“Desire to feel nothing.”
The loss of a vocalist is often the death knell of a band. Unfortunately, despite how talented the other members of a band may be, it is a curse that the vocalist becomes one of the defining features of a band’s sound. For Night Verses, however, it has proved to be an opportunity to explore their sound in new, exciting, experimental ways.
In 2018, the band released From The Gallery of Sleep, which proved to be well-received. Then, five years later in 2023, the band released the first part of their fourteen track epic, Every Sound Has a Color in the Valley of Night: Part 1, which saw them further solidify their instrumental sound with a record that somehow managed to perfectly balance accessibility with complexity. Now, the band have returned with their follow-up record, and the second part of this project as a whole, Every Sound Has a Color in the Valley of Night: Part 2.
Part 1 of this project was a phenomenal record, with a real focus on creating instrumental music that is packed with substance, grit, and flair. Even for listeners who may otherwise find little appeal in instrumental music, tracks such as “Karma Wheel” and “Bound to You” are undeniably fantastic pieces of music that grab you by the throat and force you to take heed. As Part 2 opens up, those themes continue with “Plague Dancer“; intricate and mesmerising, the midsection of this track features more of that wonderfully substantive musicianship that made Part 2 so compelling to listen to, along with just enough heaviness to keep things feeling impactful.
“Desire to Feel Nothing” is a powerful, groove-packed affair, with snarling guitars and monstrous breakdowns that enable the track to truly feel like an all-consuming abyss. “Glitching Prisms“, on the other hand, sees the band leaning more into ambient and experimental territories, with glittering instrumentals accompanied by the dramatic and theatrical vocal talents of Incubus frontman, Brandon Boyd. The inclusion of vocals on some of the tracks on this record is definitely a nice touch, allowing listeners to have something a little more tangible and familiar to appreciate.
“Åska” features incredible stomping rhythms, situated beneath walls of blown-out, crushing fuzz, lending an almost industrial air to the whole affair. However, the real highlight comes in the form of the closing track “Phoenix V Invocation“, as the band truly lean into their progressive core, and deliver an eight minute epic packed with soaring guitars, brutal breakdowns, and intricate musical performances that give the track some wonderful ebb and flow, before tying up the entire project on a brilliantly epic note.
Despite the highs, however, there are certainly some flaws with Part 2 that leave it standing in the shadow of what came before. Part 1 of this project certainly avoided most of the most frustrating trappings of instrumental music, having enough substance that any musical showmanship felt warranted and integral to the music, Part 2 unfortunately too frequently strays into that experimental territory of instrumental that leaves you wishing there was just something tangible to grasp within the layers of guitar noodling and ambience.
Furthermore, many tracks end too quickly, reaching a conclusion before having achieved any real stand-out moments. Everything here is performed incredibly well, and that certainly deserves commendation; fans of instrumental progressive metal are going to adore this record. However, people who have never truly been able to get into instrumental music may once again find this a record they’re not able to enjoy fully.
However, the highs do more than enough to make the lows forgivable; there are enough interesting moments, packed with groove and power, that the record feels at the very least compelling enough to warrant listening to right to the very end. Certainly, the musicianship of Night Verses at times is so far ahead of many of their contemporaries, and when they truly get going on this record, they produce some truly blistering progressive metal that will appeal to even the most picky of metalheads. Night Verses have done well to continue beyond the loss of their vocalist, and Every Sound Has a Color in the Valley of Night, as an entire project, is certainly worth a listen to, even for newcomers to instrumental music.
7/10
Every Sound Has a Color in the Valley of Night: Part 2 is out March 15th via Equal Vision Records and can be pre-ordered here.