Album Review: Alesana: A Place Where The Sun Is Silent

With every album, Raleigh, North Carolina-based “post-core” act Alesana gains more momentum.

Not looking to stop that trend, the band hit the studio to record their fourth album, the “two-act,” Dante Alighieri’s “Inferno”-inspired “A Place Where The Sun Is Silent,” off Epitaph Records.

Unfortunately for them, the trend ends here.

While Alesana changed things and added more depth to their sound (choirs, horns, violins, piano, etc.), and it worked out great in the first act, it didn’t do the same in a lackluster second act, so what we get is a pure mixed bag.

“A Place Where The Sun Is Silent” was produced by Kris Crummett, who’s also produced Alesana’s previous 2009 album, “The Emptiness” and worked with other artists such as Dance Gavin Dance and In Fear And Faith.

It’s complicated to say where Alesana falls under in the Rock genre. They’re dark and heavy, but they’re not quite metal, and they growl, but they’re not quite screamo.

Regardless, good music is just that and the band’s been capable of that with past songs like “Seduction” and “The Thespian,” which showcases the band’s best quality: the ability to mix screaming/clean vocals with heavy, borderline-metal riffs and milk a melody for all it’s worth.

Lead singer Dennis Lee’s proven time and time again he has quite the voice to carry a song.

Don’t forget the rest of the band: Patrick Thompson (Lead Guitar/Backing Vocals), Alex Tores (Lead Guitar), Shane Crump (Bass Guitar/Backing Vocals), and Jeremy Bryan (Drums/Percussion), as they do their best to back Lee with stellar guitar ownage and drumming comparable to any established metal band present.

There are a few gems on “A Place Where The Sun Is Silent” that show what Alesana could do when they get things right.

“A Forbidden Dance” is a perfect example, as the band steps out of their comfort zone and introduces a few brass instruments, but also keeps the growling/screams, so it sounds something like a hardcore cabaret ensemble, but it hooks you right in from the get-go.

The album’s first single, “Circle VII: Sins Of The Lion” also presents Alesana at their best with the double bass drum pounding away like a machine gun, this dark symphony of sound should get approval from even your casual metalhead.

And they do it again on “The Fiend,” with a heavy, relentless assault of guitars and growls.

The band also put forth an exceptional amount of thought into the album’s concept, artwork, and lyrics. This shouldn’t surprise fans, as Alesana’s always accompanied an incredible image with their music.

There are a variety of emotions and styles throughout the first “act,” from calm piano (“The Dark Wood Of Error”) to mid-tempo guitar-driven ballads (“The Temptress”) to slow, mellow songs with violins reminiscent of a few Disney movie numbers (“Vestige”) to heavy and unstoppable (“Circle VII: Sins Of The Lion”)

The main problem’s that on the second “act”, too many tracks rely upon the same, old structure.

While that shouldn’t be a problem with their past work taken into consideration, it’s not great like those past songs were. There’s no conviction and it’s unoriginal, especially after the first “act” when everything was outside of the band’s typical style.

16 songs in 62 minutes also drags and some go way longer than need be, a few over five to six minutes.

There’s also less growling than usual, but that doesn’t affect the enjoyment of the music, as it makes more of an impact when it’s heard.

However, there are still no breakdowns to be heard and the second act doesn’t allow for much progress despite an outstanding concept and artwork.

A band should be commended for “shaking” things up every once in a while, as some of the music on “A Place Where The Sun Is Silent” reflects with a few great tracks, but they don’t follow up on that in the second half, and the music suffers.

“A Place Where The Sun Is Silent” is best on the experimental side, but there’s room for improvement. Hopefully, the band takes that into account the next time they enter the recording studio.