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Shepherds Of Cassini - Album Review: Helios Forsaken

02 Aug 2015 // A review by tonymcdonald

Helios Forsaken is a 5-and-a-quarter-song album from Auckland's Shepherds of Cassini, and it's going to hit you hard. Mirrors Have No Memory is a 45 second song, hence the quarter.

This second album is in a genre all of its own, mixing progressive rock with post metal. Hard core deep bass riffs by Vitesh Bava rattle through the songs accompanied by Felix Lun's violin. While initially this didn’t seem to fit, as the tracks went on it either worked better or I just got used to it. 

The heavy drums by Omar Al-Hashimi will definitely explode your speakers given the chance, and I recommend you turn it up loud. The guitar sound, riffs and style is quite phenomenal too, setting this band apart from other metal bands.

One small criticism is that there could be more lyrics, having said that however, the great vocals by Brendan Zwaan fitted well and worked within the albums structure.

The longest song The Almagest, at 14 minutes and 59 seconds, is certainly epic in length and must really rock when played live.

The first couple of songs had some strange transitions which worked, but again after the initial surprise I got used to them and it all worked well together.

Check out the album here, and enjoy.

 

About Shepherds Of Cassini

Overview:
Shepherds Of Cassini are a post-metal/progressive-rock band from Auckland. Formed in 2012, the group’s line-up consists of Omar Al-Hashimi on drums (from Pilgrim's Pyre), Vitesh Bava on bass (from Pilgrim's Pyre), Felix Lun on electric violin (from An Emerald City) and Brendan Zwaan on guitar and vocals (from Flood).

The band combine progressive rock with post-metal influences, along with psychedelic sound experimentation. Their scope consists of lengthy songs involving dynamic compositions, middle-eastern influenced melody, percussive tribal breakdowns, hypnotic constructions of rhythmic ideas and complex arrangements. Themes explored range from metal influenced riffing, post rock influenced soundscapes through to exotic, surreal passages of gentle melody.

Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Shepherds Of Cassini

Releases

Helios Forsaken
Year: 2015
Type: Album
Shepherds of Cassini
Year: 2013
Type: Album

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