Orders Of The British Empire return 2 years after releasing their debut ‘Rebuild’ with the inventively named EP ‘Act Two’.

‘Act Two’ sees a marked improvement in the band’s production, the removal of a slight muddiness to their sound has done wonders; songs sound clearer, and in turn more complete than they did on ‘Rebuild’. But whilst the production is to be commended, the songs themselves feel a little lacking in technique and structure, the band sticking to a very well trodden post-rock path, lending them to comparisons with other far more established, and frankly, more interesting bands.

OotBE share their most striking resemblance with the superb 65daysofstatic, using the latter’s characteristic electronic samples, loops and keys to not quite so impressive ends. Hints of Evergreen Terrace’s ‘metal’ influenced drums, are also apparent throughout the EP, and share the limelight in the track ‘Cor-tastrophe’ with an arbitrary, authoritarian-sounding, American male vocal sample which is layered on top of the instrumentation – a technique so over-used in post-rock that it has become a genuine cliché. Unfortunately the sample’s addition feels like an attempt to make the musicianship sound more considered and ‘epic’, and detracts from what otherwise would have been the EP’s stand-out moment.?

Essentially, Orders of The British Empire don’t deliver anything novel; they produce songs that are exemplary of their genre, which is impressive in itself, but when post-rock stalwarts like Explosions In The Sky have been there, done that, and let you buy a screen-printed shirt with an owl on it, any copy-cats do tend to appear a little pale in comparison, and it’s a real shame to hear a band complete with undoubtedly talented musicians restricting themselves to painting within the lines.?

If you’re new to the post-rock genre, definitely give the EP a listen, it’ll be an excellent introduction… if not, then, as above, there’s probably not much here for you. However if the band are playing close by, definitely try to catch them; played live, these songs are sure to deliver ‘boy-this-build-up-is-satisfying’ shivers galore.?

3 / 5

Andrew Swain