MP3 Premiere: Empty Space Orchestra’s “Exit Strategy”

Empty Space Orchestra: s/t (Empty Space Unlimited, 5/10/11)

Empty Space Orchestra: “Exit Strategy”

[audio:http://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/02-Exit-Strategy.mp3|titles=Empty Space Orchestra: “Exit Strategy”]

Empty Space Orchestra is a Bend, Oregon-based space-prog-fusion (feel free to add any number of additional hybrid genres here) quintet composed of classically trained musicians. ESO’s self-titled new album — a nine-song, 50-minute, jam-filled harmonic exploration — doesn’t come out until May 10, but today ALARM presents an exclusive track to whet your appetite.

The song, “Exit Strategy,” builds to truly fierce heights as guitars, horns, and pianos pile atop one another like precariously placed Jenga pieces. Just when you think that the center cannot possibly hold, ESO reels things back in with an abrupt tempo change. After you check out the track above, hop over to YouTube and watch a surprisingly high-quality video of ESO performing “Exit Strategy” at the Les Schwab Amphitheater in Bend right here.

The forthcoming Empty Space Orchestra was recorded with engineer Robert Cheek, known for his work with Deftones and Tera Melos, and mixed by Matt Bayles, who’s worked with Mastodon and Isis, among others.

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