Below The Sun - Envoy review
| Band: | Below The Sun |
| Album: | Envoy |
| Style: | Funeral doom metal |
| Release date: | February 24, 2015 |
| Guest review by: | Alex F |
01. Outward The Sky
02. Cries Of Dying Stars
03. Alone
04. Drift In Deep Space
05. Breath Of Universe
06. The Earth
Below The Sun are at their very core a funeral doom band. This is clear with nearly every aspect of the group, from the spacey theme to the aesthetic created with the song names and album cover. We are initially greeted with effected guitar that evokes the feeling of floating, and slowly builds to a colossal climax after two and a half minutes. This is where the album truly starts, and the band shows their true form.
Dense riffing plods along over relatively upbeat drum patterns, but with far more variety than the average funeral doom band. It seems the group chose the style not for the simplicity of songwriting, but for the thematic decisions they made. The group's Bandcamp page describes the album as taking perspective from the personification of Voyager-1, which is not only a strikingly unique concept, but an incredibly apt summation of the atmosphere. At times the Esoteric influences are abundantly present, however other moments seem far more unique, like something of a mixture between Darkspace and Evoken. Innovation is hard to come by in funeral doom, and while Below The Sun certainly haven't reinvented the wheel, there is enough in the way of individuality to keep the album sounding fresh.
Describing the music itself can mostly be done through a listing of influences, however the band has one skill that is rivaled by very few. This skill manifests in the form of instrumental and vocal layering. At times it sounds as if there are three guitar tracks floating over monolithic bass and rather intricate drumming for the style. Yet somehow the flow is never lost and each aspect comes through with striking clarity. Further digging reveals that the mastermind behind this success is none other than renowned Mell Dettmer. Dettmer's expertise has undoubtedly allowed Below The Sun to achieve maximum success on their quest while still letting the music speak for itself.
This album is packed with emotion, intricate leads, hypnotizing guitars, and magnificent vocals. Everything a fan of modern funeral doom could ever want seems to be present. The only shortcoming presents itself in the way of variety, as the album mostly follows the same formula of constantly building to a climax. Despite this, I never once got bored of listening to this album, and even after eight months it remains in regular rotations. Do not let these musicians dwindle into obscurity and check this album out.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by Alex F | 27.10.2015
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Comments
| Draugen Posts: 500  |
Nice to see a review of this hidden gem. One of my favorite albums of the year for sure.
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
I want to say "NO fucking way" to: Quote: but just in time I realized it is about a band called 'BELOW The Sun' and NOT 'SWALLOW The Sun' 
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| Alex F Posts: 3519  |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 27.10.2015 at 17:12 HAhaha glad to see you're always ready to rip on StS.
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| Zap Posts: 3577  |
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by Alex F on 27.10.2015 at 18:15 Every chance I get.  WAs even ripping on them last Saturday over at the Faal and Eye Of Solitude split release release gig with a couple of the Faal and EoS guys. 
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| tea[m]ster Au Pays Natal Contributor Posts: 5266  |
If this is funeral doom metal then I am a goddam chinaman. Discovered this album earlier this year thru my usual post metal informants. I've checked out Evoken and Esoteric before, not sure if I would use those bands for comparison. There is definitely doom metal blips on the radar but in general I would label this post metal. At any rate, great review and thanks.
---- rekt
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| Alex F Posts: 3519 |
Written by tea[m]ster on 29.10.2015 at 22:25 There is definitely a lot of post-metal infused within, but the entire structure of the album, from general chord-progression trends to the overarching simplicity in time-signature changes and individual song structuring is 100% funeral doom. Compare it with the musical theory behind other funeral doom acts and you'll see that Below the Sun fall into that categorization very very heavily. Thanks for the compliment though! I'm curious why you think this is primarily post-metal versus doom? Because honestly the only post-metal I see manifests within the thematic progression (in a musical sense, not lyrical), where each song builds to multiple climaxes in a very theatrical fashion.
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
This is what I wrote about the album last January: "Below The Sun hails from the cold tundra's of Siberia. Cold their music is although from time to time warmth radiates from it. The band itself claims to be playing post metal, I, however, claim it is funeral doom with a light psychedelic touch to it and very reminiscent of Esoteric. During the subdued passages a pinch of post metal can be discerned. For the duration of six songs the collective goes about it as a steamroller operated by a sloth. The listener is taken for a slow ride only to be released at the end of it all. This is the sort of funeral doom that really makes me happy. But then again reference band Esoteric is one of my absolute favourites. What Below The Sun presents here for the very first time is mighty impressive. So, funeral doom junkies? run with the speed of a snail to the nearest computer with an internet connection and order the album directly from the band or the label."
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Alex F Posts: 3519 |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 30.10.2015 at 11:53 Glad to see you can corroborate my claims. Definitely funeral doom, though there is enough outside influence for people to have their own interpretation i suppose.
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| tea[m]ster Au Pays Natal Contributor Posts: 5266 |
Well, like Marcel said, the band lists post-metal as one of the genre tags on their bandcamp page. Cannot argue with that.
---- rekt
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374  |
Written by tea[m]ster on 31.10.2015 at 01:34 Children Of Bodom used to call themselves black metal. So yeah, you can argue with that. It's not unusual for musicians to not know what the heck they are playing.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Alex F Posts: 3519 |
Written by tea[m]ster on 31.10.2015 at 01:34 Just to repeat what Rod said; musicians often aren't the smartest nor best informed individuals, and usually don't quite know how to define their music. What is possible is that they set out to be a post-metal/funeral doom group but wound up dropping most of the post-metal. Also, going by your logic, they also list funeral doom in the genre tags, so your initial comment of calling this pure post-metal would also be incorrect
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| tea[m]ster Au Pays Natal Contributor Posts: 5266 |
I am not a musician, nor do I play one on TV - but to oppose my view by telling me they don't know what genre of music they are playing? Please. I don't buy it. Especially in this day and age, when their are so many categories and sub-genres of music fused together. The media outlets available to them for comparison is at an all time high. If anything, if they don't know wtf they are playing , the band will ask for help/opinions. I never said this was straight post metal. I said I hear doom metal - the lethargic gate and buildups of the songs. If anything, we can commend the band for making a really original album that combines post metal aesthetics with funeral doom structures. And yes, it's 50/50. I will not change my opinion about the post metal, I think I have earned the right to distinguish.
---- rekt
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| Zap Posts: 3577 |
If a band just plays music that they like without thinking about what category it will fall into they often end up not really knowing which genre it belongs to. And just because a band says they play a certain style doesn't change what category most other people will put it in. If Opeth went around saying they play post death rock it wouldn't make it true. Genres aren't entirely objective, but I'd say this is for the most part clearly funeral doom.
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374 |
Written by tea[m]ster on 01.11.2015 at 01:13 No need to take it personal. Bring Me The Horizon, a young band during the internet age, said they were grindcore once. They could have searched for some info too, right? Is it so unbelievable that bands sometimes do their music without really knowing what they are playing? Not all bands are that concious about it, specially where their aim is just making heavy music and not "making X metal". Not a difficult concept to grasp.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| tea[m]ster Au Pays Natal Contributor Posts: 5266 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 01.11.2015 at 10:25 Doc - I didn't take it personally man, it's all good. I am just perplexed how some of these bands that were mentioned can't figure out what style of music they play. Especially today, when genre tagging is arguably the most important factor for selling their product/getting their music noticed. Of course it's really more of a compliment than a negative if you don't get pigeon-holed under one generic style of music. Oh, and this album is really dam good. The "spacey" - aura of the music also lends itself to post metal...but ultimately, I can't believe I am digging a funeral doom album 😱😱😱😱😱
---- rekt
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374 |
Written by tea[m]ster on 01.11.2015 at 16:22 I totally agree with you. It's always cool when bands do more than they actually thought they were doing.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Alex F Posts: 3519 |
Written by tea[m]ster on 01.11.2015 at 16:22 Glad you like it! And I'm sorry if it seemed like anyone was being hostile towards your opinion. In the end, I'm just glad a bunch of people are digging this relatively unknown album!
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| Zap Posts: 3577 |
Written by [user id=142921] on 01.11.2015 at 08:29 Uhm. Yes. I don't know, why would you ask me? I barely know Sunn O))) apart from 3 or 4 albums and having seen them live.
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62002  |
Great review, works fine after listening this, I didn worked to me, before I heard album, I read this one when you wrote it, it didn't work, now review work and fits into music
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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| Reaper_Redeemer Posts: 746  |
Well-written review. I really liked the expression and the knowledge over this.
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