Nine years on from ‘Death of a Dead Day’, a reformed and seemingly rejuvenated Sikth return with ‘Opacities’, a six-track mini-album. It contains all the hallmarks of their previous work – thudding bass, insanely technical guitar playing coupled with driving riffs and changes of tempo and texture in abundance. But it also feels like a progression, an evolution. Describing a work as ‘mature’ has, to my mind at least, rather negative connotations, suggesting a band inching into middle age and mellowing, but ‘Opacities’ is mature in the sense that for all its wild contrasts and freneticism, it feels intensely focused and showcases a newfound solidity.
‘Behind the Doors’ jams in manifold subsections, hammering percussion drives slamming riffs, overlaid with taught, technical fretwork, but with some cinematic, slower tempo sections that are delicate and atmospheric. Flipping on a mere breath, they switch effortlessly between jarring, grinding weight and expansive, sweeping sonic vistas, and even manage to sound a bit like Faith No More at one point.
They’re certainly not low on ideas, cramming ten songs into one. Structurally, the songs are dizzyingly complex. ‘Philistine Philosophies’, one of the more overtly melodic and commercial-sounding tracks, appears to offer something of a chorus, but they certainly don’t flog it to death, and if anything, do their best to bury it with a whirlwind of six-string racket two thirds of the way through. The relentless overloading chug of ‘Under the Weeping Moon’ brings the weight.
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After a powerful, sustained assault, the final track, the six-minute ‘Days are Dreamed’ is all the more effective for its restraint. Fading in with a delicately brooding introduction, it transitions through a gradual build that balances emotion and bombast. But instead of breaking out into the roar of fury you could reasonably expect, it reveals the more sensitive, reflective side of Sikth.
It’s a strong comeback, and the signs are that far from being a nostalgic cash-in, this is a band with their best years still ahead of them.
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