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Blog Categories Review Sinister King - All Is Vanity, EP - Reviewed By Concert Monkey!

Sinister King - All Is Vanity, EP - Reviewed By Concert Monkey! Wednesday December 29 2021, 10:03 AM

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Sinister King - All Is Vanity, EP - Reviewed By Concert Monkey ! Check it out here at this link: http://www.concertmonkey.be/albumreviews/ep-sinister-king-%E2%80%93-all-vanity

The sleeve displays twilight colors. At the top, appear sandbanks of a river on which a drakkar sails in the mist, pulled by a flying insect. In the middle of this mudflat, a gaping hole opens on an eye with a blue iris. In the foreground, a scavenger, perched on a branch, seems to be watching its prey. The arrangement the image disturbs the perception mixing sky, water, earth, we no longer know what is at the top and what is at the bottom.
Above, a crown caps the 'K' of a living 'King'! Heavy start with 'All is vanity' with splash/Chinese cymbals and rumbling bass that seems to be played, empty strings. The synth sets up a menacing atmosphere by a line lurking in the background of the soundscape. Powerful, the guitar comes to cover the frame. The battery shakes the double pedal naturally. The cadence slows down, the chopsticks distribute the blows and the voice at first smooth, begins to crush grain. Riff and vocals advance on the same tracks. A few piano notes soften the subject which leads to an airy, fluid and very melodious chorus. The beautiful guitar solo, splashed by a keyboard, does not hesitate to rise in saturation. Some passages show the biceps with swollen synths while others take a finely progressive breath that reminds me of Vanden Plas' Germans.

A thunderstorm causes a downpour and then we plunge into a grueling descent of the track. The rocky song bounces off a terrain full of ruts. 'A cure for insomnia', really? 'To be protected From myself' probably... Again, on the chorus, the melody gets carried away, just upset by a death voice, before the sequence on the verse. At times, the 6 strings unleash venomous arrows. At 2/3 of the track, jerks of bass guitars shake the atmosphere, before a solo, relaxed, which weaves a magnetic wire.

Let's launch 'Still here'... The drums roll mechanics, the guitar riff, convulsive, dance with a synth tablecloth. You would almost feel the immersion in a Swedish Evergrey. This melancholic side squeezes the chest and penetrates the bowels. A passage, even darker, shakes the strings and releases a sober but skillful solo.
"I hate myself more and more each day", y'a plus joyeux! The skilful construction leads to the end while opera choirs operate with an open heart.

'In my head I see some pictures that I thought I buried long ago It's that nightmare from my past who's coming back to haunt me now', we better understand the trail of a drug against insomnia... The lyrics still do not make in euphoria, fortunately, the whirling keyboards impulse a feverish takeoff. Next to it, bass/battery form a heavy block. The guitar rages, cemented like a cinder block or epic like an eagle. A stop traps us but it is to better leave in a new raging tumult. 'Sanctuary rage' sanctuary really?

'Death of all joy', well, so much for now! The heartache, within the texts, leaves traces in the Cock roaching instrumentation. Guitar/bass/drum barbed wire surrounds the beach with heartbreaking rocks. The final act is dramatic. At the end of the chorus, the sequence, a clear melody with a clear voice and then a sinister tone with a death voice, recalls the recent creations of Dream Theatre. Moreover, the voice of Rune fraternizes with that of James Labrie. Without getting into the meanders of virtuoso John Petrucci, the flamboyant guitar solo shows a valiant mastery in its dexterity. Released in 2019, this title remains a good introduction to the band's music. Not bad, right?

The plate remains surprisingly compact (normal it's a compact disc actually!), in the prog metal tone and the duration of the sheets being between 5 and 6 minutes. We touch on the principle of the Norwegian omelet, glazed inside, hot on the outside and this combination works without melting. We are sometimes entitled to attacks of hard guitars and other times to a softer power metal and between the 2, progressive searches full of bitterness. Even if the ingredients are known, the recipe delights with great pleasure. - Concert Monkey

Release Date: November 26th, 2021

FFO: Evergrey, Dream Theater, Killswitch Engage

Location: Norway

Sinister King is a melodic heavy metal band based in Bergen, Norway . Their music is well-produced, energetic and full of melody. Some of the music is slightly progressive, and a lot of it is quite groovy. The lyrics are dark and melancholic.

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