COUNTLESS SKIES - Resonance

COUNTLESS SKIES

Album: Resonance - Live from the Studio

Genre: Melodic Death Metal

Release Date: May 5th, 2023

Country: UK

Label: Willowtip Records

Band Links: WEBSITE / BANDCAMP / TWITTER / INSTAGRAM / FACEBOOK

Back in 2020, I fell in love with the stunning cover artwork of UK based band COUNTLESS SKIES, which made me buy their album “Glow” without having heard a single note. Luckily, the music turned out to be great too and easily entered my Top 20 that year, so their recent tour and release announcements led to high anticipation around these parts. For their new record, which is called “Resonance” and is out on May 5th via Willowtip Records, they played five of their songs live in the studio, also having cellist Arianna Mahsayeh with them.

For those who are not yet familiar with COUNTLESS SKIES: Their music is best described as a mix of death, doom, and a pinch of black metal, melted together by a strong progressive approach and wonderful, soaring melodies, whether instrumental or vocal-wise. On "Resonance", they picked the powerful "Daybreak" as opener, followed by the mighty "Summit", and each song got new, unique parts, written for this recording.

“Glow” works perfectly as climax in the middle, clocking in with 20 minutes and impressively showing the magic this band has to offer. By changing the arrangements a bit towards the cello, their sound gets a different direction without losing its core, but gaining a beautiful depth. There are long instrumental parts that come along mesmerizing, and are skillfully played by all musicians involved. The growls add a strong, harsh element to the music, building a great contrast to the marvelous, clean vocals.

The great "Wanderer" is next, which is taken from their album "New Dawn" (2016), before they close their live set in a wonderful way with "Tempest".

All-together, “Resonance” resonates very well with me, and I love the intensity these new arrangements add to their sound, which makes me excited about seeing them on their upcoming tour (you can find the dates here). While the songs were already familiar to me, this "live at the studio" version brings in a different atmosphere by changing the focus a bit. All musicians impress with their flawless performances, yet acting as a strong unit. Fans of COUNTLESS SKIES' previous releases are surely gonna enjoy this offering, but hopefully it will also open their work to new listeners. Check it out!

Written by Katha