During the 13 years of activity this German project created and led by Coldun, singer and songwriter, have released 3 albums. This third chapter entitled “Grand Sun Ritual” self-produced and released on January 15, 2021 contains 7 tracks of medium-long duration. Over the years the band has refined and matured their sound, proposing a Progressive Metal with marked Atmospheric veins, forays into Doom and 70s music. In addition to composing and singing, the leader from whom the band also takes its name, offering a convincing performance on bass and keyboards, two guitarists and a drummer complete the lineup. The title track at the beginning is full of ideas, starting from the intro with oriental flavors that soon gives way to pachydermic guitar riffs with melancholy features. The vocal is a strong point of this song, epic and powerful, while the entry of the sax in the second part increases the technical rate of the sound. An excellent summary of the sound imprint that this record has, a track that immediately plunges us into the atmosphere of the album. “The Forest And The Soul” continues the musical discourse undertaken in the first track, another solid and convincing test where the hammond creates excellent Progressive layers. The guitars are load-bearing with massive riffs, an added value along with the voice that always adapts best to the passages of the song. The official lyric video has been released, a good choice as this track summarizes the sound concept of Coldun. “Down Below” is characterized by a softer start and then increases in intensity with the passing of the minutes, with fine guitar parts with high level tempo changes. With the entry of the vocal, Coldun‘s great gifts are confirmed, with a song full of pathos. The mix between Prog Metal and Doom is always successful, with some slight forays into a slightly heavier terrain almost Black Metal. A spoken vocal introduces us to “Salvation Day,” a pleasant mid-tempo in which the vocal lines are higher than the previous ones, involving us in listening. The keyboards are the protagonists, while the atmosphere of the track is more melancholic, Coldun manage to switch between several different styles with technique and quality. “Stories Untold” is the shortest track on the album, despite still exceeding 5 minutes, where vocals and acoustic guitar music create a dreamy sound. The instrumental parts are delicate and soft, a very pleasant moment on the album. “Hail Out To Thebes” is the longest track on the album, full of melancholy pathos given by the vocals and keyboard layers. The guitars instead clear and inexorable, touching again the Black Metal, giving a heavier touch to the song. Closing the album “I Dreamed That Dream” has a melancholy atmosphere taken to the extreme with a slow rhythmic session and melodies with Doom veins. The darkest features manifest themselves in all their fullness, both in the voice and in the guitar riffs, closing the album at its best. An album that mixes Prog Metal sound quality with Doom, with melancholic hues and full of pathos, where all the artists involved collaborate to the success of the sound. A band with clear ideas that offers mature and refined sounds, full of positive ideas, where the various influences do not differ however from the starting Progressive but add the most interesting parts of the various genres. A recommended listening despite the long duration of both the tracks and the disc in its entirety may seem excessive, it is a smooth and pleasant work that reveals interesting ideas with every listen.
Tracklist
| 01. | Grand Sun Ritual | 07:41 |
| 02. | The Forest And The Soul | 06:23 |
| 03. | Down Below | 07:42 |
| 04. | Salvation Day | 08:32 |
| 05. | Stories Untold | 05:19 |
| 06. | Hail Out To Thebes | 09:16 |
| 07. | I Dreamed That Dream | 06:34 |
Lineup
| Coldun | Vocals, Bass, Hammond, Synths |
| ZK | Guitars |
| MR | Guitars |
| NC | Drums |
