Skymning

"Artificial Supernova"
(Candlelight Records)  

-  With a style as blunt as their attitude-"After the release of our first album we kicked out our former singer because he sucked," Skymning's all about hammering the point home. While paying ample homage to their deathly origins, the recording trio at the helm for "Artificial Supernova" blazes a new trail wrought with pure mechanized warfare, industrial overtones and astral-like color. The resulting symbiosis is something a step beyond what either they themselves did prior or what many have sought to do since. The album turns out to be a daring maneuver that combines instrumental technicality with riveting aggression-equal parts Dismember and Meshuggah head-on in their bio-with an unexpectedly catchy delivery in most cases-"Synthetic Visions," "Shadowed/Astral Silver," "Shatter The World, "Inner Cosmic Experience/Inject The Spirit…" I'll grant them their right to "dis" their original singer, left nameless in their lead-in but then question what exactly constitutes one that doesn't "suck." No we're not registering high on the operatic range and then again the vocals are probably the least significant aspect to all of this wild wonder taking place around us. This is really a far reaching concoction built both on intensity and imagination, each song a soundscape of synthesized static and bullish riffing, not unlike something like Soilwork, revered counterparts in this man/machine arms race. Each track begins memorably enough, illuminating those invaluable individual principles that separate greatness from redundancy; some fall off into drone-like dread from time to time, though most maintain enough self-propulsion to cross the finish line on time-catch "Suicidal Dominion" or "Solitude" as figurative overachievers of the album, and revel in the traditionally sound Melodic/Death aggression-see Amon Amarth, In Flames, Godgory, etc. 60% solid overall with a few cracks in the foundation that goes with exploratory surgery and pay as you go tactics that should probably iron out with time.

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