{"id":69761,"date":"2018-09-26T15:00:10","date_gmt":"2018-09-26T14:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=69761"},"modified":"2018-12-06T22:36:52","modified_gmt":"2018-12-06T22:36:52","slug":"review-hail-the-sun-mental-knife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-hail-the-sun-mental-knife\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Hail The Sun &#8211; Mental Knife"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-69937\" src=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/hail-the-sun-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/hail-the-sun-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/hail-the-sun-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/hail-the-sun.jpg 600w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/hail-the-sun-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/hail-the-sun-465x465.jpg 465w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/hail-the-sun-500x500.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>As the gentle introduction \u2018<em>Gouge &amp; Uproot<\/em>\u2019 explodes to life, you realise that on <em>\u2018Mental Knife\u2019,\u00a0<\/em><strong>Hail The Sun<\/strong> have pushed their sound to its zenith.<\/p>\n<p>Always flowing, the album is a soundscape of dual effects-laden guitars dancing on a background of thunderous drumming. Multi-talented singer (and drummer) Donovan Melero has a voice able to convey the serenity of floating over the ocean. It can roll like the waves, then suddenly switch to a screech like an attacking flock of seagulls. It&#8217;s a stunning mixture of skills, especially as he knows when and where to deploy each for maximum effect, finding big hooks in transitions and unusual emphasis that fans of Circa Survive (or indeed Sianvar, Melero\u2019s side-project) will recognise. Producer Beau Burchell (Saosin) deftly handles the band\u2019s disparate elements, enhancing the overall journey. Compared with the band\u2019s 2017\u2019s EP \u2018<em>Secret Wars<\/em>\u2019, he chamfers off the sharper edges while retaining the bite.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Hail The Sun &quot;Mental Knife&quot; (Official Music Video)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/w2SczshdOGE?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>First single \u2018<em>Mental Knife<\/em>\u2019 shows how far the band have pushed themselves, featuring frantic sparkling guitar lines, a brilliant yelped hook and calm-before-the-storm lulls (again, similar to Sianvar). Just listen to the guitars on \u2018<em>Suffocating Syndrome<\/em>\u2019 working together by doing different things. One channel is a cacophony of guitar abuse while the other weaves delicate lead lines around it: genius. \u2018<em>The Stranger in Our Picture<\/em>\u2019 was a weak single choice \u2013 the band don\u2019t do choruses and its gentle flow doesn\u2019t draw you in \u2013 yet fits perfectly as part of a larger whole. Similarly calm, \u2018<em>Risk\/Reward\u2019<\/em> features a delicate vocal over a gentle swirl of guitar effects, offset by oblique lyrics about eyes being gouged, enhancing its awkward beauty. \u2018<em>Feel It When Convenient<\/em>\u2019 follows as a counterpoint, displaying a violent screechy enfilade and the album\u2019s heaviest parts. A highlight, \u2018<em>A Lesson in Lust<\/em>\u2019 excels with a vocal groove, rapid lead guitars and more than enough changes to justify their \u2018progressive\u2019 label.<\/p>\n<p>Refined, beautiful, biting; with \u2018<em>Mental Knife<\/em>\u2018 <strong>Hail the Sun<\/strong> have crafted a striking record.<\/p>\n<p>4\/5<\/p>\n<p>\u2018<em>Mental Knife\u2019<\/em>\u00a0by <strong>Hail the Sun<\/strong> is released on 28<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0September on <strong>Rude Records.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Hail the Sun<\/strong> links:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hailthesun\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hailthesun.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Website<\/a>\u00a0| <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hailthesun\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Words by Ian Kenworthy (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WhisperingSand\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@WhisperingSand<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Refined, beautiful, biting; with \u2018Mental Knife\u2018 Hail the Sun have crafted a striking record.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":69937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[5879,365,15621,15936,626],"class_list":["post-69761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-album-reviews","tag-hail-the-sun","tag-ian-kenworthy","tag-mental-knife","tag-rude-records"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review: Hail The Sun - Mental Knife - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&quot;Refined, beautiful, biting; with \u2018Mental Knife\u2018 Hail the Sun have crafted a striking record.&quot;\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review: Hail The Sun - Mental Knife - Already Heard Staging\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&quot;Refined, beautiful, biting; with \u2018Mental Knife\u2018 Hail the Sun have crafted a striking record.&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-hail-the-sun-mental-knife\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Already Heard Staging\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-09-26T14:00:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-12-06T22:36:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/hail-the-sun.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ian Kenworthy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@alreadyhearduk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@alreadyhearduk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ian Kenworthy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Review: Hail The Sun - Mental Knife - Already Heard Staging","description":"\"Refined, beautiful, biting; with \u2018Mental Knife\u2018 Hail the Sun have crafted a striking record.\"","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Review: Hail The Sun - Mental Knife - Already Heard Staging","og_description":"\"Refined, beautiful, biting; with \u2018Mental Knife\u2018 Hail the Sun have crafted a striking record.\"","og_url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-hail-the-sun-mental-knife\/","og_site_name":"Already Heard Staging","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/","article_published_time":"2018-09-26T14:00:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-12-06T22:36:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/hail-the-sun.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ian Kenworthy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@alreadyhearduk","twitter_site":"@alreadyhearduk","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ian Kenworthy","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-hail-the-sun-mental-knife\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-hail-the-sun-mental-knife\/"},"author":{"name":"Ian Kenworthy","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/e00899caa476ac5e5fc7ef785c987de1"},"headline":"Review: Hail The Sun &#8211; Mental Knife","datePublished":"2018-09-26T14:00:10+00:00","dateModified":"2018-12-06T22:36:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-hail-the-sun-mental-knife\/"},"wordCount":375,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-hail-the-sun-mental-knife\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/hail-the-sun.jpg","keywords":["Album Reviews","Hail the Sun","Ian Kenworthy","Mental Knife","Rude Records"],"articleSection":["Album Reviews"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-hail-the-sun-mental-knife\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-hail-the-sun-mental-knife\/","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-hail-the-sun-mental-knife\/","name":"Review: Hail The Sun - Mental Knife - Already Heard Staging","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-hail-the-sun-mental-knife\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-hail-the-sun-mental-knife\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/hail-the-sun.jpg","datePublished":"2018-09-26T14:00:10+00:00","dateModified":"2018-12-06T22:36:52+00:00","description":"\"Refined, beautiful, biting; with \u2018Mental Knife\u2018 Hail the Sun have crafted a striking record.\"","inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-hail-the-sun-mental-knife\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-hail-the-sun-mental-knife\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/hail-the-sun.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/hail-the-sun.jpg","width":600,"height":600},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#website","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/","name":"Already Heard Staging","description":"Covering the best in alternative music as best as we can","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#organization","name":"Already Heard","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/AH-relaunch-logo-white-bg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/AH-relaunch-logo-white-bg.jpg","width":500,"height":500,"caption":"Already Heard"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AlreadyHeard\/","https:\/\/x.com\/alreadyhearduk","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/alreadyheard\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/already-heard\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/AlreadyHeardMusic","https:\/\/tiktok.com\/@alreadyhearduk","https:\/\/www.threads.net\/@alreadyheard"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/#\/schema\/person\/e00899caa476ac5e5fc7ef785c987de1","name":"Ian Kenworthy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f783f0372cac70e4f23bc75bf8457c1866467c2282723fa8314019f18e66003?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f783f0372cac70e4f23bc75bf8457c1866467c2282723fa8314019f18e66003?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3f783f0372cac70e4f23bc75bf8457c1866467c2282723fa8314019f18e66003?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ian Kenworthy"},"url":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/author\/ian-kenworthy\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69761"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73789,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69761\/revisions\/73789"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}