Page 37 - RYAN'S GIG GUIDE DECEMBER 2014

RGG December 2014 - p.37
J Holder
The track which gave the band their name and
heralded their change in musical direction ‘In
Search Of Sun’ begins in quite ominous fashion
but soon descends into what is almost stadium
rock The moody guitars lay the foundation for
Leader’s vocals to pull the track along and into
a big grandstand chorus I described the song as
stadium rock not because it sounds like Bon Jovi
but because the guitar solo has got that massive
ranging style which Slash made so popular
Granted he didn’t have such a thundering drum
beat to play over but you get my point ‘Idle
Crown’ manages to be hard hitting mellow in
your face and almost thoughtful in the same
song It seems to flit between threatening to rip
your face off and giving you an overly familiar
hug The bass comes to the fore in the slower
sections and these more laid back phases help
give not only this song but the album a nice
balance
After a brief intro from the rhythm section the
riffs return and the pace kicks back up a gear as
‘Burn’ powers into life It’s another really solid
track and one that I like but the ending feels a
little too abrupt You go from full throttle to
nothing in a spit second; it just jars a little bit
Now every metal album has at least one epic
track that goes through more phases than a
confused teenager and we have arrived at In
Search Of Suns effort ‘To The Axe ’ Slow
sections quick sections reflective moments ear
splitting guitars and equally fierce vocals it’s all
in here This track isn’t as instant as the rest of
the album and took me a few listens to really
get a hold on it but even then I didn’t really
fully warm to it I don’t know why there’s
nothing massively wrong with it; it just seems
to go through the motions and doesn’t grab you
as much as the rest of the album does
‘Skin’ continues the epic theme but the track
connected with me in a way in which the
previous one didn’t for whatever reason To be
honest the band score massive points purely for
using a Wild West style harmonica on the
intro I mean when was the last time that you
heard a harmonica on a metal record? The
strong vocal takes up a prominent position
early doors but this track is all about the guitar
work The solo is just awesome; it manages to
be restrained while also being the focal point
of the entire track The epic all out finish isn’t
bad either!
There isn’t a lot I can say about ‘Draw The Line’
which I haven’t said about other tracks It’s
another good album track and makes sure the
album doesn’t just peter out towards a tame
finish It’s just another very very solid track
Closing effort ‘The Eyes Behind I’ throws
together an aggressive vocal and light
instrumental work for large sections and
although it probably shouldn’t it works really
well A barnstorming grandstand finish ensures
the album goes out with a bang Only now do
you get to collect yourself this is a ‘full on’
album if ever there was one
The Word Is Yours is an absolutely incredible
listen The negatives I found and mentioned
above are pretty minor and let’s be honest how
many albums are actually perfect? It is very
very hard to pick fault with this record even
the production is nigh on flawless In Search Of
Sun are a band on the rise… The world is
indeed yours gentlemen