Zero Hour/Abnormal Thought Patterns/Cynthesis guitar wizard Jasun Tipton returns with the latest album from other other musical project, A Dying Planet, this one titled When the Skies Are Grey for Lifeforce Records. Also in the band for the album is vocalist Paul Adrian Villarreal (Sun Caged), bassist Brian Hart, and drummer Marco Bicca. What's great about the music of Tipton is that all of these musical outlets bring plenty of variety and they all sound different from each other. When the Skies Are Grey allows Jasun and his band plenty of room to create melodic soundscapes dripping with atmosphere and emotion, the lyrical themes centered on very important topics in today's world. Hints of Anathema, Katatonia, U2, Marillion, as well as some of the notable djent bands of today like Tesseract, Periphery, and Animals as Leaders pop up from time to time, so don't expect the sheer juggernaut bombast & technicality of his main band Zero Hour, though there are moments where the music seems to want to veer off in that direction, but then things are quickly reigned back in to do what A Dying Planet does best.
Most of the tracks are pretty lengthy, which allows for a lot of space and certainly for Villarreal to float over the top with his excellent vocal delivery...fans of Ray Alders's performance on Fates Warning classics like A Pleasant Shade of Gray or Parallels will just love the vocals on tracks like "Honoring Your Name", "Far From Home", and especially "A Father's Love". As for Jasun, while he does toss in some crushing riffs in spots, this is more about textures, tones, and colors, his use of ringing chords, arpeggios, and subtle effects help weave together the occasional heavy riff and angular solo. This isn't Zero Hour, and it doesn't need to be; the textures this band paint all around this album are absolutely intoxicating.
As the world awaits the upcoming Zero Hour album, A Dying Planet have knocked it out of the park on this highly emotional, dramatic, and textured slice of progressive rock & metal. Don't miss this one folks.
Track Listing
1. When the Skies are Grey
2. Honoring your Name
3. Hope for Tomorrow
4. Embrace
5. Far from Home
6. A Father's Love
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