Review Summary: not unlike a pig's orgasm, this album will result in waves of pleasure for a very long time.
Maybe it’s me, but when I listen to a new trance album, I expect something completely boring. Something that follows the basic, unoriginal pattern: have loud beat; place uninteresting synthesizers over beat; make songs longer than necessary so they build into a slightly more abrasive chorus; utilize a ridiculous amount of guest vocalists if desired; remix as many songs as possible so a second disc is possible. Generally, trance artists follow this predetermined course as if hypnotized. You’ll be hard-pressed to find originality in trance artists, so if you stumble upon something as bizarre as Soul Sleeping, consider yourself lucky. Yes, you can thank me later.
According to the band’s Myspace page, their style consists of electronic/psychedelic/ambient music. This may seem like a tough order to fill, but Sunkings is a versatile group. Their songs will often start as simmering ambience, giving way to psychedelics with alien noises. The effect that Sunkings attempts to achieve is indeed psychedelic, a creative sound akin to the feeling of entrapment in a spaceship stuffed with terrifying aliens. But then again, not all songs are frightening, a few are quite moving. Usually realizing their creepy nature, the band attempts to border between alien, and stunning. Those who enjoy science fiction movies will undoubtedly be intrigued by Soul Sleeping.
Feeding on their psychedelic energy, Sunkings is excessively progressive. Songs are essentially massive buildups (often around 10-13 minutes in length), but the surprise is that they never amount to anything boring. Often, it would be expected for such songs to explode in cheesy dance anthems, but this never happens. Consequently, the listener is tense, waiting for the ultimate climax which, to his immediate displeasure, never comes. Soul Sleeping will test your patience and sanity, but once the trial is over, waves of complacency will sweep away any remaining doubts. Soul Sleeping is an album for the patient man, the one who does not need immediate pleasure. It is much better to have pleasure over a lengthy period of time than to have it instantly and hence never returned to.
