Album Review: Countless Skies - Resonance
Reviewed by Richard Oliver
Countless Skies are one of the most impressive UK metal bands to emerge in recent years hugely impressing me with their two albums - 2016’s ‘New Dawn’ and 2020’s ‘Glow’ - which perfectly merged melodic death metal with progressive metal and doom metal leanings and a sound that was equally full of melancholy and hope. The band have recently added a new member to the band and a new dynamic in the form of cellist Arianna Mahsayeh who joined the band in 2022 ahead of several shows and festival appearances.
Whilst preparing for their set at the Metaldays Festival, the band entered Gusto Studios in Luton, Bedfordshire and recorded a live from the studio album featuring songs off their two albums and showcasing the bands new dynamic with Arianna. The songs of course feature new arrangements created for Arianna to perform on the cello and it is breathtaking how seamlessly these arrangements fit into the songs sounding like they have always been there.
The album only features five songs but the centrepiece and crowning moment is the band’s 20 minute plus opus ‘Glow’ which is just a jaw dropping piece of progressive melodeath heightened by the stunning cello parts weaved into the composition. The rest of the band perform flawlessly with fantastic guitar work from Ross King and James Pratt and some rock solid drumming from Nathan Robshaw and bass playing from Phil Romeo. Phil also never fails to impress with his stunning and epic clean vocals which work as a nice counterpart to the harsh vocals from Ross.
With a European and UK tour supporting Møl mere weeks away, ‘Resonance’ is a great taster of what is to come with these shows with a crowdfunder for Arianna to join the band on the tour being massively successful. ‘Resonance’ also works as a nice teaser for what might be to come should Arianna continue to work with the band for their anticipated third album. I for one hope this partnership continues as the results really speak for themselves on ‘Resonance’.
