PSOTY – Sunless

PSOTY, formally known as Pet Slimmers Of The Year, are a 4 piece heavy rock band from Peterborough, releasing this their 2nd full length album after 2014’s ‘Fragments Of Uniforms ‘. They play dark, heavy anthems that suck you into another world and I just love albums like this.

For me, music is supposed to carry you into a temporary different world. To help you forget about real life. ‘Sunless ‘ does this from the very first moment the intro to ‘Oil Blood ‘ rears itself. There’s an instant sense that this isn’t just an album, but a journey. I don’t get this feeling very often, but today I have. The opening sound is massive in this depressing, yet full of hope track. Littered with deep lyrics that pull you into another word, this is just right up my street. It’s slow, thoughtful, but beautiful.

‘The Yawning Void ‘ starts almost identically to the album’s opener. Peaceful guitars replaced by loud sound. The music speaks without lyrics. It doesn’t need them. It tells it’s own story. This is another lengthy slow burner clocking in at a whopping seven minutes. It reminds me of certain aspects of Queensryche for some reason.

‘Watcher Of The Abyss ‘ is frighteningly superb. This is a mammoth ten minutes to digest. Again, the slow burning, dark formula is evident and key. Lyrics seem few and far between in all tracks on this album, almost to a point that you forget the tracks need them. But when they do appear, they add something special.

The album’s production is also vital here, and transfers the feel and mood over to the listener with precision. A very important element when listening to these tracks. ‘Acheron ‘ is a beautiful lament of slithering guitars which leads into ‘Queen Of Hades ‘, a mesmerizingly depressing instrumental, beautifully presented. When it comes to writing songs the thought process of the band is evident in this track.

‘Charon ‘ jigsaws ‘Queen Of Hades ‘ and ‘King Of Ephyra ‘ together by it’s peaceful and reflecting sounds. The latter being slightly different from the other songs we’ve heard so far. A little more mainstream, more radio friendly, if you will. Yet it still maintains everything that this album stands for.

We finish with ‘Obscura ‘, clocking in at just over eight minutes. I suppose there are valid points for and against, as to whether it’s a good move to finish an album with such a lengthy track. My personal opinion is that the album may have benefited better from a three or four minute finale, but that’s just my opinion. Overall this album is a very clever work of art and oozes imaginative class. Put it on after a night on the town and you wont regret it. Brilliant.

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