We were pleasantly surprised by Sky Architect’s very successful debut album released in 2010. Excavations of the Mind showed a young Dutchman with great potential. As young as they are, their future appears bright. A year later, they are already back with A Dying Man's hymn, a darker album than the first, as in the image of Treebird, which opens the proceedings cultivating a deeply intriguing atmosphere.
The general atmosphere of the album is different. We feel that Sky Architect chooses its brands, like the swirling melody of Melody of the Air - Expositio, but also The Campfire Ghost Song, which employs more expressive vocals and atmospherics.
The central part of the album is also split into three parts. The first, Vile Woodcutters is intense, glittering in its diversity, sometimes jazz-rock. The second starts slowly before venturing into a set, which is sometimes calm and sometimes energetic but always powerful. The song is almost spoken in the 1st part of The Breach. Then the bass leaps, enter the Hammond and the effect is blistering.
The third part of the concept is lighter, like the beginning of the song Hitodama's return, begins with a light instrumental piano and gradually builds as the second part becomes more electric and heavier.
This new album Sky Architect reveals a dark and tense atmosphere, perfectly illustrated by the superb Mark Wilkinson signed cover, where there are shades of King Crimson and Beardfish. It requires several listenings to fully feel it, but is that not the prerogative of the great?
Jean-Pierre Lhoir
(jpl@musicinbelgium.net)
In the summer of 2010 Sky Architect set out to record a follow up for their debut album Excavations of the Mind. In the lovely woods of Sweden they found their new home, where their musical creativity felt no boundaries. The result: a stunning 76-minute-long concept album telling the story of a man’s flight to redemption, entitled A Dying Man’s Hymn.
Their second album sounds much more mature and overall, more balanced. Mellow at some points and at other times a real prog-extravaganza with distorted Clavinets, soaring guitar solos and crazy odd rhythms. Surely a must-have for fans of Gentle Giant, the Flower Kings, Beardfish and Pain of Salvation. Again they put their faith in Galileo-records, who released A Dying Man’s Hymn worldwide 6th June 2011. The artwork is created by the famous rock-illustator Mark Wilkinson (Marillion, Fish, Judas Priest a.o.).
