Bomb sirens cry out in desolation as an eerie suspense unfolds. An underlying noise creeps and crawls amounting into a rising, atmospheric guitar ring out, then suddenly busts out into a gorgeous, tight, rhythmic
thrashing of djent tonal guitars oozing in reverb and crushing out a simplistic repetition. Straight away I got that feeling like I knew exactly what this record was about. Several listens later that initial appeal is still here and this record is everything I thought it would be. 44 minute of enigmatic instrumental djent with a vibrant splash of color and melody. Cloudkicker is the one man band project of Ben Sharp, mutli instrumentalist who releases all of his music for free through the bands official website.
"The Discovery" is a polarizing formula, a crushing rhythmic assault is carried out by the low end guitars and forceful drumming, while the leads and high range notation color and climax these songs with rich and absorbing melodics that wash together in a sea of immersible abrasion. Its a formula that is set down from the first moment and fails to stay far from it. Through the record each of the songs offer up some different approaches, riffage and ideas that make this very enjoyable if the sound is your cup of tea. Theres some melodic, lighter, more acoustic tracks in between the heavier songs that really help this album flow and transition between tracks.
Asides some great instrumentation and songwriting, this record has a great sound to it. It comes with an "amateur" overtone to it that I can only describe as being warm and loving. It feels like someone put a lot of heart and energy into the production which sounds great, but has some technical flaws, none of which are even a big deal, but that amateur vibe stays present, and I like it very much so. One of the most notable features is the use of a drum machine that sounds like "Drumkit From Hell", having worked with this before it is certainly a hard sound to disguise but even though its noticeable the drumming is well programmed and fluent with the songs. Overall this is a fantastic record that has a lot of personal charm and one that has me yearning to seek out more from this talented artist.
Favorite Tracks: Genesis Device, Dysphoria, The Discovery
Rating: 7/10