Apologies, this post has been awhile in coming.Silian Rail and By Sunlight introduced a joint EP during their recent May tour, which included two new songs from each band. A/Sung Surrender does well to serve as a sample of what kind of music to expect from both bands, especially if one is new to either.
After having heard Silian Rail live, what came tumbling through my computer speakers was almost disappointing in comparison. There just wasn't the same sense of intensity, like when the music charged forth at the ~1:50 mark in "A". Obviously, one can't reproduce the live experience in a record; still I was expecting a bit more impact than I got. Nonetheless both "A" and "Faith NC" were
What had drawn me to By Sunlight in the first place had been their lyrics as much as their style; in this regard, both "Sung Surrender" and "No More Miracles" more than satisfied me. For example, "We turned to disguise all our moves and murmurs/With closeness kept you hypnotized/I lost you there in a sung surrender/As movement stilled and slowly died" scanned brilliantly and was some lovely imagery to boot. On the other hand, as much as I loved the lyrics of "No More Miracles," I felt the song as a whole was too drawn out. In general, I tend to be of two minds concerning By Sunlight's longer songs - I love the pure instrumental that comprises of half the length of these songs, but at the same time I think they overdo it. Even with one of my favorites - "Twilight Shy" from their previous album - I felt that cutting it off at the six minute mark would have made the song stronger. For "No More Miracles" it took five minutes to reach peaking point. With such a slow build-up, the song definitely would have been better off ending at the climax than spending another three minutes breaking down the tension again.
Perhaps I'm missing the point.
Still, I like the EP well enough, both bands' sides of it. And hey, if you're a fan, or merely want to sample their music, it's a good place to start.
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