There seems to be a glut of bands around at the moment who have the technical prowess, the riffs, hooks and melodies in abundance, but seem hell-bent on adding an ingredient to their arsenal that is not only needless, but actually transforms the overall whole from foot-tapping promise into a game of spot-the-bawl.

Surrey-based five-piece Open The Skies are prime examples of this, littering otherwise solid, epic rock songs with the kind of bilious, growling more commonly found in Norwegian black metal! 

“He Spoke of Success”, the lead-off track is the pick of the three tracks here, containing all the aforementioned musicianship, some charging, thrashy riffs and a catchy, fists-in-the-air chorus.  But, like a date with Amy Winehouse, you’ll only get to all the good stuff after a frankly frightening opening and some needless roaring. “Keiko’s Last Smile” and “A Silent Decade” again slay with killer choruses but are no sooner up and running, than they’re suddenly and jarringly bogged down and mired in a bottleneck of sounds that resemble the noises Keith Richards makes in the morning.

Ultimately, and after considerable listens, it is almost impossible to hear the quality of Open The Skies without wishing you could ignore the delusions-of-doom that tarnish this otherwise promising release.

Let us know your views on He Spoke Of Success

Track Listing

He Spoke Of Success
Keiko's Last Smile
A Silent Decade

Line Up

Josh McKeown
Steve Lumley
Kieran Brannigan
Jamie Willis
Chris Velissarides