EP Review: Dislimn - Esmee
Reviewed by Chris Taylor
Dislimn’s debut EP Esmee intrigued me from the get go when I read about the concept for the album. The tracks follow the character of Esmee and their battle with chronic anxiety. Mental Health, specifically depression, has been given more focus in heavy metal over the last few years however I can’t think of many albums where anxiety specifically has been given the focus despite those two struggles often going hand in hand. So it was refreshing to listen to a metal band’s take on this particular remit of mental health.
Dislimn’s sound touches on a few different styles, it’s often quite progressive, while also drawing from doom metal and a little bit of stoner as well.
One of the strongest aspects of Esmee is how the songs are able to balance ambience, and loud heavy riffing. The opening track Anxiety being a perfect demonstration of this. It draws you in with soft background sound and ambient guitar setting a very tranquil tone. This leads to one of the smoothest progressions in a song I’ve heard in a while. Elements get added bit by bit until the whole band is involved but the track feels like it’s getting slightly faster, and louder until we eventually reach a guitar solo at full intensity. It’s very subtle and effective.
Similarly the intro of Esmee’s Story begins very subtle with a low guitar riff and with much more restrained vocals, it wouldn’t be out of place on an Ocean’s of Slumber album. And again by the end of track things are much bigger giving the song a great sense of scope.
The only track which I’m unsure of is Gullfoss. It’s a guitar centred instrumental track in the middle of the EP. It doesn’t do anything wrong and is well performed but its tone and style feels slightly at odds with the rest of the package. The thematic through line of the rest of the tracks is so strong, this one feels like it got lifted out of a different release. Musically though it is solid so this likely won’t bother most listeners.
Besides that though the riff writing for the rest of the EP is a standout. Many times there is a whiff of Tool, albeit with a bit more pace.
In fact the musicianship across the board is of a very high standard. The drums are weighty when they need to be yet know when to dial back to give everything else room to breathe, and the vocals are a big part of providing the scope for the album by, again, being keenly aware of dynamics.
Dislimn’s debut certainly shows promise. Esmee has a very strong narrative through its core and music that is absolutely epic enough to accompany that. That said it also feels like we have only scratched the surface of the real scope of their songwriting. If an EP is meant to demonstrate what a band is capable of, Esmee leaves me wanting more. Dislimn is definitely a name to look out for going forward.
