SKIES DARKEN

It's been ten years since CITIZEN CAIN last released a studio album and it was one that I didn't think much of. I probably wouldn't have bothered with this one except that people were saying they had made their sound darker and heavier. They had my attention. A lot of Neo-Prog bands have changed to a heavier style and for the most part it's been an improvement. One of my complaints of latter day CAIN albums have been the long length of them plus the relentless vocals. I just get so tired of Cyrus' vocals being constantly in my face even though I do like them. Just give me some moderation(haha). Well they have scaled them back some but this is still a long album at over 73 minutes.

It has this theme running through it about how man has failed to learn from past mistakes and the skies are getting darker because of it. Soon it will catch up with humanity and the storm will break. There seems to be a lot of nursery rhyme references on this record as well.

"The Charnal House" is surprisingly heavy. Love the chunky bass, and vocals arrive a minute in. It's heavy again before 2 1/2 minutes as contrasts continue. It blends into "The Long Sleep" where we get some huge bass lines. A calm with piano before 3 minutes and reserved vocals join in. It kicks back in quickly. Again contrasts continue. Spoken words late. "Darkest Sleep / Manifestations" has this marching styled rhythm as the vocals join in. It's building. A calm before 2 minutes then it kicks back in a minute later. I like these powerful sections. "Spiders In Undergrowth" features lots of piano.

"The Hunting Of Johnny Eue / Trapped By Candlelight" has a good heavy sound 2 minutes in then the vocals arrive and it's not as heavy. These contrasts continue. An atmospheric calm 9 minutes in. Great sound of drums and synths when it kicks back in. "Coming Down / The Fountains Of Sand / Delivered Up For Tea / Death And Rebirth" has a powerful intro with chunky bass. A calm with reserved vocals before 1 1/2 minutes and the piano joins in. It continues to be laid back until before 6 minutes when we get a bombastic instrumental section that ends before 8 minutes. Impressive. Spoken words late. "Do We Walk In The World ?" opens with piano as the vocals join in. Bass and drums too. Lots of synths before 4 minutes. It's heavy late as it blends into "Lost In Lonely Ghosts". Vocals follow then we get a silent calm 3 minutes in then the reserved vocals return before it kicks back in.

A good album but i'll stick with their first two studio albums thankyou. 3 stars.