{"id":12577,"date":"2014-12-23T12:40:00","date_gmt":"2014-12-23T12:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-skyharbor-guiding-lights\/"},"modified":"2018-03-17T15:06:16","modified_gmt":"2018-03-17T15:06:16","slug":"album-review-skyharbor-guiding-lights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-skyharbor-guiding-lights\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Skyharbor &#8211; Guiding Lights"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/78.media.tumblr.com\/f14c5e324fbbf0009e2a2c9a934c8353\/tumblr_inline_ngzg49HNVT1qztcot.jpg\" width=\"250px\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">In the hands of quartet <strong>Skyharbor<\/strong>, progressive metal has taken leaps and bounds into a softer, ambient realm. Since 2010, <strong>Skyharbor<\/strong> have set a high standard to follow, approaching a melodic turn for the genre with ease and effortless proficiency.<\/p>\n<p>Self-produced work of art <em>\u2018Guiding Lights\u2019<\/em>, their sophomore album takes its lessons from previously flawed <em>\u2018Blinding White Noise\u2019<\/em> and consequently brings a more perfected atmosphere to the table. An 11-track lullaby album combining romanticised, experiential and dream-like sequences, <em>\u2018Guiding Lights\u2019<\/em> appears to depict life through sleepy, tainted eyes.<!-- more --><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Hailing predominantly from India, <strong>Skyharbor<\/strong> consist of Keshav Dhar and Tesseract frontman Daniel Tompkins, combining expectations of expert guitar work with beautifully passionate lyrics. With Krishna Jhaveri on bass and Anup Sastry, the prog ensemble is full to bursting with flawless passion and talent. Following impressive sets at Download Festival and Graspop this summer, <strong>Skyharbor<\/strong> are reaching out wide, to which their rapidly increasing following is testament.<\/p>\n<p>Subdued, romanticised opener <em>\u2018Allure\u2019<\/em> portrays emotion-driven vocals alongside ambient, atmospheric effects. The success of the record lies in Dhar\u2019s guitar mastery, taking centre stage in all the right places and proffering support in the rest. Rising to astounding crescendos at times, the overall subdued atmosphere commends each member\u2019s talent in turn, showcasing the band\u2019s artistry in creating a gripping, gritty reality.  <em>\u201cYou don\u2019t need to envy me\u201d<\/em> cries album-stealing main single <em>\u2018Evolution\u2019<\/em>, where bassist Krishna Jhaveri provides a strong, albeit rarely seen support.  Tompkins\u2019 quintessentially 80s vocals alongside Dhar\u2019s beautiful guitar accompaniment create the atmospheric cries of suffering from the understated <em>\u2018Idle Minds\u2019<\/em>. <\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cNever let your temper take control\u201d<\/em>, warn the swaying vocals of <em>\u2018Miracle\u2019<\/em>, bringing also a philosophy to remember at this time of year \u2013 <em>\u201call I ask is please don\u2019t fill your life with treasure and nothing more\u201d<\/em>. <em>\u2019Halogen\u2019<\/em> closes on a psychedelic, existential note \u2013 <em>\u201csatisfaction left for dead, armor for my weakened head\u201d<\/em> encompassing the album\u2019s recurring theme of overcoming life\u2019s disappointments. Devoid of grating, heavy vocals throughout, the title track <em>\u2018Guiding Lights\u2019<\/em> provides the finishing touches to a versatile, wholesome record, summing up despair and succumbing to pain for the sake of love.<\/p>\n<p>With consistently marvellous existential lyrical content forging a commendable contrast with heavy, contemplative guitars, <strong>Skyharbor<\/strong> have cemented <em>\u2018Guiding Lights\u2019<\/em> as a landmark in prog, and a standout record for any rising stars of the genre to look up to.<\/p>\n<p>3.5\/5<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2019Guiding Lights\u2019<\/em> by <strong>Skyharbor<\/strong> is out now on <strong>Basick Records<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Skyharbor<\/strong> links: <a href=\"\/\/www.facebook.com\/skyharbormusic%E2%80%9D\">Facebook<\/a> | <a href=\"\/\/twitter.com\/skyharbormusic%E2%80%9D\">Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Words by Ali Cooper (<a href=\"\/\/twitter.com\/alizombie_%E2%80%9D\">@AliZombie_<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the hands of quartet Skyharbor, progressive metal has taken leaps and bounds into a softer, ambient realm. Since 2010, Skyharbor have set a high standard to follow, approaching a melodic turn for the genre with ease and effortless proficiency. Self-produced work of art \u2018Guiding Lights\u2019, their sophomore album takes its lessons from previously flawed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,8181],"tags":[5879,519,7218,7051],"class_list":["post-12577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","category-post","tag-album-reviews","tag-basick-records","tag-guiding-lights","tag-skyharbor"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Album Review: Skyharbor - Guiding Lights - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the hands of quartet Skyharbor, progressive metal has taken leaps and bounds into a softer, ambient realm. 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