EP Review: Awakening Sun - I Am More
Reviewed by Liam True
Some band establish themselves with multiple albums and religious touring in order to promote themselves. Awakening Sun have joined the ranks of this and instead of dropping a new album have also joined the curve in dropping an EP. Composed of five songs spanning 22 minutes, it’s a heavy slice of groove/metalcore that has injected the scene with something that it has craved for so long.
The addicting guitar riffs on Deep Cut are spectacular and the added pitch harmonic across the song itself add a layer of magic that makes it pop brighter than most bands who couldn’t pull it off as well as the band. Vocalist Ernestas Skripkiunas has a hardcore feel from his vocals, as on times he sounds much like Jamey Jasta throughout the EP. Opening track Roses is the introduction to the band. Filled with echoing guitar melodies from Skripkiunas as he & Pavel Daniels are duel guitarists and work beautifully as they don’t overpower one another but in fact complement each individual layer they’ve tracked. The chorus and even more specifically the breakdown at the end of the track is impressive as drummer Kevin van den Heiligenberg slows his pace dramatically as Skripkiunas unleashes an almighty gurgle.
The band fire on all cylinders as soon as the first note is played. From the somber track of Someone Else as the tone of the song both instrumentally & lyrically is a departure from the high energy Roses. Deep cut as mentioned before has more riffs and chorus melodies than you can count. The double bass attack from Heiligenberg with the booming bass from Povilas Laurinaitus create a perfect backdrop as the track almost mirrors anything While She Sleeps have put out in the last decade, but with more energy and heart.
You can’t even pick out a specific moment from the EP as it’s all brilliantly crafted to show how the Dutch/Lithuanian metal scenes have come together to explode creatively with this beauty of modern extremity.
