Band: Radiant Knife Title: Science Fiction Label: independent/self-released Release date: August 8, 2018 Country: USA Format reviewed: mp3 (vbr) promo
RADIANT KNIFE is causing quite a stir in the underground metal community with their latest effort, “Science Fiction”, independently released earlier this month. The Lafayette, Louisiana duo was established in 2016, and released a well received self-titled debut EP the following year. Greg Travasos (drums) and Stephen Sheppert (vocals, guitars & synthesizers) improved further on the sound and composition, delivering a very strong, riff oriented slab of progressive metal, on “Science Fiction”. If I am to add an additional tag into describing the music on the album, that would be “sludge”. As in “progressive sludge metal”. This musical experiment is much more than that. What we have here is a hypnotic dance between Stephen’s impressive guitar work and Greg’s spectacular drumming! In my opinion the amount of vocals on the album is just right, and is allowing the atmospheric synthesizer parts, rising unexpectedly to complete the bars: a psychedelic embroidery, if you wish. The voice (clean vocal delivery for most part) becoming another instrument in the mix, delivering the songs’ messages on point. Taking notes from the spellbinding intricacies of King Crimson’s 1974 “Red” and the voluptuous techniques of Mastodon’s “Remission” and “Leviathan” era, RADIANT KNIFE delivers a memorable listener’s experience: a forty-seven minutes (8 tracks) musical journey filled with multidimensional layers of masterful guitar riffage and picking, compelling psychedelic and doom elements, brilliant time signatures, patterns, accents and ghost notes. A side note: the album’s vinyl edition omits two of the tracks included in the digital version, most likely due to time restraints. Upon listening to the album for the first time, it became clear that the songs are anchored in the riffs, rather than lyrics, allowing for the listener’s self interpretation. Interestingly enough, a different mood dictates an alternate meaning. Furthermore, repetitive (front to back) listening sessions further enhanced the perception of tones and textures, revealing additional key elements and details within the songs, a trait usually associated to progressive/psychedelic masterpieces from a band like Pink Floyd. In the infinite of the Cosmos the sense of urgency tends to be irrelevant from a human perspective.
RADIANT KNIFE’s “Science Fiction” is a must for your space traveling. Play it along the way to your destination, wherever that might be. Highly recommended. 8.5/10
© 2018 by Emil Chiru