Lyu – The Sky Is Yours
Filed under: Album Reviews by ChrisNo Comments »
Remember the way I tend to hate all intros, in all forms, all of the time? Well, here’s one that isn;t bad. As an instrumental number clocking in at just under 1 minute 30 secs, ‘Forget The Past, Here’s To The Present’ serves as a neat little opener to this 5-track EP.
However, it seems that an attempt to re-listen has killed my CD drive. So parden me a moment whilst I switch PC’s. Thanks.
…
Right, okay, so technical problems aside it’s a good start. It sets the stall out well, gives you a taste of their sound and leaves you thinking ‘Dear lord (or whoever), please don’t let the vocals suck’. And suck they don’t, although there does seem to be more emphasis placed on the music than the vocals or lyrics, they’re still more than adequate and thankfully don’t go down the screamo route, which I’m frankly tired of now, seeing as how so few bands manage to pull it off.
That’s not to say the vocals here are in any way bad, they’re just not at the forefront; nor are they the most striking part of Lyu’s sound. The typical singalong chorus’ show upon some songs, but it’s the guitar work that strikes you most. Heavy, chunky riffs provide a solid backbone to each song, in a similar manner to Left Side Brain, and each song has it’s own little technical flourishes that I’d imagine the guitarist to be supremely proud of.
‘Visions’ is a small cut above the rest in terms of quality, and stands out more because of it’s memorable opening. It evokes excitement and is again well served by some great guitars.
They deal almost exclusively in a heavy rock sound, not quite metal but hinting at it. The only real criticism could be directed at a lack of variety, but as it’s only a 5 track EP, it isn’t really that big a deal.
If Lyu can keep creating music like this, they’ll start to sound amazing, but it’s unlikely for any band like this to ever achieve mainstream stardom. Which is good for us nerdy music types, but not so good for the band themselves…
Looking forward to a full-length album.
Rating: 
Far better than you’d think.
