Well their name might be generic sounding, their sound might be as well, but their musicianship really isn't. This being the project from guitarist Michael Sobygge, "Second Skin," is a self released guitar-dominated album that shares a flare for Power and Symphonic Metal elements.
Looking at this record as a self released project, the standpoint of this review is coming from more or less an A & R point of view. Are these guys worthy of being signed, Yes, they have the strong musicianship of Sobygge's guitar playing, arrangement', and songwriting, and his production ideas go beyond the standard demo format, but yet something need to be tighter, something is missing.
Well before the explanation for "what is missing" begins, let's talk about some of the stuff that is "present." The songs range from heavy opuses like
"Changing Sun," "The Matrix," and
"Dragon's Teeth;" but there are ballads like
"Memory Lane" and
"Cold Days to Clear Your Mind" showcasing the songwriting ability. You can also tell that Sobygge has a flare for guitar toys (processors, effects and so forth), and his guitar playing is worthy of some of the production techniques used here.
But what does need to improve is the production, like many self-release albums, the sound is thin, with a lot of room for improvement. An outside producer could be used to tighten up the sound, however due to Sobygge's musicianship, his production skills should still be used to influence, say, a future recording and the vocals could have also used a little more treatment, but overall, the musicianship is the center of attention here, and it is defiantly not the techno remix of
"Sleepwalker." With a little improvement on the production side of things, the sound that
Melodic Meltdown is trying to execute can be harnessed.
Written by
Hashman Monday, October 6, 2003
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