Band:	Sun Devoured Earth
Album:	The Sunshine Always Fades
Style:	Post-Rock, Shoegaze, Atmospheric black metal
Release date:	April 01, 2011
A review by:	KwonVerge

01. The Wind
02. Emptiness
03. Spring Again
04. A Song About Hate
05. Everything Always Ends Badly
06. So Lonely
07. I'm Bored Of Living
08. Insomnia
09. Melancholy
10. Crashes Down
11. Birthday Balloons
12. Tides
13. Sorrow
14. Taking The Responsibility

Sun Devoured Earth is a Latvian one-man band being run by a dude named Vadim Vasilyev and i have to admit that he's very productive. The band was born during 2009 and since then he's released many albums and EPs in just two years! The Sunshine Always Fades is his fourth full-length and the second one during 2011 at the same time. The cover artwork is a bit freaky with an absurd sense of desolation, an aura being inflicted upon the music as well.

Concerning the sound, you will witness a black metal background being present, more as a feeling rather than in the structure of the songs. It's mainly present when a noisy riffing entrances the atmosphere, the production becomes blurrier or some desperate screams escalate a composition. The main core lies upon an ambient touch, a shoegaze aura and dark aspects of 80s post punk (The Cure, The Sound, Joy Division to name but a few). A dreamlike vibe is omnipresent through the whole duration of The Sunshine Always Fades, yet this euphoric sweetness couldn't last forever. Melancholy's always waiting for the right time to appear and take over. The thing is, Sun Devoured Earth is pure night music, an internal battle between tranquility and your demons, a hallucinating atmosphere either for good or for bad and there's no escape. And the ideal ensemble has to be the dreamy keyboards, the beautiful or melancholic chords/riffing melodies and the heart-felt singing or desperate howls. The production paces really well with the overall attempt, gentle and a little bit distorted at times.

Some songs will appeal to you more, some others less, the key lies in your mood and the moment you will listen to The Sunshine Always Fades, more preferably after sunset as the title indicates. For some weird reason "Everything Always Ends Badly" pierces my mind, "Insomnia" will stick your stare on the clock, hours will pass but you'll still be there, awake, "Melancholy's" bittersweet, "Crashes Down" has to be the few seconds before the impact, "Birthday Balloons" evokes a nostalgic sense of lost innocence, "Sorrow" requires no introduction and "Taking The Responsibility" holds a hallucinating sense of self-acknowledgement.

Anyway, give Sun Devoured Earth a chance, after all almost everything he has offered is self-released. Just relax, free your mind and thoughts/feelings will visit you themselves while the album will be unleashing its tunes.