Sabled Sun - 2147

There has yet to be an album reviewed from Sabled Sun that has impressed us in more than just a singular positive way. Simon Heath, the artist behind this project and the forerunner of Cryo Chamber, has been making music under this moniker since 2012. It's been about eight months since the last release from this artist, with the fourth entry in the Signals entry hitting in May of 2014. But, with a release date just set five days from now, Sabled Sun is ready to crank out the next chapter in the series that began back in May 2012 with 2145, followed later in that year by 2146, and is now here to bless our ears with 2147.

Also, if you haven't been following on the 21xx series, here is a quick rendition on the events unfolded from the mouth of the artist:

The third album from the Sabled Suns 21xx series about a man awoken from hibernation to a world in ruins, takes us through the third year 2147. A shattered man self taught to survive in the harsh world left empty by it's predecessors, only it's mechanical children left behind. The protagonist journeys through a burned out world towards the Outer Zones and the rumored space center there, in search for answers.

But, in any, what's striking about the album perhaps would not be the first two tracks that come on, as the usual works of spacious ambient fields come forth with whispering winds and other such vacant sounds are shown with Survival, and well placed science fiction-esque samples come out in Our Mechanical Children. No, I would say the album really strikes out nicely with the third song, Emulation. Featuring a buzzing analog sequence and well played piano chords interweaving with it, and a light layer of ambient structure floating underneath, the song was amazing.

And, as I further went through the album, I wouldn't necessarily say I enjoyed songs as a whole, but more or less enjoyed certain bits of them. Such as the final minute or so of Inner Workings, where as a slight, pulsating rhythm comes in and spins a fresh tale onto this story. The rain falling and otherwise cinematic, noise ridden introduction that began The Space Center was rather chilling and calming in both senses, showing off a perilous journey that our adventurer has taken on.

The almost angelic synth ranges found within Home mixing in with the gritty, scratchy sound effects that crawled across the song also made that one worth looking at. And, lastly, the piano work and imaginary tone that takes precedence in Dreams Without A Future were well done.

But, again, there was a lot of sounds that were way too familiar within the album to fully enjoy. Entering drone, and even dark ambient territory, especially when trying to stick to a theme, can be a very hard burden and one that not many can exceed in. And, with Sabled Sun, Simon Heath has managed to produce high quality material, but that does not mean it's always the best. He has moments of brilliance, as I've pointed out, and other moments where I just can't help but feel a bit of a bore.

Nonetheless, this album is alright, and certainly has charm to it in certain areas. I'm kind of excited to see where the story will go next, and whether or not new sounds will emerge in the next release in the series. Feb 05 2015