These likeable Italians peddle this album as “Swedcore”. As they themselves recognise, this isn’t such a new concept. I recall Disarmonia Mundi having the same orientation on their 2004 album “Fragments of D-Generation”, even drafting in Soilwork’s Björn “Speed” Strid to help on the vocals. On the outside, the signs are that the 5 band members of As The Sun have the passion and that “Event Horizon”, whose semi-oxymoronic title sounds like the name of a Dark Tranquillity track, is the best of what the band like to play.
This album is apparently about an allegoric journey between stars and galaxies and amongst other things, is “a huge metaphor between life and death”. All this talk of allegory went down the drain as the album, pleasingly without any unnecessary or flowery introduction, launched straight into aggressive, adrenaline-pumping growled hardcore with an underlying melody. Like Disarmonia Mundi – great stuff. Fleeting breaks reset the targets but anything more time-consuming would defeat the object of this breathless piece. Thus the roarathon leads into the second track. The album is better for it. It’s not all about having our heads ripped off however. The guitar riffs are of a sound technical quality as well as adding flavour and colour. As The Sun are not averse to slowing down the pace either and then building up the tension as they do on “Memories of Light”, but with a disappointing dénouement, I thought. I would have liked some more time spent on magic instead of reversion to hardcore aggression at this point.
“Gravity” conveys the cosmic side – I very much liked the background choral section – and is a brief interlude before we’re hit with another melodic metalcore onslaught in the form of “Surfacing”. The breathless romp is stopped and builds up again. I could not listen to this passively – my head in particular was engaging in it. It can be an emotional journey too, as the harshness and melody are matched with a strong sense of angst. Above all it’s about energy threatening to fall out of control. And let’s not forget the guitar virtuosity which shines through “Observing End”. The drum patterns are similarly colourful. It’s like a complete meal in one. “Bridges” is pure Soilwork but with that hardcore flavour that these guys specialise in. This is all about big riffs, subtle instrumentals, changes of pace and aggression. The ingredients are fresh and the resultant mix is exciting. I felt they could have taken “Bridges” further though, as it dies wimpishly. Non-stop frenetic activity is resumed with “Twin Suns”, that is until it is punctuated clumsily by an acoustic break. I thought that “Deep Field” was going to be a big track from the way it started. Surprisingly the track moves into a measured melody but like a developing story, the guitar work borders on majesty. Murderous vocals come in at the end to signal despair and anger but what preceded it was almost progressive and needed more continuity in its pattern and build-up to capture my full admiration. The end result of the creativity of “Deep Field” was lost on me. “Eye Burn” is more direct. It’s a straightforward but brief hardcore rant. Our aural palette refreshed, the album ends as it should: with a fiery blast of melodic energy. Now’s the time for terminal parading and majesty … and we get it on all levels. It was good that the album started on a high and it’s good that it ended that way too.
I like the passion and the variety in this album. Yes, there are some loose ends which occur when As The Sun explore new worlds and try to be subtle but it’s good that they’re trying to be adventurous, and my overriding memory of “Event Horizon” is of energetic fun. What these Italians do is to put gloss and quality into melodic metalcore.
(7.5/10 Andrew Doherty)
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