Band: Asleep in the Light
Album: Asleep in the Light
Label: Unsigned
Release Date: November 26, 2011
Reviewer: BrodyB
- Intro
- 10 Steps to Regret
- V is for Vanity
- Broadway
- Luther Taught Me How to Dance
- Forty-Second
- Epilogue
Australia. Known for its beautiful beaches, the Sydney Opera house, and kangaroos has recently been making a name for itself for another thing. Heavy metal bands. Joining the ranks of counterparts Parkway Drive and Creations, Asleep in the Light attempt to ride the wave of heavy music coming from the land down under.
After a short intro, Asleep in the Light explode out of the gate with 10 Steps to Regret, a song with a constant lead guitar intricately picking behind chunky riffing and solid drumming throughout. Broadways is the first standout track on the album to me. It has a nice blend of straight up metalcore with a touch of experimental sensibility to keep things interesting with near constant finger tapping on the guitar. The song also has one of the most punishing breakdowns on the album as vocalist Nico Crampton bellows, “I never knew you”. Forty-Second is my favorite track on the album. The first minute of the track features airy and light hearted guitar, eventually turning into powerful and driving chord progressions with elaborate picking mixed in for good measure. Nico Crampton is also the strongest on Forty-Second, as he seamlessly switches between full on screams and yells/talking. The album closes out with another bright spot, Epilogue. Although it is an instrumental and some may see it as a throw away track, I found it to be pretty cool seeing as the band shows traces of experimental elements throughout some of their other songs, this outro gives them a chance to go all out and create a full experimental song.
There are however a few things I found I disliked about the album. I hate to sound like the elitist sounding snob that finds miniscule things such as production, but I found myself wishing the whole time that the bottom end of the sound was somewhat deeper and beefier. I felt like that would have made the breakdowns a lot more punishing and would have helped to make a fuller sound. Also I felt that aside from a few of the more experimental moments, Asleep in the Light sound very similar to most other metalcore bands such as August Burns Red or Texas in July. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, I found myself wishing that Asleep in the Light would have included more moments that were original and that separated them from the rest.
With all that being said, I feel confident that Asleep in the Light will satisfy anyone’s need for a new metalcore band to check out, as they are solid musicians that show lots of promise if they continue to explore their experimental abilities.