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Angry Metal Guy<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/sleepless-through-endless-black-review/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sleepless – Through Endless Black Review</a>By Dolphin WhispererBands who seek to echo heavy metal’s past walk a fine line between regressive repetition and studied homage. Consequently, in a world where source material for these sounds spans the course of decades, the tag indicating this new wave of traditional heavy metal remains wide in scope. Motorcycles? Loin cloths? Swords and dragons? What shall the recipe of hairy-chested riffs and wailing mic blowouts spell? In examining Oregon-based Sleepless’ sophomore outing, Through Endless Black, it’s at least clear that two things are true: the power of riffs indeed compels this collection to rock, and an urgent vocal identity fills its chest proudly. But the question still looms around what brand of traditional showmanship Sleepless displays.Whether Sleepless knows it or not, their sound on Through Endless Black plays close to the weird power-leaning doom of the ’90s Swedish underground in its manner of rockin’ trad riffs that swing to crawling, soaring choruses. We talk about a lot of things around the water cooler at Casa AMG<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/sleepless-through-endless-black-review/#fn-205842-1" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">1</a>, and though many of us don’t see eye-to-eye on the world at large, at least the great Steel and I can agree on one thing: too many bands ignore the potential to copy peak Tad Morose. Determined to set my heart aflutter, melodic leads that drop into heavyweight drags scattered throughout Through Endless Black recalls both the slower cuts of Tad Morose or the more traditional gallop of the similar-minded Memory Garden. Main mind Kevin Hahn, holding chops both in the grip of a traditional axe and tastefully reverbed mic, has spent a lot of time both on the cover band circuit<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/sleepless-through-endless-black-review/#fn-205842-2" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">2</a> and at the engineer’s seat, so I’m not sure that exactly his aim with Sleepless. But different paths can always lead to similar results.Except not every track across Through Endless Black reeks of that same stench of doomy power, with Hahn’s vocal prowess serving equally as blight and boon. Simple and fluffy rock riffs, the kind that present themselves in the AOR-assisted jams of cruise groove like Fifth Angel, already pull attention away from muscular crushes at the least effective moments (“Cult of the Narcissist,” “Lessons in Tongues”). And in these same gentler excursions, Hahn’s clear and breathy tenor aids further in distancing his performance from the subtle grit and chesty bellow that he displays in horn-raising, fist-pumping amp-shakers (“Consumed by Vengeance,” “Dreams of Mortal Ruin”). Hahn has amazing range, and an incredible ability to lay down harmonized solos in a big Scorpions way, but it really does feel like he’s packing too many contrasting ideas into Sleepless.However, many of Sleepless’ ’80s and ’90s traditional genre worship excursions come across in a more flattering manner. The best cuts across Through Endless Black lead with refrains drenched in guitar drama, dark synth play, and full volume chord swells, all resolving in well-framed choruses (“Call to the Void,” “Where Fear Lives,” “Dreams…”). And slipping well into the sleaze and heavy metal fervor of the grand and gruff W.A.S.P., Hahn loads an extra venom and swagger into his barking verse work and sliding wails (“Exist Another Day,” “Transcending the Obsidian Throne”), even landing in a ripe pseudo-ballad cheese with the opening chime and croon of “Lost Star.” The supporting rhythm tones aren’t quite what one would expect in this lane, relying less on spacious chords and reverb, and more on compressed guitar crackle and a low-end lurch, but that at least helps pull Sleepless away from pure homage and into foraging a sound in reverence.Despite the success that Sleepless finds throughout Through Endless Black, a certain lack of wildness—of rugged bravado—holds it back from turning its glory into grandiosity. Steeped in studied sounds, Sleepless never feels wanting in execution. Though some of that same polish leads Through Endless Black to engorge with a textbook battlefield vigor, that same educational approach does not lead to many surprises and allows the lesser sputters present to pull down the total experience. I do have high hopes for Sleepless though, as a sophomore cobbling of this quality shows, potential, promise, and perhaps a sword simply too deep in its sheath. Rating: 2.5/5.0 DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3 Label: <a href="https://www.metalwarriorrecords.com/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Metal Warrior Records</a> Websites: <a href="https://sleeplessmetal.bandcamp.com/music" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">sleeplessmetal.bandcamp.com</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082808992557" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">facebook.com/sleepless</a> Releases Worldwide: October 31st, 2024<a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/2-5/" target="_blank">#25</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/2024/" target="_blank">#2024</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/american-metal/" target="_blank">#AmericanMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/fifth-angel/" target="_blank">#FifthAngel</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/heavy-metal/" target="_blank">#HeavyMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/memory-garden/" target="_blank">#MemoryGarden</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/oct24/" target="_blank">#Oct24</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/progpower/" target="_blank">#ProgPower</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/progressive-metal/" target="_blank">#ProgressiveMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/review/" target="_blank">#Review</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/reviews/" target="_blank">#Reviews</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/scorpions/" target="_blank">#Scorpions</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/sleepless/" target="_blank">#Sleepless</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/tad-morose/" target="_blank">#TadMorose</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/through-endless-black/" target="_blank">#ThroughEndlessBlack</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/w-a-s-p/" target="_blank">#WASP_</a>

Angry Metal Guy<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/sabire-jatt-review/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sabïre – JÄTT Review</a>By GardensTaleI know we complain about promo sheets every so often around here. It’s a base necessity to vent our discontent for the sake of our sanity. We do become inoculated against minor offenses; talking big is expected, and misrepresenting the music is often the result of an overworked intern at the label hearing two minutes of a single and pounding out a blurb before his first round of coffee-fetching.<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/sabire-jatt-review/#fn-199923-1" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">1</a> But especially egregious examples warrant a round of the stocks with a basket of rotting fruit and eggs. Presenting, ex-Canadian Australian Scarlett Monastyrski and his band Sabïre, finally releasing his ‘much anticipated’ debut JÄTT a whole 14 years after he first got the idea.You see, the promo sheet makes a big show of Sabïre bucking conventional genres. Monastyrski ‘simply played what came naturally on guitar,’ and developed it into something he dubbed ‘acid metal.’ It even calls Sabïre a ‘band with a hellbent determination to be different, break the mold, and shake up the status quo.’ For something made with such a strong desire to be unique, though, it really sounds an awful fucking lot like Monastyrski is imitating W.A.S.P. or Riot. I feel like the Scooby Doo gang, ripping the mask off acid metal and exclaiming: ‘It’s Old Man Trad!’<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/sabire-jatt-review/#fn-199923-2" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">2</a>If you saw the W.A.S.P. name-drop and immediately started pointing and screaming “GLAM!” like you’re Donald Sutherland (R.I.P.) in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, you’re not entirely wrong, as it’s definitely part of the band’s DNA, with the simple, straightforward riffs and anthemic choruses. Now, glam gets a bad rep which isn’t entirely undeserved, but Sabïre does try to mend some of the genre’s usual shortcomings. The music is not over-polished, and the faster songs even dare to get a little thrashy (“Pure Fucking Hell,” “Rip Rip KILL!!!”<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/sabire-jatt-review/#fn-199923-3" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">3</a>). The vocals eschew most of the cheese-laden poppiness and retain a bit of bite, and though the songwriting pretty much follows all the tropes from the 80’s down to the details, they’re executed well enough to make for an enjoyable if unremarkable bit of nostalgia.Except JÄTT approaches morbid obesity with a 70-minute runtime. That’s at least double the runtime it should have been, even when all the songs had been bangers, and they are not. Sabïre is not awful when the pacing is high, but when it goes down, so does any semblance of quality. “Ice Cold Lust” is what you get when you leave a KISS record in a bag with an old banana for a week. “Chained Down” is an excruciating mid-paced exercise in patience, with a chorus as dull as a brick painted in that green color Disney uses for its trashcans. Follow-up “The Shadow in my Heart” opens as a deeply awful ballad that just about makes me want to sink the entire continent of Australia beneath the waves, though the second half is not half as bad. The incredibly bloated intro, intermission, and outro total 10 minutes by themselves and add nothing at all.I might’ve been tempted to pick the best tracks off for a playlist and ignore the rest, if it weren’t for the production, which seems to aim for retro and overshoots its target, landing on “no budget in the early 60’s.” Everything is drowned in enough reverb it might as well have been recorded in a sewage pipe, and there’s an aggravating crackle and pop present throughout the album. Along with the insufferable bloat and tired songwriting, it kills any interest I may have had in JÄTT. There is talent among the performers in Sabïre, I won’t deny that. But it’s not often the distance is this large between the promo sheet, with its inflated self-importance, distorted sense of innovation, and utter lack of self-reflection, and the actual product, whose at-a-glance serviceability is quickly and thoroughly eroded on full and repeat exposure. Rating: 1.5/5.0 DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3 Label: <a href="https://www.listenable.eu/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Listenable Records</a> Websites: <a href="http://sabireacid7.bandcamp.com" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">sabireacid7.bandcamp.com</a> | <a href="http://facebook.com/sabireacidmetal" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">facebook.com/sabireacidmetal</a> Releases Worldwide: June 28th, 2024<a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/15/" target="_blank">#15</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/2024/" target="_blank">#2024</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/australian-metal/" target="_blank">#AustralianMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/glam-metal/" target="_blank">#GlamMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/heavy-metal/" target="_blank">#HeavyMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/jatt/" target="_blank">#JÄTT</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/jun24/" target="_blank">#Jun24</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/kiss/" target="_blank">#Kiss</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/listenable-records/" target="_blank">#ListenableRecords</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/review/" target="_blank">#Review</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/reviews/" target="_blank">#Reviews</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/riot/" target="_blank">#Riot</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/sabire/" target="_blank">#Sabïre</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/w-a-s-p/" target="_blank">#WASP_</a>

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