By Jim Rowland
‘Gargantuan’, the eighth album from Brit space-progsters Amplifier, marks a new chapter for the band, now down to the core duo of Sel Balamir and Matt Brobin. Born from late-night jams in a secluded Sussex smithy, the album sees the band return to their roots, embracing a raw, electric energy while pushing new sonic boundaries.
There may be only two of them, but Amplifier in 2025 produce a monumental wall of sound of droning synths, thumping drum rhythms and meaty guitar hooks that is certainly befitting of this album’s title. Much of the material here was refined from much longer jams, honed down to more concise arrangements, identifying the hooks and resulting in a more song focused album.
The album’s nine tracks span many different flavours and styles, from the dark and heavy atmospherics of ‘Gateway’ and ‘Pyramid’ to the more electro synth-oriented ‘Invader’ and ‘Blackhole’ to the complex rhythms and heavy grooving guitar work of the prog flavoured ‘Entity’ and ‘Guilty Pleasure’.
‘Cross Dissolve’ and ‘Long Road’ take a gentler route, and the eclectic ‘King Kong’ could be pick of the bunch, fusing tasty electro grooves with a dash of a reggae vibe – weird and pretty wonderful stuff.
With ‘Gargantuan’, Amplifier continue to forge ahead, doing things exactly how they want to do them and breaking new boundaries along the way.
- ‘Gargantuan’ will be released on 4 April.
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