Review Summary: If you like what you've heard, you will like what you hear; more of a pick and grab, than a sit and listen.
Sky Eats Airplane
a reformation of local Fort Worth, Texas act (In Theory)'s members Zack Ordway[guitar], Johno Erickson[bass], and Kenny Schick[drums] and surviving member Lee Duck[guitar, electronica] of the original version of SEA.
The new line-up formed after the departure of Sky Eat's original vocalist and the break up of (In Theory), and after recruiting Jerry Roush[vocals] with the help of Myspace, the band signed with Equal Vision Records.
Enlisting the production of Brian McTernan[Thrice, Circa Survive] the band set out to record their "sophomore" release, in the ever-growing Electonicore genre (sounding something privy to the like of G4 viewers). 3 re-recordings of demos posted on their Myspace, and 8 new tracks, though one is an unnecessary 43second "Introduction."
"Long Walks on Short Bridges" kicks off the album some electronic drums, followed by a creative riff laid down by soon to be noticed Zack Ordway. Almost immediately you notice the difference in production between the re-recording of the song and the original, the former being well polished and transparent, with all instruments seeping into their designated place. The vocals are a departure from those of the original vocalist but they work well over the chaotic pace being developed in the song’s opening minute. Than going proceeding into what will land them in the over flooded “screamo” category, though the electronica samples and used to back the decent? singing creates some sense of uniqueness from the rest of the pack. Long Walks is a perfect opening track, highlighting the band’s ability to be heavy, melodic, or synthful, and ending with a breakdown reminiscent of Underoath’s "Writing on the Walls" final breakdown.
The following track, "Transparent", begins with some soothing guitar, and seems to introduce a more pop/commercial feel to the band. Sounds like the “radio hit” until it shows off another of the albums sporadically placed…moments. The song foreshadows the album’s tendency to drag on, but still display the interestingly heavy moments, creative pop-influenced movements, or stunning guitar play. The electronic segues could be left out, but they help remind you that Sky Eats Airplane is what they call themselves, “Electronicore.”
"Numbers" starts off with an almost Scarlet sounding guitar riff which disappears to unveil a breakdown with the brutality of those exemplified by Misery Signals and technicality that doesn’t sound forced. Again, the song gets boring, but you hesitate to skip the track because you know another one of those moments is bound to work its way into place, fortunately it comes in the form of some ridiculous fret work.
"World Between Us" feels something like you’ve already heard, which leads into some out of place sounding vocal melodies. One of the weaker songs on the album, fails to grab your attention while offering the lion’s share of melodic singing. The track still contributes more of those ambitious musical sections which should earn the respect from fans of heavier music. "Photographic Memory", another of the re-recordings, brings back the initial and familiar feel that the opening track was able to give. Has the stand out vocal entry of the entire collection of songs and seems to be the best all around song, start to finish, from the self-titled debut.
"In Retrospect" brings back the feel created by the second track, "Transparent". This song drags on to sound somewhat like a ballad, or another attempt to be radio friendly. The last re-recording of the original 3 demo songs, "The Artificial" is another great listen, and establishes that the best songs on the album were the 3 originally written and recorded by the 5-piece + ibook band.
"Disconnected" could have been heard, with horrible quality, on live footage of the band found on youtube, and drew my attention. Definitely the heaviest song on the album, and a personal favorite, this chaotic song displays more of the sick guitar work found on the album. "Machines"
is siqq, literally. Another unexpected re-recording, though of a song that had previously been streaming on Zack Ordway’s personal myspace page(titled Siqq); is the most insane minute and a half of music I’ve ever heard. If you enjoy heavy music or guitar skills, this is a MUST listen.
"Alias" fits right into place as the closing song of the album, beginning with some catchy vocals that randomly get shoved out of the way by some intense breakdowns. The song concludes the album and gives a wrap up of what the bands "sound" was through-out the 11-track effort.
Highlights:
Disconnected and Machines are the two funnest songs on the album and will probably be the tracks I skip straight to when I put this in the car.
The 3 re-recordings turn out to be the best listens.
Lowlights:
A few sort of filler tracks that tend to drag, while still delivering promising moments.
::For anyone familiar with the local-Dallas/Fort Worth scene, the album is exactly what Sky Eats In Theory had set out to be, having some similar vibes to (in theory)'s never released full length( 4 tracks can be heard on the band's old myspace http://www.myspace.com/intheory1) with the addition of the electronica that helped the original Sky Eats Airplane gain their internet popularity.::
