Rise to the Sky – Every Day, A Funeral
Release Date: 6th May 2022
Label: Meuse Music Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Atmospheric Doom, Death Metal.
FFO: Officium Triste, Shape of Despair, Saturnus, Novembers Doom.
Review By: Jason James
Sergio González Catalán, a.k.a. Rise to the Sky, released his first album, Moonlight, in 2019. Since then, he has been busy, bringing us Death Will Not Keep Us Apart in 2020, and Let Me Drown with You and Per Aspera Ad Astra in 2021. Now he brings us Every Day, A Funeral, yet another vast, elemental soundscape.
I freely admit that I had never heard of this artist before I was sent the information to review. I clicked the link and was enveloped by the unhappiness of track 1, the title track. Howling winds give way to foreboding strings and dirge-like keys before the lead guitar expertly creates a soaring melody. That is then nicely juxtaposed with Sergio’s guttural growling as he informs you of his utter despondency.
Then on to maybe my favourite track on the album, It’s the End. Another titanic slab of melancholia, it sits on your chest like a weight that’s very slowly and steadily getting heavier, until the pressure is so much that your ribs start to give way. Track 4, Abandoned, is also a personal highlight. You can pick any song on this album and be enthralled, though. All 7 songs are very well crafted. There are no skips on here.
His music evokes visions of desolation, reminiscent of The Colonies from The Handmaid’s Tale. It calls forth epic skirmishes between angels and demons in the way that, although this is very much doom metal and speaks to the darkest regions of the human essence, there is also most definitely a strange sense of sanguinity and serene calm, even a sense of elation.
It’s all here. Deep thundering drums. Duelling guitars backed with great bass. Strings and keys sprinkled in for texture. All accompanied by a voice that rumbles like two tectonic plates rubbing together. Definite thumbs up and a great addition to any Death/Doom library.
(4 / 5)
