3 out of 5

Label: Mrs Red Sound

Produced by: Benjamin Mandeau (recorded and mixed by)

Essentially a two-song single from then-forthcoming album Task Eternal, the Collector EP gathers an epic and a sludgy stomper together, then gives us a slightly alternate take of the former and a demo of the latter.

The title track is pretty solid MRS: a lead-in intro to a blazing, world-shattering riff, which gets doubled-down on by some excellently layered guitars, and the lilting vocals set against it at a good, even pace. Definitely something to get one hyped for the album. Backup Soldier On is rather exactly that: a backup; a B-side vibe. It’s fairly repetitive, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s kind of over mastered to really make it sound “raw,” and the group can’t quite figure where to stick the vocals in there, so they don’t quite sit together well, despite some added reverb to give them weight. Quality, but a lesser tune.

Then we get another go at Collector, but with a kickass Ukrainian guitarist Igor Sidorenko that really helps to push the tune into overdrive, even if the remainder of it (as far as I can tell) remains untouched – interesting how just swapping out that one bit ups the ante.

Finally, Soldier On’s demo, which is still imperfect, but maybe preferred over the album version: the desired rawness is achieved through the flatter, perhaps less-multi-tracked recording, and the vocals are more buried in the mix, which adds some better atmosphere.