The Alchemist

I came to know about Skyliner very recently and so far, am quite impressed. I haven't had the chance to fully check out the group's demos yet, but if the two songs on this EP say anything about the band's ability to deliver a serious power metal assault, then I'm definitely looking forward to the band's future releases.

The two songs on this EP are refreshing, though they aren't necessarily anything new. The songs follow a standard verse-chorus pattern in general, but for power metal, that isn't a bad thing. One thing that helps set Skyliner apart from other power metal acts is the fact that there is enough variation throughout the songs to definitely brighten up what might be dull otherwise.

Immediately upon hearing the vocalist's powerful voice kick in on the first song, my mind flashed to another power metal band I recently discovered. Skyliner sounds very similar to Sinbreed, especially in the vocal department. This is good in my books because of the fact that Sinbreed is a power metal band that goes more for heavy riffs than flower metal keyboards. Keyboards are good, in my opinion, and are featured on Skyliner's EP more prominently than on Sinbreed's works, but aggression is always helpful in heavy metal. Skyliner manages to incorporate the keyboard elements in a way that enhance the music by providing an atmosphere to build off of rather than stealing the show. This lets the guitar work, which is more than adequate, and the drum parts, which are heavy-hitting examples of the power of power metal (excuse the pun), shine through. Through the aggression brought on by the vocalist's powerful lower range, strong growls, and heavy riffs, this album definitely strikes the listener like a bullet train. In this case, that is a good thing. Even though I definitely hear a lot of similarities to Sinbreed, Skyliner isn't a Sinbreed knock-off.

The drummer is also powerful and uses his pedals very well. Everything felt like it was timed perfectly. This is refreshing after listening to the only other song I've heard by these guys, "Aria of the Waters." The drum parts on that song were off in many places, though even there, the drummer showed talent. The guitars are definitely adequate. They hit hard and fast, though I do wish there was a rhythm guitar that kept things going during the solo in the first song. The bass guitar also seemed audible. I think I heard a bass solo, but that could just be because my laptop's speakers are bad. It rarely picks up basses properly. The keyboards aren't used too often, but when they are used, they add to the texture of the song in a nice way.

The opening song included a nice melodic introduction for about 45 seconds before jumping into standard power metal. The 16th-note kick runs were nice and heavy. There were heavy moments using aggressive guitar riffs, harsh growls, and even blastbeats. The rest of the song was fast and upbeat and rarely went away from the aggression, but there were several melodic passages throughout. That much flowing variation right away was a good sign and got me hooked pretty fast.

Undying Wings started off much heavier and incorporated what sounded like a sawtooth synth almost at the start. It felt more melodic in general, but the difference was very small. The band's mastery of aggressive songwriting shines through even when keyboards are used.

The lyrics are also refreshingly uplifting compared to modern metal, but not to the point where they seem too goofy or preachy. These lyrics definitely take Christian theology into account, but they aren't used in a "holier than thou" way.

The lyrics in the first song, "The Alchemist," strike me as a fantasy-influenced song at first. With themes like magic, they definitely bring forth a new side of faith. After reading through the lyrics for the first song several times, I get the feeling that they have something to do with seeing the world through a picture distorted by darkness. As the song moves on, the vocalist starts talking more about seeking "the way through the void." The lyrics for "Undying Wings" are harder for me to interpret, though they do seem to address agony, leaving this life, and the death of Jesus.

Coming in at a total time of 13:37 (I'm resisting the urge to make a nerdy joke about this), this EP won't win any awards for keeping audiences captivated for a long time. However, this EP only has two songs. I would imagine a full album from these guys would run anywhere from 40 minutes to sixty minutes.

The bottom line with this release is that Skyliner has aggression, melody, truth, wisdom, and instrumental talent all combined in one neat little package. This is power metal to the core, but it is not flower metal by any means. This is more in the musical league of bands like Sinbreed, Dream Evil, and Hibria. Skyliner does have a couple of things that the those three bands do not have, though. Skyliner can master melody better than Sinbreed. Skyliner is much more serious than Dream Evil. Skyliner has more wisdom with themes than Hibria. If you like any of those three bands, you will probably enjoy this EP. Either way, you need to check Skyliner out. I'm definitely looking forward to a full CD. You should be, too.