REVIEW: Close To The Sky – The Distant View (Album)

After releasing their first EP in 2013, metalcore/djent band Close To The Sky make a return with their new album The Distant View. Close To The Sky are clearly influenced by band’s such as Northlane, Heart of a Coward, Vildhjarta and Architects so fans of these band’s should definitely check out this release. The Distant View is currently available on most of the important music and streaming websites such as iTunes, BandCamp, Google Play and Spotify, it also streaming on YouTube for free here:

The album opens with a long suspenseful intro which can be seen as the calm before the storm because as soon as you hear the intro to the opening song A Fading Existence you will get goosebumps for sure! The combination of these tracks is such a good way to open an album and most certainly sets the tone for the rest of this album. Unfortunately, in a few of the tracks such as A Fading Existence and In My Skin there are a couple of parts from the vocalist in which he raps, almost in the style that Attila do and I feel that it is unnecessary and in a way ruins the moment. However, apart from these minor setbacks this album is jam packed with good vocal parts which compliment the instrumentalists perfectly.

The fifth track Code caught me completely off guard as it opens with such a hard hitting breakdown that you probably thought the band were not capable of by listening to the previous songs. After this track is the track Haunting Memories which could possibly be the best track on this release and you can tell that it is very much influenced by the style of Architects. The song has lots of complex sounding riffs and a very heavy breakdown but it also swaps back to a melodic chorus that is very catchy and you’ll most likely have this stuck in your head for at least the rest of the day! However, once again there is the completely unnecessary rapping which luckily does not ruin the song but definitely takes away quite a bit. There are also quite a few of the typical djent sounding parts in this album, these parts are what separates this band from being ‘just another generic metalcore band’ and will definitely get this band noticed!

This album is certainly fit for fans of both metalcore and djent as it is an excellent cross between both genres that mixes both styles incredibly well. I highly recommend that if you are a fan of any of the previously mentioned bands you need to check this release out! Close To The Sky are definitely an upcoming band that you should keep your eye on as they are incredibly talented and have the skill to be one of the next big bands in the scene.

My Top Track: 6. Haunting Memories