I think we all agree that certain bands are almost like friends. You meet each other and click instantly. You walk together through the good times, having a blast. When you’re down, your friend is there for you to help you through the misery. Years go by and you can not imagine how it would be without him or her. But then your friend moves away, to another city, to another country, or maybe just changes into a direction you don’t want to take. Although you’re still connected via Facebook, you barely talk anymore, and you’re not really interested in what your friend’s doing anyway, so you spend more time with other people. But one day, all of a sudden, your bell rings, you open the door and your old friend is standing there, totally unexpected. At the first moment you feel kind of odd and wonder what she/he is doing here, but after a few minutes everything’s just perfect, not just like the way it used to, even better, because you have so much to share again, and you’re reminded why the two of you were – and are – such a perfect pack.
This is exactly how I felt when I listened to the new SHAI HULUD record Reach Beyond The Sun for the first time. Just like I explained here, I didn’t expect anything from this band anymore, but now I’m into them again big time. Everything I love about SHAI HULUD is palpable on this album: the riffs, the compelling melodies, the furious song writing, the grasping backing vocals and most importantly the bitter sweet lyrics, swinging between bleak depression and hopeful calls for perseverance.
Reach Beyond The Sun is an incredible strong album and has no reason to hide behind the records with whom SHAI HULUD virtually established a whole new level of sickness and a way to play metallic Hardcore, for example Hearts Once Nourished With Hope and Compassion or That Within Blood Ill-Tempered. It’s not only that all the trademarks are there, but there’s also this energy and you know, just that certain feeling that makes SHAI HULUD so much better than all the copycats (although I have to admit that the number of bands trying to rip of SHAI HULUD has decreased a lot over the years). SHAI HULUD don’t even try to sound like a generic metal (-core) band, or like one of those pathetic “modern Hardcore” outfits – they are just themselves. And that is just all I want from them. Or like they say, “I will walk with you, my friend.” Always and again.
New Comments