Conor Fynes 'Death Of A Dead Day' - Sikth (9/10)

Let's make it clear; "mathcore" is most definitely not my thing. Sure, a band can be talented as all hell, but if it comes off sounding needlessly chaotic and adolescent, I tune out pretty quickly. Of course, there are bands that manage to justify the sense of chaos with exciting ideas and intelligent songwriting. Sikth are a progressive metal band that shares the same scene as acts like Protest The Hero, and even Between The Buried And Me. What sets them apart however, is their devotion to pushing the envelope as much as they can. Bordering on avant-garde absurdity, Sikth's second and final album 'Death Of A Dead Day' may be a slight move towards consolidating their sound, but it is as mad and sporadic as just about anything you will find in metal today.

When I first heard of Sikth a year or two back, I did not think much of them. I thought them to be part of the scene that sought to encroach hardcore upon progressive metal, and regardless of their playing abilities, that sound has never been for me. I'm glad I decided to check these guys out again though; while aspects of 'Death Of A Dead Day' don't align perfectly with my tastes, I cannot help but be impressed by what they are doing here. In terms of comparisons, Sikth are somewhat similar to Protest The Hero, although Sikth are quite a bit more challenging and 'out there'. System Of A Down also comes to mind. The vocals here are chaotic and diverse, much like avant-metal champions UneXpect. In truth, the sound of this band goes everywhere, and in itself, that creates a firm impression. Although none of these songs are ones that will be getting stuck in a casual listener's head anytime soon, I don't hear many modern progressive metal bands who are able to keep their music consistently exciting and even downright fun to listen to.

Instrumentally, this band is wild. The compositions they write are highly demanding, and the band pulls it off remarkably. The vocals, while conveying some of the adolescent screams that turned me off from the band to begin with, are about as technical as the instruments, fitting odd lyrics around complex time signatures. Sikth will not appeal to a large demographic of people, even among metalheads. Even after several listens, it's difficult to find a rosetta stone to 'crack' this album, although that constant sense of being 'out there' is part of the appeal. Even when concentrating heavily on the music, 'Death Of A Dead Day' comes across as being extremely chaotic and quirky, but it's pulled off in such a way that that it becomes incredibly fun to listen to, in the same sense of a roller coaster. Sikth don't take themselves too seriously, but their music is executed with precision and leaves me feeling wowed.

Conor Fynes 'The Trees Are Dead & Dried Out Wait for Something Wild' - Sikth (7/10)

There is alot to be said about Sikth, a band from the UK that is now defunct. Although they fit into a particular sound of music that I have rarely been attracted to, I've been lately infatuated with their incredibly chaotic sound and adventurous musicianship. Although their second album would perfect their work, the verbosely titled debut brings a distinctive melange of styles to the table. 'The Trees Are Dead & Dried Out Wait for Something Wild' is quite a mouthful, and way do well to describe the feeling the music gets across. Sporting some of the best musicianship modern progressive metal has seen in the new millennium, Sikth balance off their jackhammer instrumentation with incredibly quirky left-of-centre compsoitions, and creates an aggressive piece of math metal that often flirts with the avant- garde.

I will say first that Sikth's music is not for everyone. In fact, most people will find the incredibly dense and diverse style that they play to be virtually impenetrable.Sikth's first fit into a label will likely be 'mathcore', sharing the same out of control style and screamed vocals that The Dillinger Escape Plan and Protest The Hero use. This is a style that I have historically found inconsistent at best, and distasteful at worst, but I've been proven here that there is gold in every mound. Of the two albums that Sikth put out when they were still together, this is the more mathcore-based, and less melodic of the two pieces. However, the sense of sporadic shifts and diversity is here in full. 'The Trees Are Dead & Dried Out Wait for Something Wild' introduces the band's style in all its glory. There is intensely technical musicianship that rivals many of prog metal's most inventive acts. The most challenging aspect of this band however, are their vocals. With two vocalists, it's granted that there will be some more diversity to the voices here than is usual for band, but the vocal element goes all across the board. From nutty shrieks and high-pitched screams to clean singing, growls and avant-garde spoken word poetry, it's as if Sikth hired the local asylum for the criminally insane's house choir, told them to patch together some lyrics, and deliver them in whatever way they see fit. It's strange, and the pieces do not always fit together, but it keeps things wildly interesting.

'The Trees Are Dead & Dried Out Wait for Something Wild' is a very ambitious effort, but some ideas are taken far beyond where they should have stopped. 'Tupelo' and 'Can't We All Dream?' are a perfect example of this, taking an altogether sixteen minute respite from the chaos to build up a couple of odd vocal ideas. Although 'Tupelo' succeeds in conveying an eerie tribal feeling, the following track ends up becoming irritating long before the end. Hearing the track title shouted countless times after the music ends would have been a disappointing end to the album, but to make it worse, it's lodged in the middle of it. Through this, 'The Trees Are Dead & Dried Out Wait for Something Wild' has a fairly weak sense of flow to it, and even feels like it should have ended much earlier than it does. 'Death Of A Dead Day' is superior in virtually every way, but as debuts go, SIkth gives a remarkable experience here. It's a shame that we will only ever hear two albums from them, because there is not a band that has a sound just like theirs.

arcane-beautiful After a mezermising debut, how do you match it. By making it more tolerable. This album is a lot more meldoic than their debut and is more easy listening (it still is incredbily crazy though).

This album is also alot more structured and alot more catchier as well.

I do favour this album, very slightly to their debut because it reminds me more of what Protest The Hero are doing now.

I'm also sad to say that after this album, they sadly broke up, which is a complete shame because they were one of the best bands from the 00's.

1. Bland Street Bloom - What a 7 string groove. After listening to this album, I did detune my guitar down to A# and learnt how to play the intro. What an amazing song, great chours, amazing over dubs with vocals and some amazing instrumental work, what more can you want.

2. Flogging The Horse - A crazy song about animal sex. How crazy can you get. Great song with an amazing ending. The video for this song is also quite cool, because I never saw what these guys look like live.

3. Way Beyond The Fond Old River - Amazing chorus and an amazing pre chorus. Just overall a fantastic song.

4. Summer Rain - The craziest song on the album. The middle section would put Meshuggah to shame, wittering around hitting the lowest note they possibly can. Polyrthyms at their best in this song.

5. In This Light - It's almost like a ballad, but it's very eerie. Great song, with a great chorus.

6. Sanguine Seas Of Bigotry - One of the best songs on the album in my opinion. Mikee & Justin show some spectaculaire vocals. Amazing chorus.

7. Mermaid Slur - More poetry. In my opinion it doesent match up to When Will The Forest Speak...? Mainly because it's length isn't as long.

8. When The Moments Gone? -Great chorus. Very crazy but just enough to tolerate.

9. Part Of The Friction - Fantastic lyrics. Some great vocals and instrumental work.

10. Where Do We Fall? - The most melodic song on the album. Very Funeral For A Friend. Great chorus and some fantasitc melodies.

11. Another Sinking Ship - Amazing song with some amazing instrumental work.

12. As The Earth Spins Round - A great way to end the album. Amazing fade out section at the end.

CONCLUSION: Buy both of their albums. Fantastic pieces of music.

SiKtH (RIP)

arcane-beautiful This is up among the list of albums that changed my life forever. Picture this, a young 10 year old child, listening to quite average rock and alternative bands (mainly American, the Trout Mask Replica of nationallity concerning music). As I watch MTV2 (now called MTV Rock I think) at about 11 o'clock at night, a vibrant cartoon music video comes on, being only 10, it intrigued me a wee bit. The music that accompanied the video was some of the weirdest and most influential noises I have ever heard). The song was called How May I Help You?. I was intrigued.

Then a few months later, I hear another song and video from the band, one for the song Scent Of The Obscene. The video wasn't as attractive, but the song was so amazing and monumental, they had made a nice place for them in my heart.

I didnt buy the album until a while later, but yes, this album is a monument among metal.

Sikth were able to take math metal, which was quite a disjuncted genre, and form with it post metal, post hardcore, avant garde metal and progressive metal, making one of the most interesting and most successful fusions in what I see as music history.

The instrumental work is also incredibly smart and very frantic.

1. Scent Of The Obscene - When that slap bass line comes in, prepare for an amazine ride. Mixing amazing frantic sections with the almost ambient breakdown and topping off with a soaring chorus, this has to be one of the greatest songs ever made. The lyrics are amazing as well.

2. Pussyfoot - The intro of this song always makes me laugh. Great lyrics and the vocals are amazing. Incredbily frantic.

3. Hold My Finger - The lyrics of this song always makes me laugh. Thought they couldn't get anymore frantic, you were wrong.

4. Skies Of Millenium Night - Great lyrics and an hode to Bill Hicks. Very nice. The instrumental work in this song is amazing and the instrumental section just prooves how much of an amazing band these guys were.

5. Emerson, Pt. 1 - A beautifull piano instrumental. This is very sad and at times is a wee bit eerie.

6. Peepshow - One of the best songs on the album. Amazing lyrics, amazing voals from Justin and an beautifull soaring chorus. The vocal harmonies also are flawless. The video for this song is quite weird, but amazing.

7. Wait For Something Wild - Anoter incredibly frantic song with amazing voals. Crazy and werid as always. The ending is quite funny, showing Mikee's amazing voice work.

8. Tupelo - A Nick Cave cover. Yes, this isnt out of place. I haven't heard Nicks version, but if it's as good as this, then I will be happy. Mikee's vocals really are specatcular, with some amazing vocal techniques that he could only pull off. I love the eerie atmopshere that surrounds the song.

9. Can't We All Dream - Very noisy but quite beautifull in a morose sense.Some amazing vocals and I love the discourse between drums and bass.

10. Emerson, Pt. 2 - The continuation of this very beautiful piano interlude.

11. How May I Help You? - This is just...words can't describe it. If you haven't heard this song, then you badly need to. Very comical and incredibly enjoyable. Again, Mikee shows off some amazing vocal styles and voices. The story of the song is also very funny. The video can also be used as added stimulus.

12. (If You Weren't So) Perfect - Great song with a great chorus. Some amazing voals and lyrics.

13. Such The Fool - One crazy song. It's just so frantic.

14. When Will The Forest Speek...? - An amazing spoken word poem. Again, amazing voices from Mikee. I also can quote this word for word.

CONCLUSION: This changed my life, and hopefully it will change yours.