Sun of Gaia is a five-piece progressive metal band from Adelaide, South Australia. The band shares influences with disparate groups like Ne Obliviscaris, Gojira, and At The Gates. Having only formed just a year ago in 2015, they are already releasing their debut in Corrode, which definitely caught my attention with its unique union of death and progressive. But can they live up to the established names above?
After a very enticing intro, in come the growls and aggressive distortion. But "Endless Wake" quickly makes it known that Sun of Gaia are interested in much more than just the dark and brutal. The sudden shift in tone is very disarming, with a much more melodic and almost cheerful aesthetic taking control. I hear wavering influences of melodeath, post-metal, and even a dash of metalcore; all as some pretty vicious and varied screams counterbalance the loftier tones.
And as if that wasn't enough, the band will dip into a quiet space of clean guitar instrumentals that are extremely serene. True progressive is all about exploring uncharted territories in one cohesive composition, and Corrode succeeds at this several times over. The warm bass tone, unique riff structure, and atypical time signature of "The Cold" is another great example of Sun of Gaia's talent in terms of both performance and writing. The drummer seems to be off in his own world, just jamming out alone..., and yet they never clash with the other instruments.
This is a style of music I feel is so familiar, and yet I struggle to form a cogent comparison. It's a little Enslaved, a little Black Harvest, and maybe even a little Sadist. Moment to moment parallels jump out at me, but when added together it all becomes blurred. It could be that I have landed on a group with even more unique ideas than I have given them credit for. Such a joyous combination of darkness and light. Speaking of which, "Blinding Light" is another track you simply should not miss. It's a cathartic experience filled with great hooks and perfected use of synthesizer and overall dynamics.
Yes, Sun of Gaia have proven, at least to me, that they are worthy of comparisons to the big boys of death and progressive metal. It's hard to say from this half hour release whether they have the same staying power, but there are all the workings here of a group with high aspirations. Not content to stick with any particular sound, they possess a lot of flexibility that will serve them well in carving their own faces into the metal pantheon. Furthermore, they just jam. Check out and buy Corrode right now below.