EP: “Sky and the Dark Night” by The Monks of Mellonwah

A little further a field for this review…all the way from Sydney we have the Monks of Mellonwah and their latest EP. We have featured them before when they released their EP “Neurogenesis”. This time they have a new EP “Sky And Dark Night” that has their unique blend of what I can only describe as alt-prog, with a slight nod to New Age.

They describe themselves as Alternative/Funk, and have picked up It is a lighter affair than “Neurogenesis”, and I would go as far as saying even more theatrical. It brilliantly captures the imagination with soundscapes, the almost ethereal vocals, not too mention the guitar work, and orchestral sound.

The EP is broken into three parts, Breakout, Control, and Condition. Opening, orchestrally, with Breakout, it crescendoes into “Control” where the vocals carry you through on your journey. The release, as we received it, came as a 3 track EP, as well as a single track weighing in at about 8 minutes allowing for an uninterrupted experience. “Condition” picks up the pace, blending an electronic tempo with orchestral elements, and some lovely contrasting electric guitar.

This is a very easy flowing body of work, and although running at 8 minutes, it seems over before it has really started, which is a shame, as you feel you are missing out on the whole story, as the cinematic feel is very prevalent. Hopefully the A&R deal will not constrict their creativity, and will allow for a number of albums to be released by these guys.

Check out Control over at Bandcamp here.