| Musical Style: Progressive Metal | Produced By: Sombre Holiday |
| Record Label: Independent | Country Of Origin: Canada & USA |
| Year Released: 2020 | Artist Website: Sombre Holiday |
| Tracks: 12 | Rating: 90% |
| Running Time: 70:00 |
Sombre Holiday is one band that definitely lives up to its name. As in dark and melancholic when referencing the Gothic and doom metal signatures to its sound but also somber and contemplative in light of its generous use of classical instrumentation and acoustic guitar. Yet, an every bit deliberately intricate side to Sombre Holiday reveals in the form of an unmistakable progressiveness. Imagine weaving the best elements of Saviour Machine and Veni Domine with mid-period Deliverance and the picture is complete.
Forming the Sombre Holiday nucleus and lending a multinational flair are brothers Terry and Trevor Friesen from Canada and California, respectively. Terry provides the deep and moody lower-register vocal abilities to help provide for said Gothic comparisons, while his emphatic rhythm guitar and harmonies pushes the groups sound into metal territory and that acoustic in a more temperate direction. Trevor capably fills in on drums with a complementary composite mode of playing in addition to handling all lyrics.
His prose on first two Sombre Holiday albums In Search Of Understanding (2009) and Four Shadows (212) draws upon the Book of Proverbs while third An Hour Of Light (2014) explores grace during weakness and crying out to God in times of struggle. Concept territory is also explored on fourth album The Sea Of Distance (2017) in revolving around our struggles in relationships (with God & the people in our lives) and fifth from November of 2020 The Failed Sun by focusing on the potential power of restoration in those relationships.
What we have in The Failed Sun is the heaviest Sombre Holiday album to date, revealed by the manner in which guitars draw upon traditional metal but within a similar doom influenced foundational progressiveness. Such reveals on opening cut “The Second Sun”, with its first two minutes consisting of a lone verse wrapped in assailing guitars and plunging bass, and final two instrumental as slashing guitar leads give way to an allayed adhering of violin and piano. Lyric snippet:
There will come a time
When all is said, and all is done,
When no trials remain,
And no questions but One.
But now, as the Father’s Hands form
The Second Son’s Rib,
He questions Him thus:
“For Whom now will You live?”
“Man Of The Earth” also embodies that heaviness in taking impetus off the charts. Mirroring near speed metal intensity, songs peaks of the infuriating as double kick drum and vibrant soloing collide, only settling down for the occasional melancholic passage and mid-point preacher narration from Romans 6:23.
Eight-minute “Masterpiece” draws upon said progressiveness. There is a lot going on here, beginning with keyboards covering the translucent initial two minutes and wrecking ball guitars and tower bells to replace for the doom-like moments ahead. Further contrasts come in the form of the settled refrain to mark Terry’s lower register delivery and instrumental moments in which guitars reach for thrash influenced angst. Lyric snippet:
But we were Imago Dei,
Now defaced. a masterpiece,
The very image of God.
To end with, You will paint us worthy. Once, with painful
Priceless blood, the Fall
To be reversed, a new masterpiece
Must be broken, to paint us worthy –
Sacrificed, crucified
“New Darkness” paints a picture of that with its altering between the weightier and lighter. Bone crushing settled passages with cascading doom-ish guitars trade off with those on the genteel side to reveal refined keyboards, melodic leads and classical instrumentation. Affecting but doleful is the feel at hand.
I appreciate the “That Picture Of You” non-conventional song structuring. A downcast resonance projects over its first two minutes as piano and violin compel through a pair of crestfallen verses, with momentum abruptly picking up for the instrumental subsequent three as piano and enlivening guitar play mirthful roles. Acoustic guitar lushly covers the final seconds. Lyric snippet:
I turn to that picture of you
Your words, your eyes
Now speak to me
I keep turning that picture of you
Over and over
And you become alive
Your smile, our skies
“The Burning Sky” is also instrumental heavy. It proves decidedly upbeat, starting to forward initiative as keyboards quicken the backend and Terry lowers his register to the point a Gothic influenced Saviour Machine timbre projects. The awesome final three-minute instrumental run bases around piano and ringing bells as the preacher voice over makes a cameo appearance.
“This Present Absence” comes across as a richly orchestrated ballad. The first two of the songs seven minutes devote to acoustic guitar and keyboards until guitar harmonies glide in, emanating a starkly moving Shadow Gallery influenced setting as force accelerates to Trevor’s heightened double kick drum and creative drum fills. All the while, an enchanting melody serves to tie all together. Lyric snippet:
Take from Me this cup,
In the garden I cried
Please take from Me
The Absent Presence
Where are You now?
At the Ninth Hour,
After the Darkness,
The Second Son,
The Light of the World,
In agony cried...
Where are You now?
Why have You forsaken Me?
Albums title track emphasizes a classically influenced Gothic slant its opening minutes to an elegant aligning of violin, acoustic guitar, piano and woodwinds. The doom takes over moving forward, setting a brooding tone the balance to see an ominous guitar chill and every bit fateful keyboards hold sway.
“The Death Of Death” proves a seven minute Gothic doom plodder, reflective of piano and violin covering its first minute ahead of disconsolate guitars joining the dour fray for the chilling verse sections and haunting vocal melodies for ‘the death of death, at the last of all things’ phrasing to the wintry refrain. Nimble tom-toms back things instrumentally. Lyric snippet:
Being made a curse
He removed the curse
Purging the unclean
Renewing in us
The image of God
The veil is torn
Your presence known
The blood sacrifice,
The atonement shown.
The sacrifice to end sacrifice,
Has opened the way, has closed the distance
In a more reserved mode is “A Passing Shadow”. Similar to many here it hints of the serene and nonchalant to start but maintains the composed mien even when moody guitars gradually ease into a primary role. Melody, however, is not forsaken in the form of the austere catchiness to the bleak phrasing over the final half.
I identify with “Man Of The Sky” as a companion track to “Man Of The Earth” from its breakneck trending. Musically, both are solid in playing key roles as up-tempo tracks on a decidedly mid-tempo album, albeit to be fair it deserves note the two share riffs, drum patterns and melodies of a similar like form. Lyric snippet:
Open your mind to listen
Open your soul to see
O hear, in the heavens above
It is always Light –
It is eternally bright –
It is the only night we’ll know
As Time follows Time….
Forever to
Ever to be One
“The Last Of All Things” swarms in at once, transitioning from descending bass to start to intrusive guitars as momentous crescendos are touched upon, all the while grandiose keyboards play a symphonic role. Instrumental interlude over the final half pulses with intensity only to slow at the end as the preacher voice over returns to close things out.
On its fifth full length album The Failed Sun, Sombre Holiday continues to live up to its namesake: dark and somber progressive metal interwoven with Gothic and doom based signatures. Musically, the group laudably succeeds in this regard by creating a work those into the as noted genres cannot help but appreciate. Bonus points awarded for the relationship (with God and man) themed concept, noting how this reviewer has a soft spot for concept based releases. In the end, Sombre Holiday has created in The Failed Sun not just its best album but also a work to potentially rank within the top five albums of the year.
Track Listing: “The Second Sun” (4:08), “Man Of The Earth” (4:29), “Masterpiece” (7:57), “New Darkness” (6:20), “That Picture Of You” (5:28), “The Burning Sky” (6:19), “This Present Absence” (7:13), “The Failed Sun” (5:42), “The Death Of Death” (6:45), “A Passing Shadow” (5:29), “Man Of The Sky” (5:29), “The Last Of All Things” (4:33)
Musicians
Terry Friesen - Lead Vocals, Guitars & Keyboards
Tevor Friesen - Drums & Percussion
Additional Musicians
Isaac Friesen - Violin
Kharis Friesen - Oboe
Kiera Friesen - Flute
