I first got into this band when my friend showed me the trees are dead and dried out, their first cd. I was blown away by it to say the least. the seamless musical transistions, wide variety of styles, unthinkable talent of EVERY member of the band. they have two guitarists and they both are very talented, as they compliment each other well and use techniques like tapping. their bassist doesnt hide in the dark though as he is equally gifted. although i have limited drum knowledge i would say their drummer is great (like chris adler, danny carey great) he plays fast, complicated beats always with creativity.now to the singers. yes there are two. Mikee seems to be more of the screamer while Justin does higher pitched singing. They do trade jobs quite often and arent afraid to just give in to a chaotic battle of dirty british voices in the midst of some very energetic music made by the band. Now to the C.D. (lyric interpratations are my opinion and im a dumb*** so come up with your own)
1 bland street bloom- this song is quite the opener. the talent and energy i was talking about is shown well on this song. the intro is heavy and the verses are very choatic. it has a war chant part at the end with a very sweet and heavy outro with very weird guitar and some sweet pinch harmonics. I think its about mediocrity and how everyones has become bland and unoriginal or something
(9/10)
2 flogging the horses- mikee gives a very memorable intro. impressive guitar and good vocals. after a bit there are some sweet harmonics and mikee goes into an almost spoken word piece with justin singing and humming in the back ground. . seems to be about the modern man, his 9-5 lifestyle and ignorance (9.5/10)
3 way beyond the fond old river- absolutely amzing intro followed by an angst ridden guitar part with sweet drums followed by a cool bassline. this song is more melodic for a heavy song, the singers do a back and forth singing thing, then theres a sweet part with some solos. the verses tend to get a little annoying. mikee sounds EVIL towards the end of this song. about modern man again lyrics draw great comparisons to nature. grand grand song (8.5/10)
4 summer rain- holy knights of templar! this song is really fast. there is a percussive kind of sound with cool bass. great singing too. mikees voice is really good at some parts. it also has one of the best solos ive heard in a while by a new metal band. there is another good ending. a definite highlight. about a relationship gone bad(9.5/10)
5 in this light- a softer song i think this song is all justin. good to relax to after summer rain. very atmospheric, guitarists show their diversity here. the bass and drums are right on.theres a cool solo which fits surprisingly well since its a soft song. actually quite beautiful. lyrics dont seem to be about anything specific someone trying to reach a certain state of mind during a hard time i think. (9.5/10)
6 sanguine seas of bigotry- a heavy melodic sound, if you shut your eyes it might remind you of opeth (especially mikee). sikths ability to keep everything together and sounding natural during all the madness in their music is astonishing and this song is a great example of that. it has more of a traditional metal song with a sikth touch(slow heavy guitar and double bass) medevil lyrics dealing with death and maybe war
(9/10)
7 mermaid slur- spoken word piece similiar to when will the forest speak from the first cd. cool effects in the song. some will hate it some will love it. i like that they mix it up by putting this on here though. tracks like this are what help make sikth so different from other bands. poetic lyrics dealing with nature
(7/10)
8 when the moments gone- cool intro, but i really love the verses. they have cool bass and drum work complimented by good singing. the singing becomes very chaotic and it has a soaring guitar line from pin. it ends with a play on the intro riff. slightly softer song. lyrics about a person questioning the relationship he has with a girl he loves(9.5/10)
9 part of the friction- (formerly death of a dead day) its a very structured song.i think it has single appeal. I really liked the chorus. There is also a sweet and melodic guitar breakdown about 4 mins. in the song. overall a good song. the song tells how the world is f***ed and how people can take good things and make them seem bad (9.5/10)
10 where do we fall- a slower song- good bassline and justins vocal work is good here too. this song is easier to digest than most sikth songs. a good song espescially if you like the slower justin based songs. lyrics very general hard to tell its meaning (9.5/10)
11 another sinking ship- impresive instrumental work in this. there is one of the crazyiest solos and a damn good ending though. the drums are jaw dropping throughout. dan is really a top notch drummer. at the end he throws in some bell hits that are awesome this was a grower for me. the sinking ship is supposed to be our society. i love the lyrics, mikee screams i dont wanna be another television lamb. HA love it !(9/10)
12 as the earth spins around- back to the chaos! great guitar in this one. sweet ass singing. its very passionate. it has a trippy bass driven breakdown that flows into a very heavy part. the song slowly fades out which makes for a good ending. longer than the most songs on here. great ending to a damn fine cd. philisophical lyrics about the world and people (8.5/10)
Sikth impress me on so many levels. i almost never see a band take full advantage of having two guitarists. Just look at slipknot and korn and you will see what I mean. and the bassist is really good. most metal bass players hide behind their six stringed bretheren, but not james leach.
Keeping up with dan and pin should be hard enough let alone complimenting them with very creative bass playing. He really helps the softer parts of thier songs come alive too. mikee and justin give them another edge that other bands dont have. they will sing/scream back and forth at incredible speeds and its not like anything else you hear in metal. They also help the band bridge the gap between hard metal and soft atmospheric rock. and the drummer is just amazing. truly one of the top metal drummers i know. Its really sad that i never hear his name brought up more. ive showed my friends who play drums sikth's music and they told me that he's really impressive. one of them said he wanted to give up after hearing him play.
Overall this is fine follow up to the first cd. i had serious doubts but they delivered. if you liked the first one youll like this for sure. If your coming to this band for the first time be warned this band is not for everyone. as someone else said, this band is an aquired taste. My only complaint is that it is sometimes too crazy and energetic for me and until you listen to this for a while some of the songs might sound a lot alike. But its a small complaint. I wish there were more bands like this around.
I enjoy SiKth quite a lot, especially the innovative guitar work.
