THE TREES ARE DEAD & DRIED OUT WAIT FOR SOMETHING WILD

Sikth has created quite a unique sound on their debut, The Trees Are Dead & Dried Out, Wait for Something Wild, characterized by technical metal riffing, slap bass, melodic breaks, and bizarre screamed/spoken vocals. The best I can do to describe it is the halfway point between Unexpect and System of a Down with a heavy emphasis on technical riffs and structures. As interesting and fresh as this is, it's hard to tell how much of this music the band takes seriously, really. Likewise, it's hard to tell how much of this we're supposed to take seriously. While they're busting out some admirable riffs and beats, the vocals almost sound like a parody of Limp Bizkit at their most nutty. The clean vocals are more legitimate, but they do resemble the clean vocalist of some nu-metal band (the names escape me). Now, we could frown on this apparent influence of nu-metal and constant use of silly vocals, or we can give them a high five for showing us how it's done and how to have fun while doing so. I want to high five them, but I think at this point they haven't quite earned it. There are so many delicious moments on the disc, like the closing minutes of Skies of the Millenium Night, but the screamed vocals, while they can certainly be fun and even be used tastefully for effect, are used way too much on some songs. Shortly after you were enticed by the frantic but opener, Scent of the Obscene, you'll start getting annoyed and tired of the music. They need to find a way to properly channel their humor, like System of a Down does. Also, some of the more experimental tracks, like the back-to- back Tupelo and Can't We All Dream don't quite work out. They are rather dull, though it's clear that the intentions were in the right area and ideas were close. Much like those are the piano interludes that make up the two parts of Emerson. Good ideas, much needed breaks, but hardly interesting. The album closes with a strictly vocal narration with some color commentary. Again, it hardly holds interest, but man, this stuff can really be something!

These guys have so much potential. They amalgamate so many sounds and styles, there's no telling what heights they can reach! With just a little more focus on the big picture, these guys can create a wild, theatrical, enthralling and wholly entertaining & memorable album that can take the craziness of avant-garde metal bands like Unexpect and present it in a more appealing package to those who haven't quite been able to get into such music, or haven't heard any of it. They could have done so much, it's a shame that they played it safe, far too safe, on their follow up, which, even more of a shame, was their last record.

The Trees Are Dead & Dried Out, Wait for Something Wild is a mixed bag in more than one sense. Fans of creative music that aren't put off by humor or nutty, screamy vocals should check this out. There is enough goodness throughout to make it worth your while, but be aware that the novelty may wear off quickly.

'The Trees Are Dead & Dried Out Wait for Something Wild' - Sikth (7/10)

There is alot to be said about Sikth, a band from the UK that is now defunct. Although they fit into a particular sound of music that I have rarely been attracted to, I've been lately infatuated with their incredibly chaotic sound and adventurous musicianship. Although their second album would perfect their work, the verbosely titled debut brings a distinctive melange of styles to the table. 'The Trees Are Dead & Dried Out Wait for Something Wild' is quite a mouthful, and way do well to describe the feeling the music gets across. Sporting some of the best musicianship modern progressive metal has seen in the new millennium, Sikth balance off their jackhammer instrumentation with incredibly quirky left-of-centre compsoitions, and creates an aggressive piece of math metal that often flirts with the avant- garde.

I will say first that Sikth's music is not for everyone. In fact, most people will find the incredibly dense and diverse style that they play to be virtually impenetrable.Sikth's first fit into a label will likely be 'mathcore', sharing the same out of control style and screamed vocals that The Dillinger Escape Plan and Protest The Hero use. This is a style that I have historically found inconsistent at best, and distasteful at worst, but I've been proven here that there is gold in every mound. Of the two albums that Sikth put out when they were still together, this is the more mathcore-based, and less melodic of the two pieces. However, the sense of sporadic shifts and diversity is here in full. 'The Trees Are Dead & Dried Out Wait for Something Wild' introduces the band's style in all its glory. There is intensely technical musicianship that rivals many of prog metal's most inventive acts. The most challenging aspect of this band however, are their vocals. With two vocalists, it's granted that there will be some more diversity to the voices here than is usual for band, but the vocal element goes all across the board. From nutty shrieks and high-pitched screams to clean singing, growls and avant-garde spoken word poetry, it's as if Sikth hired the local asylum for the criminally insane's house choir, told them to patch together some lyrics, and deliver them in whatever way they see fit. It's strange, and the pieces do not always fit together, but it keeps things wildly interesting.

'The Trees Are Dead & Dried Out Wait for Something Wild' is a very ambitious effort, but some ideas are taken far beyond where they should have stopped. 'Tupelo' and 'Can't We All Dream?' are a perfect example of this, taking an altogether sixteen minute respite from the chaos to build up a couple of odd vocal ideas. Although 'Tupelo' succeeds in conveying an eerie tribal feeling, the following track ends up becoming irritating long before the end. Hearing the track title shouted countless times after the music ends would have been a disappointing end to the album, but to make it worse, it's lodged in the middle of it. Through this, 'The Trees Are Dead & Dried Out Wait for Something Wild' has a fairly weak sense of flow to it, and even feels like it should have ended much earlier than it does. 'Death Of A Dead Day' is superior in virtually every way, but as debuts go, SIkth gives a remarkable experience here. It's a shame that we will only ever hear two albums from them, because there is not a band that has a sound just like theirs.

"The Trees Are Dead & Dried Out Wait for Something Wild" is the debut full-length studio album by UK, Watford based progressive metal act Sikth. The album was released through Gut Records in August 2003. Sikth was active from 2001 to 2008 and released two full-length studio albums in that period.

The music on the album is a highly energetic form of progressive metal with elements of all sorts of other music styles. Most notably mathcore, NU-metal, alternative metal and hardcore. Imagine how a combination of The Dillinger Escape Plan, System of a Down, Mr. Bungle, Devin Townsend, Protest the Hero and Shaolin Death Squad would sound like and you're half way there. At their most melodic (like on "Peep Show") I'd even pull out The Mars Volta as a reference.

Sikth features two vocalists. I'm not completely sure who sings what, but there are several different vocal styles featured in the music. It often sounds like a group of mad men shouting, screaming, fast talking, hysterical, whining and occasionally singing more clean melodic type vocals. There is a girlish quality to the clean vocal delivery that'll probably be a little off putting to some, but you can't deny that the vocals are delivered with fierce conviction and great skill. The point is the vocals are most likely an aquired taste. The instrumental part of the music is played with militant precision but features a delightfully chaotic sound. The technical level of playing is incredibly high. Both guitarists play very challenging riffs and themes, the bassist is thankfully placed high in the mix and he plays some really busy stuff throughout and the drummer is a tech metal monster. Contantly changing rhythms and time signatures and constantly shifts between energetic aggressive sections and more melodic atmospheric ones. This is at the same time very challenging and very catchy music.

"The Trees Are Dead & Dried Out Wait for Something Wild" is a self-produced affair (mixed by Colin Richardson) and it's obvious the band are very skilled at this. The album features a very well sounding and powerful sound production, which provides the right space for all instruments and vocals in the soundscape. Another great asset is the album's flow or in other words how the tracklist is put together. It's an album full of surprises. Not only are the material really eclectic in nature, we're also treated to great changes in mood and atmosphere throughout the album.

The first part of the album (the first seven tracks) are wild, energetic and chaotic in nature, with the occasional more melodic section thrown in, but when the eigth track "Tupelo" kicks in, it's also the beginning of around 18 minutes of experimental, atmospheric music that is completely different from what came before it, yet somehow Sikth manage to make the transition in a seamless natural fashion. After being bombarded with technical playing and a very high energy level during the first part of the album, it's initially a bit of a culture shock to be met with the atmospheric sound of "Tupelo", "Can't We All Dream?" and the short piano interlude "Emerson, Part 2". It's perfect though and while the craziness continues on those tracks too with odd theatrical poetry recital and other types of obscure vocal artistery, that part of the album does work as a little breather, because when "How May I Help You?" kick in we're back in high energy chaotic territory again. That continues until the closing track "When Will the Forest Speak...?", which brings us back into odd poetry recital territory.

At 60:34 minutes (and that's excluding the Japanese bonus tracks), "The Trees Are Dead & Dried Out Wait for Something Wild" is a long album, but because of the eclectic nature of the music and the great flow of the album, it's not a minute too long. This is a progressive metal album in the most true sense of the word and when that amounts to a greatly adventurous, well played and well produced end product, as the case is here, a 4.5 star (90%) rating is deserved.