Tired of one thing and onto the next. That's a certain way to look at it when musicians leave bands, to seek a new challenge, to start something brand new that might shake the ground, or virtually because they can't stand it anymore. In the case of the newly bred Danish band A SUN TRAVERSE it may be all of the above, or part of the mentioned, for us the Metalheads that have been looking for something new to chew, the gain is also ours. Starting off with releasing a self-titled EP, via their local label Mighty Music, A SUN TRAVERSE proclaimed that it is safe to conclude that darkness is upon us, but a kind of darkness that is so soothing, malevolent and under a course of depression.

After listening to this EP, I am positive that the decision to set off with this small token was right. A SUN TRAVERSE let the Metal scene taste their capabilities, their conjuration of minds into an essence of Death / Doom Metal under the grey, like an esoteric walk through uncharted territories of the human spirit. Underneath the chilling cold, there is the incredible heaviness encrusted by melodic melancholy, simple as it may but richer than anything complex. Even with their close proximity to OMNIUM GATHERUM / INSOMNIUM / SWALLOW THE SUN / VALLENFYRE among the profound acts of this immense subgenre mixture, A SUN TRAVERSE engineered something common, not challenging the musical expertise, foretelling a kind of story along with tracks of mere ambience.

While the opener "Still Shining" had me a bit caught off guard with the vocals coming out of nowhere right there in the first second, I received my early dosage of the Finnish orientation of the unholy mixture. On the other hand, the pieces of greatness came to light with "The Autumn of Fall", which I couldn't stopped listening and "Dance, Darkness Dance". The melodies that send you out wandering inside your soul, ringtones for any lone nightly outing and the relentless heaviness that kept crushing. Furthermore, once again a band of the same shows the greatness behind the unison of melodies, rhythm chug riffs and roaring guttural vocals, if that is not a thing to come back to, I don't know what is. Lastly, and really that one sent me the chill, the closing song, "The Harvest". As if taken from a horror movie, the recurring cries felt like witnessing the reaper gathering the souls of the dead, and it keeps going and going.

I believe that a full length album will shake things around; I liked what I listened to on this EP.