SOL ASUNDER, Horribly Human  (2007, self-released)

The skull:
Taking a page from the Dave McKean book (at best) and trying to cop the vibe of those early My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost album covers by melding death and nature to make some sort of poetic statement or some shit, this thing is pretty lame. A totally low-rent version of the McKean and Travis Smith sort of deal. I see something that sort of looks like butterfly wings amongst the black smudges, and they went all-out with the pale green flora there.

The music:
If you told me this band was from the US and showed me the album cover and then asked me to guess what kind of music they play, I would have said “Swedish-style melodic death metal.” And that’s kind of what they do, but they have a much heavier approach than your typical band in this vein. Saying that they’re in the In Flames school of SMDM would be like saying Skeletonwitch play Testament-esque thrash. Because, yes, they do, but it’s way, way, way heavier and way more modern, to the point that the root influence is smothered. That’s what’s happening here — it’s almost like Sol Asunder are ushering in a new age of melodic death metal where the influence of Iron Maiden is nil, bands like Maiden and Helloween being considered quaint by these kids who were shitting their Pampers when Whoracle was released. It’s nice that Sol Asunder remember to put the “death” in “melodic death metal” (musically and vocally), and there is definite musical ability here, but they’re not doing enough to stand apart from the minions of melodic death and modern death bands, all of who continue to render each other redundant with their interchangeability and lack of unique traits. These guys were storming along quite nicely as an independent live and recording unit between 2003 and 2009, but seem to have fallen off the map a little bit these last few years. You hardly noticed, right?
— Friar Wagner