Music Banter - View Single Post - Anteater's 30 (ish) Favorite Albums Of 2014

Anteater · 01-01-2015, 04:07 PM

3. Skyharbor - Guiding Lights

Put On A Playlist With: TesseracT, Hum, Karnivool, Deftones

As TesseracT's Altered State from last year demonstrated, so called "djent" metal could be a very very beautiful thing if the right ideas were in place. As good as that album was though, it almost feels like a warm up compared to this sophomore outing from multnational ambient metal act Skyharbor, a group who have such a keen grasp on dynamics that listening through Guiding Lights sometimes feels like someone hooked me up with a tube of adrenaline that never stops delivering.

For starters, guitarist Keshav Dhar is just full of good ideas. Bringing on original TesseracT frontman Dan Tompkins full-time, for instance. Or those killer melodies on 'Allure' and 'Evolution' that would give the best early noughties alternative rock groups a run for their money and then some. Top off the package with one of the best mixing jobs I've heard in ages and you've got yourself the perfect soundtrack for the game room at your next hi-fi frat party.

I know this one probably came a bit under the radar for some of you, but if you have even the slightest ounce of interest in albums like Sound Awake by Karnivool or some of Devin Townsend's groovier razmatazz, this album will be your crack for a couple of weeks guaranteed. It certainly helped end 2014 on a strong note for me.