Review of Skyligers - Devouring The Sun by clatterbones. Ninehertz: covering stoner rock, doom, sludge, noise, black metal and the avant garde. Read the reviews, join the forum, enter the music debate
When I learned the title of this EP, the image that came to mind was that of Goya’s ‘Saturn Devouring His Son’ – a figure wearing a blunt expression of pure, unknowable madness, eyes panicked and sunken with the horror of the titular act he is committing.
Thankfully, although Sheffield’s Skyligers sing of aching, of breaking, of anguish and uncertainty, their music starkly contrasts with the haunted artwork and instead reflects a deep sense of beauty and fragility, both inwardly and outwardly.
Skyligers will undoubtedly come to represent a masterful balance of instrumentation. I cannot stress enough how well-constructed and controlled the six songs on this debut are, or how instinctive the band is in sacrificing the spotlight of any one member. The rhythm section of Stephen Wallace and Joe Warrington are inseparable in their melodic, considered and textural style of playing. They display a natural ability to identify and compliment any hollower frequencies, acting as a seamless, driving accompaniment to the spirit-level balance of guitarists Ian Fallon and Jonathan Spate, whose ethereal, interlocking and often heart-breaking melodies are sure to warm as many cockles as the spines they’ll be tingling.
The once instrumental group have found a charismatic and compelling voice in belly-dancer Ferret, who effortlessly assimilated into the band and now fits perfectly between the simultaneously calming and invigorating music that surrounds her.
She propels sections of Maybe One Day… with a genuinely overwhelming performance, overdubs gorgeously delicate harmonies onto Filters of Flesh, and even compliments the energetic soundscape of Freon with her zills (Turkish finger-cymbals which are traditionally used to accompany belly-dancing performances). Drawing from experience, the emotion in her voice is incredibly real, and she’s moved me to tears on almost every listen.
The sense of communication between the players and the listener is tangible; the graceful sequencing of the EP begins with the dynamic and entirely natural quintuplet swing of Antinoun, and ends with the climactic, dance-able and ultimately earnest epic – the aforementioned Freon, a highlight amongst highlights. The rich production allows the listener to get truly lost in constantly shifting moods whilst the lyrical content paints wildly different pictures. Skyligers aren’t afraid to intensify their dynamics when the moment is right; Toxic Sciamachy captures their combined idiosyncrasies with an off-kilter stomp, while Now She Knows builds to a visceral, multi-vocal peak from incredibly humble beginnings.
With Devouring The Sun, Skyligers have unleashed an almost unequalled debut release. I wanted to avoid band comparisons so as not to discredit the group’s individuality, but fans of post-rock, space rock, progressive rock or even pure, unadulterated pop music shouldn’t hesitate at the chance to listen. The level of memorable, infectious and deeply considered song-writing is matched only by the restraint shown by the individual musicians, which allows them to shine together as one blistering sun: a smouldering cosmic giant I can’t imagine ever being devoured.
The African Safari park in the Oita prefecture in Japan has a lion cub and a tiger cub that are buddies!
No ligers as yet... and the news article I’ve stolen these photos from don’t mention the sex of the cubs, so dunno if it’s on the cards, but we can but hope...
We were interviewed for Sonic Pie-ways - “a video fanzine giving you interviews, music and info on the buzzing local scene”, available on the YouTube channel Eat Sleep Rock Repeat TV - last week.
Actual fans of the band may have noticed a massive shift in our online branding. That’s right, we’ve changed our profile pictures on social media!
Out with the old skyliger-with-stripes-that-spell-‘skyligers’ and in with a funky-looking sigil that was created by a magical-internet-person-whose-real-name-I-don’t-know. (The meaning of the sigil? I’m not telling…) And then after literally hours of scouring free font websites, we finally found one for our new logo that works well with the sigil, so expect to start seeing that in places too. Also: actual band photos by an actual photographer! No more using some friend’s slightly blurry iPhone photo as our cover picture…
That’s not all!
Our first proper recording, done in a proper studio for actual monies, has been in the wild for a couple of months: 'Antinoun' has been available for streaming on our soundcloud since the rebrand, and is included on the compilation disc for The Day Of The Riffids. We've been giving these discs away for free when you buy a ticket to TDOTR… an absolute bargain at a fiver, especially when you get a 12 track CD! However, with less than a week to go we're all out of tickets. You could try contacting one of the other bands, otherwise it'll be more on the door!
This is an all-dayer starting at 2pm, so get down early or you will miss some awesome rock! No set times are being released... you must stay for everything!
The Grand Finally:
Our debut single goes live today! Available to download exclusively through bandcamp, a pay-what-you-want-(yes-that-means-you-can-have-it-for-free-if-you're-broke) radio edit* of our signature tune, 'Freon'.
*still the better part of five minutes, mind.
Yes, it'll be on the EP - hopefully available on CD, as well as download, come August - in all its 'album version' glory, as will 'Antinoun'. If delaying gratification is your thing, wait till August. If you just can't wait to spread Skyligers’ song-butter all over your ear-breads, you know what to do.
OH MY GOD one of our tigers did this (and it isn’t stuck on his head; one of the keepers went in to see if he needed help and he undid this and redid it on his own a few times) but oh my god hE’S PRETENDING TO BE A LION IM GONNA DIE
The Roaring Of Skyligers @skyligers - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
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