Review Summary: It would be a damn shame if this album doesn't get the exposure it obviously deserves, both within the metal scene and beyond. Put aside any preconceptions you might have, and check it out.
If you like your metal challenging and experimental than look no further than
Profane’s debut album ‘
The Day We Scorched The Sky’. It’s technically engaging, but doesn’t make the mistake of letting that technicality dictate the direction of the songs and disrupt the flow of the album. And oh how this album flows …it’s almost flawless the way the songs transit from one to the other. Coming into this album for the first time, you may be forgiven for feeling a bit let down but it’s one of those albums you’ll find yourself thinking about hours after you stopped listening, maybe whilst you’re laying in bed that night or on the bus on the way to school the next morning. It’s on repeated listens that the album’s beauty dawns on you.
Yes, I did just say beauty. This album is remarkable in the fact that the atmosphere it creates and the mood of the songs are just so overpowering that it’ll alter your own mood. You’ll find that you experience emotional highs and lows in correlation to what the music is doing.
The album begins with a catchy little riff that plays for a few seconds before the drums join in with a jazzy beat and at 23 seconds with a powerful roar the singing begins. The opener ‘Porcelain’ showcases the bands more aggressive side, although still manages to create a powerful sense of calm beyond the chaos, a concept that only with listening for yourself you‘ll be able to understand.
On ‘
The Day We Scorched The Sky’ you‘ll find that
Profane veer between brutal, chugging riffs, deep soothing melodies and almost-prog experimentation, often within the same song. Meanwhile, Phil Bretnall's vocals weave in and out of the soaring guitars, alternating between a gentle croon and apocalyptic growls. All of this is underpinned by razor-sharp drumming and churning bass lines.
It shouldn't really work, but it does. Cramming so many ideas into each song is always a dangerous idea, more complicated doesn't necessarily equal better. But Profane dodge that particular bullet with ease, and it all hangs together nicely. Rather than drawing attention to itself, the true complexity only comes out after a few listens, by which point the songs have burrowed somewhere into the back of your head and refuse to let go. The title track is a case in point, with catchy, classic metal riffs and vocals that suddenly switch from almost-soothing melodies to a brutal hardcore bark before the whole thing breaks down into slabs of distorted bass and jazzy, off-kilter drums.
A review of this album wouldn’t be complete without mention of Phil’s vocals. They are magnificent, whether screaming or singing or whispering they are full of emotion and power, and I would even say they are superior to a certain Mr Akerfeldt.
Get this album now. No excuses.
N.B. My own personal rating is a 5, but I felt a 4.5 was more objective.
Recommended tracks:
-Porcelain
-The Day We Scorched The Sky
-Like Branding The Cattle
-Cable Car
-Turning Bloodletting Into An Artform
-Sleep Now Complete
-When The Corners Aren't Square
