Over the years Ireland has brought some seriously great bands to the table when it comes to the world of rock and metal. Now Shattered Skies have come forward to state their claim that they belong with new album The World We Used To Know and by God this is one meaty prog/metal album that people need to get their ears around.
Hearing instrumental opener ‘Collapse Of Man’ you could be dragged into a false sense of security but as we move into ‘End & the Rebirth’ that safety net is tugged away and you are greeted with a sound that simply sounds huge! This is tech metal at it’s finest, it is grandiose, it is melodic and the musicianship is second to none. Did we mention that this is their debut album?
Although you could describe the vocals stylings of singer Sean Murphy as classic rock, the music is anything but and the vocals help to give it an almost theatric feel. There are enough twists and turns in the music to grab the ear of Queen fans and enough riffs and heaviness to grab the attention of fans of all starts of metal. ‘Elegance & Grace’ shows the ambition of the band, their lack of fear to be inventive. It has such a stadium sized chorus and sorry to repeat myself hear but the musicianship is just incredible. It is almost like the band have no weak links.
This album seems to tick all the boxes. It has groove, it has melody, it has cheesiness, it has impressive heaviness but the main thing is that it has ambition. To see a band blast out of the gates with something so creative, like Shattered skies have done here, on a debut album is nothing short of impressive. Shattered Skies have shown here they can stand shoulder to shoulder with any number of greats from and beyond the tech-metal world and if they have done this on a debut who knows what will happen when they start on their sophmore release. The skies are not shattered they are just the limit.
