PSOTY ‘Sunless’
Album Review By Adam McCann
Candlelight Records/Progressive Metal/Post Metal
Formally known as Pet Slimmers of the Year, the band have moved away from this rather daft name and instead gone with just PSOTY. The Cambridgeshire band released their debut album ‘Fragments of Uniforms’ back in 2014 and since then, PSOTY have been relatively quiet until this year which has the band delivering their sophomore album ‘Sunless’.
With ‘Sunless’, PSOTY have heartily expanded on the sound laid out with their debut album. This means that instead of confining themselves to just one genre, the band take touches of progressive and post-metal, equal parts ambient, instrumental and fully-fledged songs. From this, it means that ‘Sunless’ has all the appeal of Between The Buried And Me, Tool and Devin Townsend, dynamic shades of light and dark, melodic ethereal passages which float and shimmer like a spectre before a crushing riff arrives that would make fans of Baroness weak with ecstasy. Tracks such as ‘Oil Blood’, ‘Queen of Hades’ and ‘King of Ephyra’ are prime examples of this album in its full glory.
However, ‘Sunless’ does require conscious listening to fully appreciate; it is not an album that can be put on as just ‘something in the background’, to do that would unfortunately not do this album the justice it deserves. Conversely, this also means that ‘Sunless’ attracts something of a niche audience, yes ‘Sunless’ won’t shift albums by the pallet load, but those who do pick up this album will thoroughly appreciate, cherish and covet ‘Sunless’ in a way that only a true fan of the genre and music can.
Rating : 70/100
MHF Magazine/Adam McCann
