Progressive Rock/Metal Reviews

Fractured
NEW SUN


new sun

 

New Sun are :

Christopher Scott on Guitars, Vocals, and Keyboards
D. L. Erickson on Guitars, Voices and Keyboards
Chris Trujillo on Percussion and Vocals
Alex Kley on Bass

The tracks are :
1. Intro
2. The Sprawl
3. Glass
4. Then & Now
5. Remembering You
6. Switched By Remote
7. Deathbird
8. Earthlost
9. Lifeforce
10. Indecisions

The opening track is 'Intro', an instrumental starting with some atmospheric keyboard sounds. While one guitar plays some intricate guitar work, the other guitar creates atmospheric sound effects. Great bass, drums and percussion. The track then gradually builds up to some powerful strumming and after a while suddenly ends.

The next track is 'The Sprawl', this is another fairly atmospheric track. The guitar work between Christopher and Doug is just phenomenal creating at times an atmospheric spacey environment to a more powerful approach that hits you head on. Powerful and emotional vocals.

The third track 'Glass', is one of my favourites. Heavy riffs combined with intricate guitar parts. Powerful vocals, driving bass, solid drum beat, some parts of this track are very catchy indeed, other parts will take your breath away with the stunning guitar work. Middle section changes direction and becomes more atmospheric before returning to the heavier style.

The next track 'Then & Now' is another quite atmospheric track with nice use of keyboards and guitars. There's a really good driving bass rhythm and some superb drums. The vocals make this quite a catchy number and there's also some nice acoustic guitar and a stunning solo.

'Remembering You', There's some very nice vocals from Chris and special guest Monica Pasqual on this track. It's quite a catchy tune and chorus and again the guitar work is just stunning.

The sixth track 'Switched By Remote', this is my favourite track on the album, there's some great lead guitar before going into a great driving rhythm. There's also some superb sampling, the music and lyrics are very catchy and one that just sticks in your memory. Stunning guitar work.

The next track 'Deathbird', a slightly heavier track with an unusual riff, when the main theme starts some of the verses are spoken. A while later there's a change in direction and the track becomes more mellow, atmospheric, with some nice guitar and keyboards. Then a return to the heavier guitars and a strange ending.

'Earthlost', another great track, superb guitar work with both the guitars playing intricate stuff. Nice vocals. Then there's a change in direction, great rhythm and some nice bass, great keyboards and stunning guitar work.
Changes back to the vocals and intricate guitar with a stunning lead break over the top.
The ninth track 'Lifeforce', this track shows quite a bit of Rush influence, powerful and I must say that the two guitarists do work extremely well together.

The final track is 'Indecisions', a superb track, fade in intricate guitar, great vocals, superb drum and bass work, powerful rhythms, and quite heavy in places. Stunning guitar work.

A brilliant album from a band who should be going places, I know this album was released in 1995 and shows influences such as Rush, Yes, King Crimson, etc., but I highly recommend it.

Well, I'm off to listen to New Sun's latest effort!!

Website : http://www.new-sun.com


 

Affects
NEW SUN



New Sun are :
Alex Kley on Bass
Chris Trujillo on Drums, Percussion and Vocals
D.L. Erickson on Guitars and Keyboards
Christopher Scott on Guitars, Vocals Keyboards, Acillatem Processor and Samples

Special Guests :
Tim Hillborn : Drums and Percussion on tracks 5 & 8
Benito Cortez : Violin on track 5
Nelvid Vidal, Mario Lima : Percussion on track 1

The tracks are :
1. Dark the Azure Sky (1:18)
2. Prometheus (6:25)
3. Acquired Muscle Memory (3:55)
4. Cyrus Gore (9:47)
5. Cause & Effect (4:35)
6. . . . but for the Gleam in Her Eye (1:41)
7. FYB (the Deceptionist) (8:41)
8. Question (7:34)

'Affects' is the second album from US band New Sun. Although there are four members - Kley, Trujillo, Erickson and Scott there are only two tracks on this album that feature all of these musicians. Guitarist/Keyboard player Erickson only appears on two songs with the other three and drummer/singer Trujillo even gets replaced by another drummer on two songs.

The opening track is 'Dark the Azure Sky', this is an a very short atmospheric track with tribal drum rhythms.

The next track is 'Prometheus' which starts with a long guitar solo, this is combined with a menacing bass line. The music is slightly similar to a mixture of Rush and Queensryche. The guitar work is very intricate and there's some nice changes in direction,mood and tempo. There are also some parts that are fairly catchy.

The third track is 'Acquired Muscle Memory' which is an atmospheric instrumental that has a Sci-fi/ robotic feel to it. Some of the guitar work on this track reminds me of David Gilmour (Pink Floyd).

The next track is 'Cyrus Gore', my favourite track on the album and also the longest at nearly 10 minutes. Starts off with some atmospheric sounds and a bass line that is in the vein of Pink Floyd. After a while when the main theme comes in, it's fairly fast and has a compelling rhythm to it. The drums and percussion are handled just perfectly and this then creates the perfect environment for some superb lead guitar to be played over the top. When the vocals come in the first verse is narrated and in between each verse there's some excellent guitar work. There's quite a catchy chorus and then there's a Rush style riff and lead break.

'Cause & Effect', is another one of my favourites and is has a rhythm that is more up-tempo. This track has quite a catchy tune and the drum sound is powerful. It is also enhanced by some excellent violin playing.

The sixth track is '. . . but for the Gleam in Her Eye' a short atmospheric soundscape.

The following track is 'FYB (The Deceptionist)', which starts with some roaring guitar, which is soon followed with the band coming for the most aggressive track on the album. The vocals seem a bit distant on this track and rather strained. There is a guitar solo, but for me it tends to get a bit lost in-between the heavy bass lines and strong drum sound, maybe it's just there to create an atmosphere soundscape.?
The track then ends going into some atmospheric sounds effects then all the instruments disappear except for the drums then the track end abruptly.

The final track on the album is 'Question', which starts with a nice acoustic rhythm, there are distorted vocals and catchy riffs which alternate with acoustic guitar and a chorus.

Besides the acoustic guitar rhythm there are some atmospheric guitar sounds going on in the background as well as some sampled voices. 'Affects' is a nice album, but, if I am really honest, I would have to say that I prefer their first album. This one does have it's moments, with 3 or 4 tracks being very good, but overall the first album has a lot more going for it.
From speaking to Chrisopher Scott it sounds like New Sun was possibly going to be nonexistent prior to doing this CD. They had started recording material in Nov. of '96 without knowing what would happen with it. As things progressed the four of them started working again and bringing in material which we each had done outside of the band.

New Sun then recorded all of this stuff in the summer of '97. Chris Trujillo was away on another tour for two months of this time, so Chris asked an old friend of his (Time Hilborn ) if he would like to play on two of my compositions with Alex. Partly to expand New Sun's sound and explore different possibilities and partly because Christopher wanted someone slightly different sounding on the disc.

Christopher then mixed everything all through the Fall of '97 and then they sat down and picked what they thought would work together on the disc. Only two songs did not make the CD. Those will be either redone or released later in '99. They are very different from the material on "Affects".

As Christopher is the producer he feels that bringing in guest players helps then to expand their sound and, besides, it's fun to play with different people. The next disc will have a lot more guest players. And Doug is also thinking that he will be heading off in a different musical direction than New Sun.

Well, whatever happens, I hope to hear a lot more from this band....

Website : http://www.new-sun.com