After a successful tour of India and America, resulting in a loyal new following in both continents, London metallers Cypher16 return with a brand new 5-track EP ‘The Metaphorical Apocalypse’ – an offering which combines electronics and metal and was produced by Enter Shikari’s studio man, Dan Weller.
Undoubtedly the band’s use of electronics elevate the EP’s apocalyptic overtones, a theme made clear in the EP’s opener ‘A Crack of Thunder, Flash of Light’; an impressive theatrical opening that combines powerful guitars, running-beat drums and atmospheric synths. This immediately leads us into ‘Stones’, a chaotic and relentless track containing killer drums and wailing sirens that gives this quickly paced song an extra edge and urgency.
The third track ‘I Am Scientist’ is a solid metal tune that continues the EP’s premise in its destructive yet poetic lyrics “Into the ocean all things cease to be/disappearing into nothingness.” This one conjures up real images of an impending doom, as does the title track ‘The Metaphorical Apocalypse’, a blistering song that sears as it intensifies. As the song crescendos, the vocals provided majestically by Jack Doolan insist “It’s no more!”- and as a listener it is difficult not to be swept away by its masterful impact.
A brief silence ushers in the sounds of rolling waves that in turn gave way to the opening riffs of the final offering, ‘Lonely Road’ a meteoric symphony that soars to a fist-thumping chorus until it’s echoing fade, “Now the earth is sinking fast…this single lonely road remains.”
The EP’s cover, a front view of London’s famous Battersea Power Station, (a building forever immortalised by Pink Floyd’s ‘Animals’) is a fitting backdrop for this powerhouse collection of tracks. A composition fit for “the Rapture”, Cypher16 shed an imposing light on the end of the world with high energy and imagination.
For more information visit the official Cypher16 website.
