Band:	Derelict Earth
Album:	Below The Empty Skies
Style:	Extreme progressive metal
Release date:	December 16, 2012
A review by:	Boxcar Willy

01. The Graveyard Of Dreams
02. Trapped In A Flesh Cocoon
03. King Nobody
04. Screams Of The Speechless
05. The Great Degenerate Circus
06. Elegy Of Decayed Nations
07. Ashes Rain
08. Below The Empty Skies

Making music as a whole, collaborative effort with several musicians is hard, in the aspect that 5 or so people must think as one to create flowing and interesting music. This is difficult due to different tastes and different mindsets. Creating music by oneself is hindered by either the talent to play enough instruments to create interesting music, or by the fact that one's single idea may end up dry and stale.

Luckily, Quentin displays some real talent here.

Quentin Stainer plays all the instruments and sings all the vocals in the progressive death metal band Derelict Earth. He's been around the block a few times, releasing several albums under this name, and as an ex-Silmarillion vocalist and guitarist. So no, he's not new to this music game.

The instrumentation shines on this album, the fact that one man can play (and program, for that matter) all the parts to this extremely technical genre, blows my mind. The intro guitar is filled with fantastic melody work combined with crushing heavy rhythm work. It all blends to create a delightful mix that keeps the listener intrigued throughout the whole song. However, this formula starts to get a little stale past the forty minute mark. Five or six songs in, the album starts to become quite tedious, in fact I feel that this album could have had two of its tracks cut off to help eliminate the oncoming sea of boredom. That being said however, none of the tracks are bad, per say, however, as a whole it's points off for a staggered landing.

Another little peeve I found was the clean vocals. To be brutally honest, I also think they should have been cut as well: they are quiet, high pitched and irritating. They do not fit one bit. They are however, stricken from my mind when I hear the simply fantastic bass lines. Yes, for once in the musical world, the bass is upfront and powerful. The bass accompanies the guitar extremely well, and it sometimes takes the lead, causing me to air-bass along. Kudos for adding focus to this overlooked, yet extraordinary instrument.

Overall, I'm very impressed with this output, had its length been shortened and those cleans eliminated, we could have had something killer here.