Great (four stars out of five)
Pathosray crept quietly onto the progressive metal scene in 2007 with the release of its self-titled album. However, their arrival quickly led to plenty of buzz and many proclamations like "album of the year." Indeed, this full-length debut was the sort of album that you can get excited about--something with the power to revitalize the genre.
Sunless Skies is the followup to the band's debut, and with such large shoes to fill, it would be easy to feel disappointed with this album. Admittedly, that's exactly how I felt upon my first few listens. There are a number of reasons that someone could consider this an inferior album to the band's debut. For the most part, however, this is a very good album that most certainly deserves a spot in your library even if it fails to excite in the same way that the debut did.
Where the band's debut was a complex and extremely varied album, this one takes a more direct approach that has much more in common with melodic metal than the extremely heavy progressive metal of its predecessor. This is most easily seen in the way the songs are structured and in the instrumentation. The songs on Sunless Skies typically follow pretty conventional structures, staying within 4-5 minute songs that just don't contain the same great progressions that were present on the debut. Furthermore, the songwriting, in many cases, is closer to melodic metal bands. It's easy to notice a difference from the debut--the songs just don't sound as wildly original as tunes like "Strange Kind of Energy" and "Faded Crystal."
At this point, it may sound like I hate this album, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. The fantastic playing, especially on the guitars, is here in bunches. Furthermore, Marco Sandron gives another very good set of performances. There are plenty of great moments on the disc, from the powerful opener "Crown of Thorns" to the original opening instrumentation and great melodies on "Quantic Enigma." Indeed, perhaps the album's greatest asset is its vocal melodies, which are strong throughout. The chorus melody on "Sons of the Sunless Sky" will definitely make you take note.
The album does offer some great surprises as well that help it seem more varied. For instance, the latter half of the album offers some great female appearances from Klaaire and Silvia Marchesa. One such song, "The Coldest Lullaby," stands as one of my favorite tracks on the album, with a fantastic guitar line, multiple changes between heavy and slow, and the extended verse vocals by Klaaire.
What Pathosray has managed to do with this album is offer a very strong set of songs. There's room for fans of the first album to feel disappointed in the songwriting, which isn't quite as superb as it was on the band's previous album. Regardless, there's plenty about this album to love, and you'll soon forget about comparisons and enjoy the music.
Andrew Kauz
www.progressivemelodies.com
Sunless Skies is the followup to the band's debut, and with such large shoes to fill, it would be easy to feel disappointed with this album. Admittedly, that's exactly how I felt upon my first few listens. There are a number of reasons that someone could consider this an inferior album to the band's debut. For the most part, however, this is a very good album that most certainly deserves a spot in your library even if it fails to excite in the same way that the debut did.
Where the band's debut was a complex and extremely varied album, this one takes a more direct approach that has much more in common with melodic metal than the extremely heavy progressive metal of its predecessor. This is most easily seen in the way the songs are structured and in the instrumentation. The songs on Sunless Skies typically follow pretty conventional structures, staying within 4-5 minute songs that just don't contain the same great progressions that were present on the debut. Furthermore, the songwriting, in many cases, is closer to melodic metal bands. It's easy to notice a difference from the debut--the songs just don't sound as wildly original as tunes like "Strange Kind of Energy" and "Faded Crystal."
At this point, it may sound like I hate this album, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. The fantastic playing, especially on the guitars, is here in bunches. Furthermore, Marco Sandron gives another very good set of performances. There are plenty of great moments on the disc, from the powerful opener "Crown of Thorns" to the original opening instrumentation and great melodies on "Quantic Enigma." Indeed, perhaps the album's greatest asset is its vocal melodies, which are strong throughout. The chorus melody on "Sons of the Sunless Sky" will definitely make you take note.
The album does offer some great surprises as well that help it seem more varied. For instance, the latter half of the album offers some great female appearances from Klaaire and Silvia Marchesa. One such song, "The Coldest Lullaby," stands as one of my favorite tracks on the album, with a fantastic guitar line, multiple changes between heavy and slow, and the extended verse vocals by Klaaire.
What Pathosray has managed to do with this album is offer a very strong set of songs. There's room for fans of the first album to feel disappointed in the songwriting, which isn't quite as superb as it was on the band's previous album. Regardless, there's plenty about this album to love, and you'll soon forget about comparisons and enjoy the music.
Andrew Kauz
www.progressivemelodies.com
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment