Review Summary: Sienna Skies try to distance themselves from others in their genre with mixed results.
Sienna Skies are a Post-Hardcore band from Sydney, Australia who have already made a decent name for themselves playing several thousand shows all around Australia, and recently supporting Silverstein on their Aussie tour. With their 2nd EP Truest of Colours, the Sydney outfit introduced us to a sound that tried to be different from the rest, and some ways succeeded, but in other it didn't. It is much the same in their debut full length ''The Constant Climb''
From opener ''Questioner'' we are introduced to what Sienna Skies are all about, strong screams from vocalist Steve Faull who also contributes clean vocals in an impressive feat of double duty. Although you will notice at first an attempt to be different from others in the genre comparisons to counterparts The Amity Affliction are rife within the confides of this album. ''Realization'' adds a new dimension to their sound with brilliant melody throughout the song to create one of the strongest on the album, fast drum beats, and a strong lead guitar lead to a very much enjoyable song with Steve once again showcasing his impressive above average screaming ability. ''Directions'' leads in a different direction than its predecessor with a heavier focus on the instruments, here the drumming of Damon Brohier is at full capacity and he also lends some clean vocals to back up Steve who may just be at his best on this song.
One positive for these guys is their ability to actually mix things up a bit. You would be hard pressed to find many similarities between songs, which definitely contributes to the overall quality of the record. Another song worthy of note is ''Game Changer'' which is probably the song that is most heavily focused on the synth elements of Sienna Skies especially at the start of the song. Here, Matt Wells is able to create a new element to their overall sound. Instrumentation we all know is something that needs to be good to be able to make a quality record, and here the instruments do an admirable job of backing up Steve's screams and clean vocals, the melody guitar is also a heavy focus on the band's sound and adds an element of catchiness and sophistication to a group determined to be their own band. An impressive aspect of this record it is generally free of filler with plenty of variety between songs. Experimentation is definitely undertaken on here with some mixed results. For example l am not a fan of the ending song ''Achiever'' which has much more clean vocals than is needed as Steve is a noticeably stronger screamer than he is a clean singer.
A few negatives you could say about this album is it's odd breakdown which usually drags down the quality of the song, and also the clean vocals are definitely not everybody's cup of tea, plus are over produced at some points during the record. But, all in all there are definitely more positives than negatives on here.
This will not be for everyone, but for what it's worth it is an above average effort from a promising Sydney 5-piece outfit making their own contribution to the world of Post-Hardcore music.
