Band:	Grey Skies Fallen
Album:	Along Came Life
Style:	Melodic death metal, Doom metal
Release date:	September 2010

01. Grand Scheme Of Things
02. By The Wayside
03. Forever And A Day
04. Along Came Life

Even though they already have three LPs under their belt and one in the making, I was not familiar with Grey Skies Fallen when I received their latest EP Along Came Life. For this reason, I decided to ask their keyboard player, Craig Rossi, three questions:

1. What are some of your musical influences?
Craig: I would say our influences are a good balance of metal and non-metal groups: Mew, Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree, Camel, Blackfield, Dark Tranquility, Opeth, Amorphis, My Dying Bride, etc. Mostly we just like to play with riffs and record whatever we think sounds good. We don't try to emulate any one type of group. If you listen to all of our releases you can hear just about any genre of metal within.

I followed Craig's advice and gave the EP a good number of listens. Considering the various extreme influences, I was pleasantly surprised to hear calm progressive rock with very evocative and powerful melodies sung by rich vocals. It all reminded me of Marillion's "Brave"... at least until the death metal elements kicked in, burrowing holes into my skull like the most aggressive of Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride songs.

2. Which is better: Paradise Lost or My Dying Bride?
My Dying Bride. Although I love Paradise Lost, I just think My Dying Bride has always been a favorite of mine and the rest of the guys in the group.

...and it shows. Nevertheless, while MDB have in recent years become little more than a cartoon of themselves, Grey Skies Fallen sounds honest and relevant. Its all in the genuine feeling of despair that exists both in the calm and the heavy passages - Grey Skies Fallen conjure the sort of raw melancholy that would certainly make most doom metal bands jealous. But isn't it just a little too raw?

3. Who produced this EP and will this person also produce your future releases?
We produced this ourselves and we will continue to produce ourselves until someone comes along lol.

The EP's production is by far its weakest point. Although the music is truly enjoyable in that quiet and melancholic way, everything sounds somewhat contrived and underwhelming. Grey Skies Fallen make quite brilliant music and I can see them reaching the kind of level that Opeth and Riverside are known for. With this said, only under the watchful eye of a good producer (say a Steven Wilson) will their upcoming LP truly be worth looking forward to.

Editor's note: Craig actually went back and improved the mix of this EP somewhat after our little talk and before Travis Smith submitted the cover art. Unfortunately, the result is only a subtle improvement.