Hailing from the northwest of England, quintet SKYE have crafted a thrilling alternative metal sound that combines engaging vocals and powerful instrumentals, and they describe as “aggressive, cinematic and melodic.”
SKYE started out as the recording project of guitarist Marcus, which soon caught the attention of his long-time friend and collaborator Ben, who recognised it had the potential to more. They brought bassist Lee and drummer Ant into the band before discovering vocalist Matt who, in their words, “has really elevated the sound of the band.”
Debut EP Foundations was released in 2022, followed by another EP and a series of singles, before their most recent EP release in September. And on the sound they’ve honed in that time, the band told us: “The SKYE sound combines nu-metal influences with modern metal and vocals that are reminiscent of Alter Bridge.”
Our latest taste of this is Last Memory, the lead single on their new three-track EP of the same name. It hooks you straight in with a wild flurry of guitar notes answered by crushing guitar retorts and heavy drum rolls in an aggressive intro. Matt’s engaging vocals take over, supported by crushing guitar chords, and a drum roll tees us up for a huge singalong chorus “Come find me in the corner, Come find me in the last place you’ll see, You’ll find me where you left me, Come find me in your last memory.”
Second time around, the chorus drops into a wild guitar solo that gives way to the crushing riff and spinning guitars. The pace suddenly drops with mellow vocals, beautifully setting up a powerful rendition of the chorus before the heavy chords and spinning riff bring the track to a fitting ending.
On the track, the band told us: “We’ve had amazing feedback from the EP, from new listeners and old! Each track on the EP has been featured on BBC Introducing. For anyone who hasn’t listened to the EP yet, they can expect to hear heavy, aggressive guitars riffs, backed up by monstrous bass parts and technical drums. Matt’s vocals are melodic and soar over the aggressive tracks!” Check it out here:
Last Memory is the third track on the EP, following the opening track Meridian, which opens up with an echoey intro before heavy guitars and intriguing high-pitched vocals. Crushing guitars come in to support Matt’s soaring vocals, flowing into a big dreamy chorus that ends with a return of the high-pitched vocals. Sandwiching those tracks is the equally good I Thought You Might, which begins with a building riff that kicks in and is supported by lingering background synths. Vocals come in and feed into an engaging answer-response chorus, before a delicious high-pitched lick bridges into another verse. A heavier riff comes in after the second chorus, setting up another chorus with dreamy supporting instrumentals.
The EP follows a couple more singles released earlier this year, the delicious Wide Awake and I Want To Know, which you can check out in the video below:
The SKYE sound has been influenced by bands like Architects, Tesseract and Alter Bridge, as well as orchestral composers like Max Richter and Eric Whitacre.
And on what inspires them to write music, the band tell us: “We are influenced by our own lives and write of our experiences, thoughts and memories. We also take influence from film and find great inspiration from the stories and the scores.”
We won’t have to wait long for more SKYE music as the band have been working with Stefan Brown at Abbey Road Studios to craft their latest single, which should be out in January.
You can follow SKYE on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple Music and YouTube.
GigRadar 