Monks of Mellonwah - Sky and the Dark Night EP
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Monks of Mellonwah's Sky and the Dark Night is a curious little EP. Unlike the act's previous EP, Neurogenesis, which was in part a showcase for vocalist Vikram Kaushik's singing and guitarist Joe de la Hoyde's expressive guitar work, this latest trilogy of songs is much more focused on orchestration, rather than typical hard rock dynamics.
"Sky And The Dark Night Part 1 � Breakout" opens this EP with a fully orchestrated piece of music, sans vocals. It clocks in at only 2:03 in length. It's quick, but it hits hard.
The second section, titled "Sky and the Dark Night Part 2 � Control," is the only true song on the EP � instrumentation, including rock guitar, and vocals for lyrics. The song's words speak about a suffocating relationship, as Kaushik sings, "I'm trapped in your heart/Wrapped in your veins/and I just can't breathe."
The last part in the trilogy is "Sky and the Dark Night Part 3 � Condition." This is primarily more orchestrated music. Kaushik does sing one lone line a few times, as "I just can't breathe" is repeated three times. However, these are sporadic vocals, at best. This track also features a Muse-like guitar/keyboard groove on it, as well.
This Sky And The Dark Night EP is much more ambitious than the act's Neurogenesis, where Monks of Mellonwah sounded a little too derivative of U2 in places, particularly the EP's chiming, echoing Edge-like guitar parts. This more meditative extended piece, however, focuses on one idea, in three slightly differing parts. It's only around eight minutes, yet it still retains an epic feel. Guitarist de la Hoyde wrote and arranged parts one and three, while the whole group is credited with arranging the second section.
The overall impact of Sky & the Dark Night is that of an overbearing closeness between two people. Usually, closeness is painted as a big positive in love songs, yet this couple is seemingly much too close for comfort. It's a really fantastic piece of music, and shows significant growth in Monks of Mellonwah's art. It will be fascinating to see what the group does with a full-length effort because this act has talent to spare.
Monks of Mellonwah - Sky and the Dark Night EP
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