Style: Post-metal, progressive metal (instrumental)
Recommended for fans of: Cult of Luna, Russian Circles, Pelican, Opeth, Agalloch
Country: United States (New Hampshire)
Release date: 26 June 2026

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A specific combination of environmental elements causes a leaden-tint to the sky. High atmospheric moisture as a result of dense storm clouds mute the bright blue into an industrial metallic hue. Alternatively, an accumulation of smoke or haze drifting upwards filters sunlight to create an eerie overcast tone. Regardless of the cause, a lead-colored sky evokes a sense of foreboding and approaching oppression. Emerging from this melancholic backdrop, A World Worth Burning’s debut, The Sky Was Colored as Hammered Lead, is an immersive post/progressive-metal conceptual journey through the final collapse of humanity. Through eight instrumental tracks, AWWB explore our species’ disappearance to war, famine, and moral decay as the universe continues forward, indifferent and unaffected.

AWWB effectively construct a grandiose and ominous atmosphere throughout The Sky Was Colored as Hammered Lead—setting the stage with a brooding, synthetic hum in the album’s opener “Zeus (Conquest)”. Scattered elements like the distant cracks of thunder in “The Sky Was Colored as Hammered Lead” and isolated full-bodied cello in closing track “Thanatos (Death)” enforce the foreboding unease that AWWB cultivate. As with most post-tinged metal albums, the tracks of The Sky Was Colored as Hammered Lead lean heavily on developing sonic landscapes with a slow burn. Themes and phrases are commonly introduced with simplicity, by a bass-drum pair or isolated guitar, and gradually build with the addition of layers, synths, and overall heaviness. The result has the sonic effect of being caught in a rainstorm: the rolling darkened cloud overhead brings a growing density to the downpour, which diminishes as the cloud carries onward, leaving a reprieve before the next deluge approaches.

Much like the accuracy of local meteorologists, though, AWWB’s deliverance is inconsistent. When they hit their stride, as in “The Sky Was Colored as Hammered Lead” or “A World Worth Burning”, AWWB weave through gentle and stormy sections, successfully incorporating melodic and harmonized guitars and synths while punctuating phrases with a synchronized pummeling that really sets the atmosphere on fire. A subtle Agalloch influence intertwines throughout “Everything and Everyone You Have Ever Loved”, as distorted guitar lines dance above cleanly swaying acoustic passages with an overall melancholic harmony. The inaccurate forecasts come in the form of prolonged, repetitive sections that drag The Sky Was Colored as Hammered Lead down into an attention-losing tedium. “Limos (Famine)” is seven-minutes of monotonous bass droning with backing synths that do nothing to inspire. This approach may have worked as a brief interlude, but at this length, snuffs out any momentum that AWWB had built in the preceding tracks. “Speak No Evil”, while more engaging, gets a bit bogged down from repetition as well; if trimmed the track may have been enticing and memorable, but is bloated at the current length. Similarly, album closer, “Thanatos (Death)”, has the feel of an outro track, though it drags on for over seven-and-a-half minutes. Other than doubling down on the oppressive atmosphere, there isn’t sufficient musical intrigue to justify the final track’s length. 

With the absence of a vocal presence in The Sky Was Colored as Hammered Lead, AWWB’s instrumentation is given free reign to explore the vast horizons and create an apocalyptic soundscape. The excess of atmosphere-establishing filler material, however, does not justify the nearly hour-long run time. But when the time is right, and AWWB’s post/progressive metal squall approaches, the storm surge has the strength to wash away everything in its path. Future efforts should focus on sustaining the downpour, and limit the merciful respite of atmospheric repetition.

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Recommended tracks: The Sky Was Colored as Hammered Lead, A World Worth Burning, Everything and Everyone You Have Ever Loved
You may also like: Neànder, Syberia, Bossk, Bruit ≤
Final verdict: 6/10

Related links: Facebook | Instagram

Label: Argonauta Records

A World Worth Burning is:
– Joe Davis (bass)
– Derek Clark (drums)
– Randy LaChance (guitar)
– Craig Simas (guitar)