Shai Hulud - Reach Beyond the Sun
Sincere. Misanthropic. Groundbreaking. Brilliant. Intense. Underrated. You could use a ton of complimentary adjectives to describe Shai Hulud. Prolific isn’t one of them. We’re talking about four full-lengths over an 18-year career. Still, as rare an occasion as LPs are from this band, it’s damn near impossible to remove them from my stereo once they finally do surface. When it comes to Reach Beyond the Sun, the wait was more than worth it. This is easily their best record since 2003’s landmark masterpiece That Within Blood Ill-Tempered (which I believe deserves Best Modern-Day Hardcore Album of All Time consideration). As is usually the case with these guys, a new record means a different vocalist, but this time around it’s a familiar set of lungs. Original Shai Hulud vocalist (not to mention guitarist for Pop-Punk kings New Found Glory) Chad Gilbert returns to the mic for the first time since 1997’s Hearts Once Nourished with Hope and Compassion. It’s only a temporary fix —the band is currently shopping for a full-time vocalist— but one that serves to rekindle the feeling of old… not that these guys have ever really changed. Gilbert also handles production duties, removing a little of the polish from 2009’s Misanthropy Pure in favor of a more live-sounding feel. If you’re unfamiliar with Shai Hulud (to suffer fools is to exist), I can’t even begin to describe what you’re missing. The Hardcore or Mathcore tags alone simply don’t do justice to the group’s forward-thinking, Progressive-tinged mastery of all things melodic, aggressive, and emotive. Nobody writes music like Matt Fox. It’s a delicate balance of technical and simple rarely achieved. No one communicates a pure hatred of mankind so eloquently, either, as Fox’s song titles usually delve deeper than the competition’s entire lyric sheet. For the initiated, you already know what you’re getting. A sense of urgency enveloped in cathartic calm. A perfected mix of hard-charging, pit-friendly rage and bittersweet melancholy. I was taking notes in preparation to list my favorite tracks when I realized I’d written every single song down! (It should be noted that I can never listen to heartfelt tearjerker “A Human Failing” just once.) As an extra-special treat, the album is littered with a slew of guest vocals and gang shouts, most notably from former Shai Hulud vocalists Damien Moyal, Geert van der Velde, and Matt Mazalli. They like to keep it in the family, and I’ll be keeping Reach Beyond the Sun in heavy rotation all year and then some.
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