Of Worlds, Endtimely Enshadowed

Seeing that a band only has one release from 2006 doesn't usually fill me with confidence, especially if it's just a demo. Signist are therefore a pleasant surprise, as their recently remastered demo Of Worlds Endtimely Enshadowed is actually pretty kick-ass. There are still a few rough edges, but Signist have started strongly and hopefully now that they're active again we'll be getting more stuff like this pretty soon.

There's a large element of prog in this music, and as such it's quite complex. There are passages of groovy chugging, brief interludes where acoustic guitars take the limelight, more technical and melodic lines throughout various points and a hundred variations of those things. Each part is done brilliantly: the groove influences are generally saved for the rhythm section, which thunders magnificently in the background with a nice bite to it; the melodies show a lot of technical aptitude, but they never turn into mindless noodling and the emotional side always has the most weight; and the acoustics are inserted at just the right moment, eased in fantastically and executed to perfection. Sometimes it takes a little bit to wind up, but once it gets going it's a very impressive listen.

In fact, one of the only real weaknesses displayed on OWEE is the occasional difficulty in getting to the point. Sure, the drums are at times a little simplistic in comparison to the guitars and in general the mixing could be better, but as a general rule everything seems to come together rather well. It's just that the songwriting isn't quite concise enough to grab my attention right from the off and keep it until the end. A large portion of each track seems to be wandering thoughts, not entirely disconnected from the rest of the track but random enough that I'm left a little lost. Take 'XXI Century Presuicidal Reverie'. Besides the song titles needing some more thought, there are almost two songs contained within one another here. The first set of riffs is fairly generic but nonetheless enjoyable enough, and yet around the 1:50 mark they disappear completely for a bizarre change of tempo lasting all of ten seconds before a rapid-fire solo kicks in. After this we're given another sequence of riffs similar to the first before it switches to set two again without warning, just as I'm starting to settle into the song. There's a bit more back and forth before too, just in case you thought it would even out afterwards. I feel as though there's enough content on this demo to write a full-length rather easily, yet they cram it all into a thirty minute demo.

So while this is indeed one of the better demos that I've heard, it still suffers from a lack of direction. If Signist can contain their ideas a little better they have a lot of potential, assuming that there's a new release on the way some twelve years after this one first debuted. They certainly have the talent, it's just a question of whether they can put it to good use or not.