Genres: Melodic Death Metal, Progressive Metal, Doom Metal (Mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Insomnium, Swallow the Sun, Omnium Gatherum, Draconian
Country: New York, USA
Release date: 8 March 2024
History ended in the nineties, at least according to Francis Fukuyama; living proof, if it were still needed, that world-leading experts are very often extraordinarily stupid. The progressive metal scene knew better. Here, the nineties were a time of true beginning: Porcupine Tree, Pain of Salvation, and Opeth made their first tentative steps, established bands like Death, Fates Warning and Shadow Gallery reigned supreme, and two little bands called Tool and Dream Theater were about to define the scene for decades to come.
Grey Skies Fallen can back me up: they’d have seen it happen, having joined the scene in the late nineties, and continued working for over twenty-five years now. Will the sixth album from these melodic death doomsters, Molded by Broken Hands, have us all wondering why they’re not mentioned in the same breath as the aforementioned genre luminaries, or showcase exactly why they’re not in that pantheon?
For the first few tracks, Grey Skies Fallen truly impress, opening with the grandiosity of “A Twisted Place in Time” which features a sublime acoustic intro that pushes into thick harshes atop a lumbering melodeath riff, synth and strings tickling the edges, before segueing into tension-building tremolo, and a portentously doomy outro riff which continuously slows to its eventual halt. This trend continues with the reverb-heavy lead guitar duel and solo that open the title track, Habeeb delivering both venomous harshes and agonised belting cleans. “No Place for Sorrow” delivers a notably rapid tremolo riff for a real sense of pace amid the chugging doom, while “I Can Hear Your Voice” provides a lofty refrain and a continuously evolving guitar motif. Molded by Broken Hands offers a fine buffet of doomy melodeath.
Echoes of past sounds dwell within, a certain nineties throwback feel at times—and, of course, Grey Skies Fallen formed in 1997—exemplified by the goth flavour of the reverb-laden clean guitars, and Rick Habeeb’s immense, anguished baritone; the opening of “No Place For Sorrow” is probably the best example. The synths too, contributed by Colin Marston (who handles production, too) have a very nineties flavour, as does the mix and master by the defining voice of nineties death metal himself, Mr. Dan Swanö. All this confers a nostalgic sensibility to the already melancholic melodeath; a veteran band reaching back to their formative influences and applying them to the present scene with aplomb.
Still, something held me back, and it took a while for me to work out what it was. The sedate doominess of the oft-repeated riffs wears a little thin after a while. Molded by Broken Hands has two modes: trudging doom and mid-tempo melodeath—“Cracks in Time” (surprisingly it was the lead single, and don’t get me started on the AI video; artists should not willingly usher in the death of other art forms [EDIT: Grey Skies Fallen’s ex-keyboardist Craig Rossi, who made the video, got in touch to say that the video actually features “tons of after effects and some stock footage that I pay $30 a month for. It’s not all AI, and those artists got paid for the fx and footage I downloaded”. As much as I dislike AI art, I retract what I said above, it sounds like Rossi was as responsible as possible about his use of AI, and that’s the best any of us can do]) and “Save Us” in particular lack the relative dynamism of the earlier tracks, although the latter resolves with a wonderful belting lament from Habeeb.
Nevertheless, by the fourth track, you’ve heard most of what Molded by Broken Hands has to offer. Grey Skies Fallen are great performers and composers, but I think sometimes having been on the scene for such a long time can leave bands stuck in particular patterns of writing. Final track “Knowing That You’re There” offers the most progressive approach to composition, with a very nice clean guitar break (which are mostly reserved for intros over the rest of the album), an incredible all-clean vocal performance from Habeeb, with a plaintive string-accompanied chorus; that this finale should stick out against its predecessors underlines the issue.
Despite having to quickly rein in the hopes I had for more exploratory prog death/doom in the manner of Wills Dissolve, for instance, Grey Skies Fallen nevertheless prove to be masters of their sound and tight performers, if leaning a little towards homogeneity at times, and I remain somewhat baffled that such a clearly talented band remain relatively unknown. That’s a historic crime, and so I beseech thee, depressed melodeath fans of the world: heed my call! You’ll like this one.
Recommended tracks: Molded by Broken Hands, No Place For Sorrow, Knowing That You’re There
You may also like: Eternal Storm, Wills Dissolve, Descend, Barren Earth
Final verdict: 7/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Metal-Archives page
Label: Profound Lore Records – Bandcamp | Facebook
Grey Skies Fallen is:
– Rick Habeeb (vocals, guitars)
– Joe D’Angelo (guitars)
– Sal Gregory (drums)
– Tom Anderer (bass)
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