“We are each riddled by our own curses and battle our own demons. There are diseases and syndromes, and many things that we can’t understand let alone hope to control. Sky & The Dark Night, to me, is the journey from the beginning of our battles to their fruitless ends; the ups and downs, the triumphs and the failures. It is the undying hope that maybe somewhere along the way, we might find ourselves.” – Joe de la Hoyde

-Greg’s Take-

Ok, when I said I thought Monks of Mellonwah are epic, I meant it in the sort of figurative 13 year old inside-us-all-giddy-with-excitement sense. But the guys had to go and take me seriously*

With a disturbingly natural ability to do more in four or less tracks than any other band I have seen in recent memory, the Sydney Four are back, and while I’m tempted to use the term “with a vengeance” or “unlike we’ve seen before,” if you’ve followed these guys, you’d know exactly what you’re in for.

Sky & The Dark Night, the latest release from Vikram Kaushik, Joe de la Hoyde, John de la Hoyde and Josh Baissari, comes barreling in like a superhero poised for an epic final battle against some insurmountable foe.

In just three tracks (“Sky And The Dark Night – Part 1 – Breakout,” “Part 2 – Control” and “Part 3 – Condition”) we’re given a soundtrack-like experience.  Though this isn’t your usual heartwarming rock moment when guy finally gets girl, this is the kind of music that epic movies stand triumphantly on. And surprisingly, it works exceptionally well in its own right.

Granted, I have every urge to lace up my shoes, turn this on and go for a run while I battle imaginary villains. For the sake of not having the authorities called, I will reserve to retrace these three tracks over and over again.

The surprise Monks of Mellonwah bring to the table, and they are always full of jaw dropping surprises, is that they lean toward a much more experimental, orchestral and electronic sound in Sky & The Dark Night. But like finding cash in your jeans when you’re itching for pay-day, this surprise only elevates the appreciation for their sound.

With their debut full-length “currently in production” I can only fear that the human brain is not evolved enough to comprehend the sheer awesomeness we’d find in more than four tracks from these guys. Until then, on to battle in the Sky & The Dark Night.

*I wish I could take responsibility for their epic sound, but alas, I doubt my thoughts were referenced when solidifying this sound.