Review of The Fifth Sun - The Hunger To Survive

Synopsis: “Unsigned, Unforgiving and Unapologetic” -The Fifth Sun’s website...

Every day this splendid American melodic death metal band remains unsigned is a blemish on the American extreme metal music industry.

Review:

I generally understand why most bands don’t have record deals. It's because they suck. But a lot of sucky bands do manage to get record deals and I’m continually stunned at why bands like Kincaide, The Living Fields, The Pax Cecilia and Minnesota’s The Fifth Sun remain unsigned.

I was a big fan of The Fifth Sun’s first effort, 2002's The Moment of Truth as it was ballsy, well written and executed melodic death metal before ‘core’ or Gothenburg were dirty words. Now with the follow-up, the aptly titled The Hunger to Survive, The Fifth Sun return to show us that half of America’s metal labels are in fact legally deaf.

Unfortunately due to the crippling infusion of Swedish melodic death metal into American metal, most will assume this is some sort of metalcore or American metal act. But The Fifth Sun have far more in common with The Absence, early Beyond the Embrace and Enforsaken and in truth, blow those bands away. The Fifth Sun is pure dual guitar, hooky, melody laden yet earthy melodic death metal done absolutely perfectly and outshines much of this year's European melodic death metal.

Again produced by Fredrick Nordström and Studio Fredman (In Flames, The Haunted, Arch Enemy, Opeth) which is pretty much the production benchmark for the genre, The Hunger to Survive sounds superb not just superficially, but down to its very roots. The songs that wear the production are all firmly written and excellently played. From taut, galloping compositions that let the guitars flourish and flow with abandon (“Meaning in the Movement ”, “Intimate Moments”, “Leveling the Playing Field”, “In the Blink of an Eye”) to more controlled yet still dynamic tracks of articulate restraint (the superb “Failing to See”, “The Sixth Great Extinction”, “Secluded Acres”), each one is a memorable example of pristine melodic death metal free from clean vocal and needless interludes or experimentation. Bryan Horn’s gruff roar isn’t the usual Tomas Lindberg worship, giving The Fifth Sun just a smidgeon of American bravado amid the Swedish worship. Now don’t get me wrong-this isn’t a genre defining or earth shattering record, it is after all just melodic death metal, but it is perfect melodic death metal and it is simply a very, very strong record, worthy of your ear.

Do yourself a favor - go to the band's website, purchase this album for a measly $13 (or better yet buy this and the debut for $20) and support this hard working, talented and more importantly deserving American act, to show them metal fans at least have good taste.

Release Details

The Fifth Sun

The Hunger To Survive

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