Vyre
The Initial Frontier Pt. 2

Vyre are back with the second part of their Initial Frontier saga. If they are to make more parts is something only they know. Their debut was an exciting journey through the coldness and darkness of space, a very exciting album. For this one there are some differences in the names of the members and they list a cello player this time around. They have already proven that they know how to balance that type of metal that they do, a kind of music where the line between success and disaster is quite narrow. And of course the web reviewers are again singing their praises over this new part of the saga, one of them even claim that it is a masterpiece, a timeless classic. That could have been a good thing if the site had been one that is known for their initiated reviewers. Anyway, I liked their debut, it was a fascinating musical journey, so what about this one?

This one is kind of the same, it builds on the same foundation of black metal, progressiveness, post-metal and whatever else you like to call this. It is slow moving, quite heavy, dark, kind of like showing the emptiness of space. I think it is like describing how a journey through the coldness and darkness of space feel like. Compared to the debut there isn’t much of a difference, the style and everything is the same and the evolvement is very small. The songs feel a little more worked through and everything is a little bit more carefully puzzled into place making everything feel sanitised and a bit bland. Well made is it, dark and interesting as well.

But as I said before, it is a tad sanitised, a tad bland a compared with the debut it feels a little bit boring. Not a bad album and if you enjoyed the debut you will most likely find this exciting as well. I do however as a reviewer think that it doesn’t step to far off where the debut was and neither is it perfecting their craft well enough to really grab my attention for any longer period of time. I think bands really need to learn to move their albums a bit further off one another because this one does not really add anything at all to the band’s discography other than one more album that sounds more or less the same and wether or not it is better than the debut I leave for other to judge, it is however much less interesting than the debut was. So if it is something of value depends on how you look at it, if you see it as just a new chapter to the part one album I think it is very good but as a new album it is much less interesting.

The opening track Naughtylus is the best of the album, it sets the same tone and feel as the debut album and gives expectations a boost. Then some quite uninteresting tracks follow and the album feels a bit bland and drab. I also think that the length of the album with only five tracks where the average playing time is more than nine minutes a track is a bit on the long side as well. I think however that it is a good album and if you liked the debut album you will most likely find this second part likeable as well. But as a reviewer I think it brings too little fresh ideas to the table and if you already have the first part it is no need to get the second one as they are more or less the same but if you have neither I think this one might be a slightly better choice.

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