Skylake: In Orbit

This one has been a little late in coming but as they say, it’s better late than never. This time around its all about the Dutch band Skylake which formed in Utrecht, in 2015. Shortly after some line-up changes ensued with the current band being:

Bart Laan (guitars, vocals)
Charlie Feld (bass guitar)
Suzan van den Engel (vocals, harp)
Arjan Laan (drums)

In 2018 the band began working on their debut album and in 2019 In Orbit was released. The band’s influences such as Karnivool and Tesseract can be heard on the first track “The Storm�. The guitar is very moody, atmospheric and textural, overall, very rhythmic, including some heavier, razor-like riffage. The lead vocals of Suzan are very good. A nice example of alternative prog. “Haste� begins with a heavy guitar riff laid over a bed of moodiness with more nice vocals from Suzan. The guitar solo has lots of feel which is always appreciated and the band do a nice job contrasting heavy and softer sections. One of the catchiest tracks is the upbeat “Prisoner� where the guitar has that earworm quality I really appreciate. The drumming of Laan is busy and technical as he exhibits some fine chops on this one. In the softer bits I hear an Anathema influence. The gentle beginning of “Smooth Skin/War Within� is pretty and melancholic and again, the drumming of Laan is impressive, especially when the band amp it up near song’s end.

In Orbit is an impressive debut from Skylake, a band that shows tremendous promise and will certainly be on my radar in the coming years.

A Freia Music release.

Track Listing:
1. The Storm (8:02)
2. Haste (5:37)
3. Prisoner (6:48)
4. Smooth Skin/War Within (6:47)
5. Vicious (5:50)
6. Crossroads (4:40)
7. Luna (6:50)

Added: March 26th 2022
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
Hits: 699
Language: english

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