Album Review: Storm The Sky ‘Sin Will Find You’
Have you seen the Family Guy episode where Peter is crying over Lionel Richie’s album ‘Can’t Slow Down’? “You’ve been hurt, that much is clear,” Peter says through tears. That will be you with Storm The Sky’s new album ‘Sin Will Find You’, set for release in early August. (Although for the record, it’s a lot heavier than anything by Lionel Richie)
The 5-piece hail from Melbourne and their debut album ‘Permanence’ got them to #45 on the ARIA album chart in 2015. Since their initial success they’ve buckled back down and delivered us another masterpiece, which dare we say could see more success than their first.
The sound is what people like to call death-pop, a heavy hybrid of catchy, poppy sections with dark, weighty, and ambient ideas interwoven through the album. It’s musically refined but emotionally raw, catchy, but heartbreaking. More or less it’s a cool,creative exploration of modern rock. ‘Sin Will Find You’ shows these guys can take the best of a few genres and mix them down into a memorable piece of work.
“Scratchy electronic overtones create intricate sections and the whole experience is eerily beautiful on the ears.”
Airy but strong guitar tones lead you into a slow and weighty opening with Second Best. William Jarratt’s smooth vocals are filtered into an almost dream-like tone. Every note is purposeful and sure of itself, there’s no mistaking the emotion. The song builds intensity through the vocals, finishing with the repeating of “ready to wake up” over clean hard guitars and staggered drums.
The band waste no time in picking up the pace of the album with it’s lead single Jaded Ghost. Likeable tunes are reminiscent of a pop song, but heavy guitars and abrasive screams keep it in heavy rock territory. There’s thought layered into every section and while the song is catchy, it’s never predictable. It changes constantly and keeps you entranced in a state of angst the whole way through.
Carcinova starts in a dreamlike state with light, beautiful instrumentation, climbing up to a heavy ballad that just keeps getting heavier. By the time the chorus hits the guitars are firm and powerful. You’ll probably find yourself entranced by Jarratt’s vocals, which float above the other layers with poise. Medicine begins with a strong riff that hooks you in an instant. It has the structure of a pop song but with emotional metal elements perfectly sprinkled through. The chorus has a vice grip as Jarratt’s vocals will raise plenty of hairs.
Wake Up Sleeping creeps out of silence into the album through a haunting intro. Clean guitars and drums with an almost electronic feel set the scene for Jarratt to offer emotionally charged lyrics, “Do you ever wanna wake up sleeping?”. Scratchy electronic overtones create intricate sections and the whole experience is eerily beautiful on the ears. These guys have well and truly proven they have a knack for using a single catchy hook in different ways to tie a song together.
In Vein features soft acoustic and electronic rolls that might remind you of dripping water in a cavern. A gorgeously poppy drum beat emerges over pained screams and angelic echoes. “Don’t wake me up, don’t leave me here” ends the song softly and suddenly. This piece is still heavy but it carries a softness with it that settles in the album and almost makes you comfortable.
S.W.F.Y brings the album back to fast, heavy pop-metal with screams, thick guitars, and loud, creative drumming. The clean singing in between the chaos breaks the song up with memorable hooks that are now the emotional signature of the album. Notches get pushed up as one of the most metal parts of the album, yet the song ends in a cluster of screams and fuzzy distortion.
“It sounds like these guys faced their demons for the sake of art in this album, and it’s soul-piercingly good.”
Sounds become cleaner and more ambient for Disappointed. Jarratt really shows off what his voice can do with his striking clean vocals in this quirky, graceful pop song. Electronic motifs surround the song, making it feel like the most experimental of the album. “Everything I’ve ever done is worthless” is also, unfortunately, a lyric most of us can probably relate to at one point or another in our moody lives. This song is super charismatic and raw at the same time.
To end the album, Burning starts with an industrial electronic feel that comes through in every instrument with long, drawn out notes. The piece builds from soft to heavy in a collection of everything the album offers. Strong vocals and guitars echo through the whole track with emotional riffs and fascinating, elaborate sections.
Storm The Sky have really captured their emotions, feelings, and innermost pains in ‘Sin Will Find You’. It’s an emotional rollercoaster, perfect for a late night alone if you need to let out some energy. It sounds like these guys faced their demons for the sake of art in this album, and it’s soul-piercingly good. Has it been done before? Sort of, but not like this!
Storm The Sky’s sophomore album ‘Sin Will Find You’ is set for release Friday 5th of August.
Storm The Sky Tour Dates
TUE 16 AUG
Eatons Hill Hotel, Brisbane
WED 17 AUG
Big Top, Sydney
THU 18 AUG
Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide
SAT 20 AUG
170 Russell, Melbourne
SUN 21 AUG
170 Russell, Melbourne
TUE 23 AUG
Astor Theatre, Perth
Get Tickets HERE
