Sidian might not be a household name in the thriving North American prog and technical death metal scene dominated by acts (probably) from the Bay Area and signed to labels like Artisan Era and Unique Leader, but the project is borne and deeply embedded in its roots.
Formerly an active band with a revolving lineup of members which at one point included current Fallujah vocalist Antonio Palermo, Trivium drummer Alex Bent, Oblivion drummer Luis Martinez, and Underling guitarist Luke Farmilo, among others, Sidian is currently survived by multi-instrumentalist Wyatt Sharp, who soldiers on with the project as a one-man outlet of sorts. Sharp took his time to recoup and has slowly been piecing together material on his own since their 2012 release Eternal Bloom of Lamenting Dawn.
Sharp recalls:
“It’s been 7 years since Sidian has released any new music. Our last effort “Eternal Bloom of Lamenting Dawn” in 2012 was a high point of composition for us, me in particular for having done the bulk of the writing. I felt particularly proud because it was an acknowledged moving experience for everyone involved. If I were to give credit for helping to achieve the quality of that track, it was because of our former vocalist’s polishing advice and lyrical content combined with our former bass player’s and drummer’s performance.
From April 2012 – August 2013 I worked on a set of new material with the intention of adding it to that single to create a whole album. Looking back on that material I’m really happy it never saw the light of day. This new material [Carry My Bones] I feel is a culmination of all of the composition mistakes I made with that older stuff, and an effort to improve upon any deficiencies I had writing on my own with no additional outside input. I feel that this record lives up to where we left off, and even goes a little further. This body of work is deeply personal to me.
The extra time and attention certainly paid off. Throughout Carry My Bones, we’re treated to a particular style of death metal that can contend with the best and brightest of the last decade. At times, tracks such as “Pillars” and “The Shallow Grave of Inherent Hate” sport some of the angular and deathgrind-influenced riffing and transition choices one might hear from early-era Between the Buried and Me.
Shades of early Rivers of Nihil and mid-to-late-era Job For A Cowboy come and go throughout Sidian’s proprietary blend, with the inevitable Fallujah associations coming into play in the atmospheric instrumental passages in “A Delicate Thread” and the lush, reverb-soaked “Morning Agony.” These atmospheric and melodic influences are given their own time to shine on finale “Servility,” placing a stark contrast on the blistering metal that opened the EP.
It all comes together for an electrifying EP that makes a hell of a statement for Sharp’s capabilities as a solo musician and Sidian’s place within the scene that blossomed since the act’s inception. Listen to how it all comes together in full stream below.
Sidian’s Carry My Bones officially drops this Friday, September 13th, via Rebel Pyro Musick. Digital and a limited physical CD edition are available through Bandcamp.