Below the Sun | facebook | bandcamp | soundcloud |
Released on February 24, 2015 via Temple of Torturous
Below The Sun is, no doubt, one of the first fantastic oddities of the year. Whereas some, if not all, extreme metal genres have some subtle reasoning – sometimes beauty – in the emotions that drive them – Below The Sun is a shroud of complete and utter despair and ugliness wrapped in beauty.
Initially, Envoy seems rather simple and tame – pulling a few cues from today’s progressive rock and shoegaze influences. It all seems very clean and nicely put together on the surface but, unexpectedly, Below The Sun peeled those layers back for an onslaught akin to blackened death metal – only to soon act like this sudden outburst of unsettling rage was never there in the first place. This all drives the lengthy runtime of Envoy, which is riddled with subtle turns to the extreme that seem to happen at any given time.
There are a few problems with this release, though I’d say that relies completely on the listeners tolerance for repetition. Things sometimes get a little boring, the songs tend to rely on you getting so used to the repetition that you can be easily caught off guard by minor changes in the overall atmosphere. As well, the progression on ‘Alone’ is way too predictable – comprised of a simple shift from clean to dirty versions of the same riffs. And, personally, Below The Sun is far too stingy with the vocals on this album – opting for atmospheric guitar playing over context. Something will present itself, only to have you wondering where it even went. This, again, is only a problem if you don’t really have a high tolerance for repetition or extremely long progressive tracks.
Though this album is just choked full of atmosphere and instrumental goodness, oddly hiding a subtle sense of ugliness beneath – there are some issues. Below The Sun’s Envoy is a album more suited for those completely enthralled with the progressive genre – passive fans, however, might want to skip this one.
