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Blog Categories Review Skyliner - Dark Rivers, White Thunder - Reviewed By All Around Metal!

Skyliner - Dark Rivers, White Thunder - Reviewed By All Around Metal! Sunday May 9 2021, 5:37 PM

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Skyliner - Dark Rivers, White Thunder - Reviewed By All Around Metal ! Check it out here at this link: https://www.allaroundmetal.com/component/content/article/26-releases/8454-un-gioiellino-power-prog-nuovo-disco-per-gli-skyliner

American Skyliner, from Florida, is not exactly a prolific band as they have released three records in about twenty-one years of career. The trio then returned to prominence with the new album "Dark Rivers, White Thunder" which follows the previous "Condition Black" by about five years and also sees the entry into the lineup of the new bassist Stuart Brinkman, also engaged in backing vocals.
Basical the sound confirms the past of the group that is a mixture of heavy, power and prog metal without any of the genres prevailing over the other. In this album the dynamics expand and other genres are also incorporated, allowing some more extreme nuances to appear that make the result more dynamic.
Compared to the past there are considerable improvements both in production (the sounds are sharp and well balanced especially in the drums) and even the composition has refined although there are still defects but perhaps the thing that jumps most to the ear is the monstrous variety of styles used, even more full-bodied than in the other albums.
In fact, we go from the typical heavy song of the 80s passing through screaming, to growl and powerful epic passages. Already the opener track does not skimp on dynamism: the title track "Dark Rivers, White Thunder" bursts very crudely with an ungainly power metal with an American timbre mixed with British heavy metal to Judas Priest thanks to its furious screaming. Further details to note are the technical games present in the track especially in the bass work that denote a delicious progressive imprint (even the instrumental "Winter Witch Moon (Spell Of Ice)" is pervasive by particular dynamics). As the listening continues there are a couple of falls in tone or "The Ghost Messenger" which looks like a song with neither head nor tail and the power interlude "The Singing Shaman (Fire Stomp)". Luckily the remaining tracks definitely elevated the quality. "God With No Heaven" is a kind of watershed by inserting a massive and lethal "guideline" riff that begins a very doom/epic metal-indebted path with a magnificent acid solo and the insertion of violent vocals into growls. From the aforementioned guitar line it is decided to build something special and here appear episodes full of bright colors such as the beautiful "We Of The Shadow" that starts from the mix of American power and European heavy metal and then results in fighting atmospheres, epic choirs and sharp and ingenious guitar shaves with not indifferent changes of time and atmosphere. "Catch a Dream" instead brings the hand back to heavy/power but assembles it as death metal borders while in "I Walk Alone" rises the spectre of Iron Maiden of Dance Of Death but with an emotional explosion in sublime riffs. The real pearl of the album is instead "Night Gypsies" which has inside a compendium of refined melodies, classy progs and really imposing sound walls that silence even the small inconsistencies present in the album.
It is not a masterpiece (now this word is increasingly annoying from what is abused) but it is just a record of great
music. Good job!!! - 4/5 - All Around Metal

Hailing from Jacksonville, Florida , SKYLINER is a wave of discontent and a voyage to freedom, with a progressive mind's eye at the center of the storm. Lyrically esoteric, insightful, or emotionally shipwrecked, a tide of vocal wails and roars collides with pure toned, high-volume guitars, bass, and drums, an alchemical marriage recalling the classic era of heavy and power metal while adding new stones onto that eternal foundation.

“ Dark Rivers, White Thunder ” also sees the band exploring some more earthy, tribal themes and underpinnings, both lyrically and musically, helping to define the feel and atmosphere of the record.

Fans of Devin Townsend , Royal Hunt , and Eternal Champion are going to love Skyliner ! Their new album, Dark Rivers, White Thunder, has progressive musicianship mixed with elements of traditional heavy metal. Skyliner has several ranges of vocal styles, starting with epic Iron Maiden -esque wailing, screaming that is reminiscent of Judas Priest , and sinister growls that will make any death metal head happy. All of that is tied together with a thunderous rhythm section that will have you fist pumping the sky in no time! - Zach Moonshine