Sikth are certainly interesting. Their use of 2 vocalists adds a very 'hyperactive' feel to the music. Justin Hill is the 'screamer', doing most of the singing, though Mikee W. Goodman has his moments, particularly in 'Peep Show'. The vocalists are backed up strongly by the rhythm section. James Leach has some superb lines that can be heard clearly through the guitars. Drummer Dan Ford is nothing short of amazing, adding some very flavourful fills and changing style rapidly to fit the moment. Guitarists Pin and Dan Weller are also at the top of their game, throwing in incedibly complex riffs with very difficult picking patterns using many harmonics. In short, Sikth are immense instrumentaly, and write some of the most varied and interesting music I have listened to. I won't do a full track by track, as each song is far too complex, I will point out what I think are the highlights of this album.
Album opener 'Scent Of The Obscene' kicks of the processions with a rather speedy slap line from James Leach, followed closely by some cymbal hits and pick scraping. Pin and Dan Weller quickly join in with some complex hammer ons. Then the vocalists come in, and it is like nothing you've heard. Frankly, Justin sounds like a raving lunatic, blending in perfectly with the varied guitar and bass parts. The chorus here is fairly catchy and melodic, very nice. Then it all changes, and goes quiet, with one guitar playing a repeated pattern of notes with Mikee singing lighly in the background. Over the next minute and a half or so, the volume swells, with another guitar (probably Pin, I believe he plays lead) plays harmonics until the opening bass riff comes back in, before heading back in the chorus. After this final chorus it all goes a bit...insane, with duelling vocals and cymbal crashes, before ending appruptly.
'Skies Of Millenium Night' is one of my personal favourites of this album. The riffing is superb, the bass following closely behind adding depth, heaviness and just a wee bit of funky groove to the mix. The drumming is nicely done here also. Pin and Dan add some flavourful slides to the screaing vocals. What I believe is the chorus comes in, "Look at the sky! Look at the sky! Look! At! The! Sky!". There is a short break for Mikee's clean singing before the verse riff roars back and the drums explode back in full force. Justin screams "Look at the sky it's so beautiful!" and the guitar slides are back in, carrying on for a while before there is yet another scream of "Look at the sky!". After a while the intro riff is played once and the drums play a nice fast beat over some bass harmonics. The outro begins, the most technically impressive part of the somng for me, the bass following perfectly what sounds like an incredibly difficult riff to play. Mikee sings softly as the volume drops slowly, till it all cuts out.
'Wait For Something Wild' is essentially the title track, and possibly my favourite on the album. A nice quick drum into kicks off into the riff, accented occasionally by another guitar or James's bass. Some screamed vocals change the mood from the emotion of the last track. After the intro riff is played again, what sounds like a 2 second long solo is played by Pin. Doesnt add too much to the track, but it sounds damn cool. Some clean singing and what sounds like bongo drums (? I could be wrong) come in now, slowing down for a fairly dreamlike track. The bass starts playing a pull-off riff whilst Dan Foord goes mental on his toms and kick pedals. Feels quite thrashy, till it stops and a strange voice accents Justins insane babble with "The trees are dead and dried out...wait for something wild". The song goes back into a verse before Justin and Mikee essentially 'goes spastic', making aniaml noises and shouting "scream! spit!". Very interesting...
'Such The Fool' is about a slut, by the sounds of it...
'Sucking off in the toilet
That door has, your name, written on it
You *** there more every night now
Everything in town.
Semen, dripping from your eyelids
Running down your cheek your rancid.
Tattooed insert across your lips
I am disgusted.'
Yup, sounds like it. The guitarists make heavy use of artificial harmonics here. The song up to the middle 8 is pure hyperactive insanity, incredibly fast, but not to the point of sounding thrashy, as the riffing is far too tachnical. The middle 8 is quiet in terms of instumentals, though Justin screams his head of about someone (possibly an ex girlfriend? Not to the point of being emo...he's basically calling said person a dirty slut). The bass accents the bass drum, until Pin does another solo sounding lead line and bursts back into the verse riff as Mikee and Justin swap lines as they scream "You're! Such the! Fool! You're such the! You're!" in almost death metal grunts.
"When Will Thr Forest Speak?" is a poem. A very interesting poem, seems to be about a forest being burnt to the ground. Different parts are said by different voices as well as Justin and Mikee. Holds your attention until a genuinly brilliant album closes.
The album is varied, songs like "Tupelo" are totally different, almost tibal, more so than Sepultura. There is a good sense of humour on the album also, judging by Justins random outbursts and mobile phone inturuptions.
The intrumentals, as mentioned before, are nothing short of immense, every member going above and beyond what is required. This band trully are redefining heavy music.
Pros
+Incredible instrumentals
+Interesting vocal methods
+Hilarious lyrics. "He put laxatives in her tea"
Cons
-Not for everyone, a VERY aquired taste
-Might not interest you if you don't like metal
-Mikee doesnt get to sing cleanly much, some might prefer it this way however
4.5 / 5
