SHAI HULUD — Reach Beyond the Sun (review)

SHAI HULUD — Reach Beyond the Sun album cover Album · 2013 · Metalcore Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Time Signature
At least a plausible cause for pessimism...

Genre: progressive hard-/metalcore

Veterans on the hardcore scene, Shai Hulud have four albums in their bagage (this one being the fourth one) and a generous handful of underground releases to their name. On Reach Beyond the Sun, they explore further their own brand of progressive hardcore with hints of metalcore.

Musically, there is a lot of good stuff on this album, and the tunes on it are generally very well put together, nicely complex and overall interesting. With many changes, twists and turns, Shai Hulud definitely challenge their listeners, and they are not above incorporating several metallic riffs and various types of guitar leads into their music. The songs are sophisticated and complex, but Shai Hulud are, having more in commmon with TRC, for instance, than with your average mathcore band, also considerably melodic and much more accessible (and, I am sure, some will have it) better that Shai Hulud's colleagues in For the Imperium and The Dillinger Escape Plan.

So, musically, this is a very good album. Unfortunately, the yelled hardcore style vocals – while aggressive and emotive – are too one-dimensional, in my opinion. That is, there is nothing wrong with that vocal style per se, but with such complex music, melodic and more varied vocals would contribute much more to the overall texture of the music. As it is now, the vocals fall a bit flat.

Musically a success, Shai Hulud's Reach Beyond the Sun offers up a collection of interesting and challenging – but not inaccessible – progressive hardcore tunes, which serve as good alternatives to the more inaccessible releases the populate the mathcore and technical hardcore universe.

(review originally posted at seaoftranquility.org)
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Instrumentals Melodic Metalcore
OPAL IN SKY
Buy this album from MMA partners
SURFACING Groove Metal
DEVILSKIN
Buy this album from MMA partners
Summerlovin Electronicore
ONE MORNING LEFT
Buy this album from MMA partners
For Death And Eternity Metalcore
ANYALA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Gaia Metalcore
RELATIONS
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Dissection - Starless Aeon (Official Music Video)
DISSECTION
Tupan· 7 hours ago
OPAL IN SKY - Empathy, The Gift (Music Video)
OPAL IN SKY
Bosh66· 10 hours ago
OPAL IN SKY - The Sacral (Lyric Video)
OPAL IN SKY
Bosh66· 10 hours ago
OPAL IN SKY - Planetary Bliss (Music Video)
OPAL IN SKY
Bosh66· 10 hours ago
OPAL IN SKY - Sequential Lives (Music Video)
OPAL IN SKY
Bosh66· 10 hours ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed