Album Review
Eric Ezra – ‘Amphibian’ [Album Review]
Saturated in bleeding waves of sound akin to an underground mining process, ‘Amphibian’ exudes secret feelings of thrilling dread.

Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist Eric Ezra released his album, Amphibian, at the end of 2023. The album sees Ezra taking his sound in a new direction, that of electronic music rather than his previous indie-rock leanings.
Speaking about the album, Ezra says, “The album ‘Amphibian’ is just a collection of bangers I wrote. There is some conceptual significance about the first track being called ‘Amphibian’ because it sounds like a monster walking through a swamp but other than that it’s just a lot of music. The song titles are just associations with concepts that songs sounded like to me.”
Entry points on the 10-track album embrace the title track, an atmospheric synth-rock tune riding a pulsating rhythm topped by shoegaze guitars and dark, swirling synths. In the solo/outro, Ezra’s guitar depicts lysergic washes merged with tangs of surf-rock.
Heavy with industrial shadows in the intro, “Automation” flows into clotted layers of sepulchral sounds, at once eerily ghostly and thick with visions of an austere, digital future, isolating and hovering like a murky storm.
Thrumming with ponderous gloom, “Captured” flows into fluctuating synths and frenetic, luminous textures, revealing the vibrating momentum of buzzing colors, like hornets swarming angrily. “Death” opens on emerging, elegiac tones, rippling with funereal overlays. Imminent and shuddering with urgency, the harmonics coil and glide wickedly.
The requiem-like intro of “Tides” combined with a thumping rhythm infuses the tune with a vast primitive power. When the buzzsaw guitars enter, the harmonics assume edgy, subliminal flashes of metallic consistency.
Saturated in bleeding waves of sound akin to an underground mining process, Amphibian exudes secret feelings of thrilling dread.
Amphibian Track Listing:
1. Amphibian
2. Mad
3. Automation
4. Mosquito
5. Spring
6. Captured
7. Turbine
8. Death
9. Combat
10. Tides
Run Time: 43:31
Release Date: December 2, 2023
Record Label: Independent
-
Country/Americana6 days ago
The Sheepdogs: “We learned a lot because people weren’t willing to give us a chance because we didn’t sound like band A, B, or C… ”
-
Alternative/Rock2 weeks ago
Papa Roach: “It was indicative of the era musically but I think that the music and the lyrics they can transcend that.”
-
Alternative/Rock6 days ago
James Bay Gives Fans a Magical Night at Manchester’s O2 Apollo [Photos]
-
Alternative/Rock6 days ago
Origami Angel Bring Their Boundary-Pushing Emo to Manchester Gorilla [Photos]
-
Hardcore/Punk2 days ago
Rise Against Hold a Passionate Night of Music & Message at Brixton Academy [Photos]
-
Alternative/Rock3 days ago
Madina Lake Bring a Splash of Sunshine to Manchester Rebellion [Photos]
-
Metal1 week ago
The Hara (w/ Eville) Bring Chaos to Brighton’s Green Door Store [Photos]
-
Metal2 weeks ago
Trivium and Bullet For My Valentine Celebrate Classic Albums at Manchester Co-Op Live [Photos]