True to its name, the album did take its time to materialise, teased by a string of singles in the run up to it before releasing it on an anticipating world. The good news is, All In Good Time was worth waiting for; over the span of forty minutes, Giant Walker showcase a knack for polyrhythmic drumming, stop-start riffing and soaring vocals that tie it all together as the band explore themes of self-isolation and disconnect.
Opener ‘The Fact In Fiction’ sets out the band’s stall near immediately; its off-kilter guitars and oddball drumming are disorienting but vocalist Steff Fish deftly guides the song to its chorus. It’s an emotional crescendo that should sound at odds given the seemingly vast change in time signature but instead slots in neatly thanks to the band’s innate knack for emotional storytelling through song construction as much as melody, the bug-eyed anxiety in the verses giving way to a melancholic introspection.
It’s a pattern Giant Walker repeat throughout; ‘Katoomba’ juxtaposes quiet, minimalist passages with heavy, almost Meshuggah-like chugs in parts and there’s just as many emotional apexes as troughs. Though they bill themselves as progressive rock, there’s more than just occasional moments that hint at heavier influences. ‘Inertia’ strolls into Deftones territory and there’s more than one TesseracT-inspired passage where delicacy and intricacy collide and even moments where Baroness-like sludge peers above the parapet.
The further All In Good Time progresses, the more its influences branch out and the more it unfurls into softer, perhaps less obvious territory. While there’s Deftones aplenty on ‘Optophobia’, ‘Past The Peak’ delves into post rock and ‘All We Have Is Gone’ finds itself playing with Southern inflections. While these songs are less catchy than the opening half of the album, it’s where the most interesting and arguably the best material presents itself. The emotional push and pull of ‘Left To Wreck’ and the Black Peaks inspired closer ‘Coda’ deal less in obvious memorability but will stick long after their closing notes ring out.
That theme of isolation and disconnect is present throughout; the whole album feels as if it’s yearning for something and without wallowing too much, is always melancholic. The ideas of dystopian reality that inspire the album might resemble our own a little too much these days, but that only serves to heighten the emotional impact of All In Good Time. It’s a salve, one that acknowledges and explores those feelings of disconnect and craving for some kind of connection with others. The songs are complex without being so much so that the emotions and atmosphere are lost, showing a real knack for crafting raw, heart-on-sleeve songs that are complemented by their technicality and not overshadowed by it. There’s real promise in Giant Walker and it’s exciting to see where a band with such talent and care for their craft will go next.