 2011

Counterparts that match perfectly in the puzzle, stories of revolution told through sounds, a brilliant and plain explanation of energies in motion going from good and evil, from black to white, intertwining to prove once more none of these can exist without the notion of the other.

A band that favors prog styles, rolling drums, china low cymbal sounds, complex and intense bass guitar, and an acute guitar as the drilling, but tuned, machinery of the whole system, all coated with soft and dreamy vocals. This is the sound Everyone an Army delivers to their audience.

This English band presents their EP called EP (yeah, that’s the name), loaded with almost one hour (which is actually one hour made up form 6 songs) of deep and introspective compositions, providing steady vocals as the world behind the male voice goes upside down, being this the main highlight.

This EP is all about contrasts, where darkness and light melt, but no colors are imprinted. It’s primary thoughts involving the inner part of us, listeners, that connects and share something with everybody and everything in this world.

Tracks advance relentlessly, as it proves its prog style has as many faces as free will, but flawlessly connecting ideas will well defined bridges, those that risk of becoming oceans in some parts. There are remarkable changes in time signatures and distortion, going from asymmetric foundations to symmetric surfaces, creating then a strong mosaic of the story each song narrates.

There’s a constant resource used in guitar, which gives a whirl effect and motion to the song, introducing different dimensions, where there’s more than depth, length and width to the whole sentence as a black hole, the one that may swallow the whole universe we have created in our minds (like the impression I got in ‘Apogee and Perigee’, track 1. If a band makes references to Astronomy in their music, they’ll get my full attention automatically).

There’s a track that seems the intermission to this movie, the one that let us take a break, get wrapped into their rhythm, and discover what each instrument has to offer to this rich idea. It’s remarkable as well the way each instrument has defined a personality of itself, as guitar bass may coincide at some points with drums, and guitars may cover the whole spectrum of the scale. This eventually plants into our senses a spiral, like falling deep and slowly into a pit just to find another world with different definitions and standards (‘Monument 6’, track 5)

Every instrument has a strong identity, as mentioned above, however, there’s an exception to this rule as we come back to track 4 ‘Isabelle’, where vocals definitely feel like a magnet that bends and moves the other instruments at its will, still giving sparkles and peaks from their own thoughts. This magnetic voice feels like a spell, a calming lullaby with words that can easily break your heart and make your cry. This became my favorite track and no, I’m not into masochism.

A universe in dialectics, the one that can’t exist without its exact opposite. This is the kind of mixture we’re all made of. Sometimes it’s hard to decide in which side we’ll stay, but we can’t forget that it’s all about balance.

Words: Tonan.

Links Facebook. Myspace. Twitter. Bandcamp.

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ALTER THE PRESS / April, 2011.
A Coastal Dance on the Grave of Romance

Like any website, magazine or blog there’s a constant stream of unsigned bands requesting reviews, and it may be the fact that for the most part only 10% of anything that comes through is good, but it’s so satisfying when you get that band which make you sit up and take notice – and Scarborough’s very own trio Everyone An Army have done exactly that.

Opening track ‘A Coastal Dance on the Grave of Romance’ is huge - there’s not one brick missing from what makes up the wall of sound that fills every corner of this EP. Lead by thunderously gloomy bass sounds which fill ‘Versailles’ with hauntingly dark moments.

‘Venous Hum’ displays some tasty guitar work and demonstrates an almost monotone value to the vocals which play on the murky tones of this trios sound. When everything comes together its bloody heavy and creates a grand barrage of boomy riffs that produces a real dark atmosphere throughout the four tracks.

The drums on closing song ‘A Christmas Truce’ tease the track, creating a slow build which complements the strength and vigour of the vocals on display throughout. The culmination of this demonstrates an almost epic quality to Everyone An Army, who demonstrate a surprisingly developed sound and an ambitious approach to the progressive genre. The EP is filled with intelligent song writing, with each track creating a real mood and atmosphere – murky, gloomy, loud and at times thunderous – this is a brilliant release which I can only imagine gets louder and increasingly more overwhelming on stage.

4.5/5 

‘A Coastal Dance on the Grave of Romance’ by Everyone An Army is available now on Bandcamp.

Everyone An Army on Facebook, Bandcamp and MySpace.

Connor O’Brien

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ARTROCKER - September, 2010
Unigned Band Spotlight: Everyone an Army

We happened upon Everyone an Army from Scarborough whilst on tour with Hold Your Horse Is earlier this week, and were immediately pleasantly surprised at the quality of this trio. After all, it’d be fair to say that a bustling and vibrant music scene is not the first thing that springs to mind when you think of the North-East English town.

With some thunderingly deep bassy sounds overlaid by some seriously huge guitar, ‘progressive’ is probably the easiest genre to attribute to the group. It’s not as boring or predictable as many other prog-rock bands that may spring to mind though; Martyn Hughes’ vocals put the icing on the proverbial cake with their beautiful haunting moments on tracks like ‘Pangea’ whilst also managing to make use of the monotone qualities of Ian Curtis elsewhere on the EP. It pulls off the rare feat of being nicely balanced throughout, with enough to keep you interested the whole way through - even on the difficult first listen. Each element fits together like an aural glove. There’s an integrity to the music that’s obvious as soon as it begins. Look a bit below the surface and you find that there’s real intelligence and thought in there.. the EP being recorded in an old art gallery. It’s all very dark and interesting.
With the plan being for the guys to head into the studio again with none other than Justin Lockey of the now-defunct yourcodenameis:milo to record new tracks sometime in the future, you can get a free download of their entire 6 track release here.

Check them out on Myspace here.

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