Something doom-ish must be lurking in this album was my first thought when I took this promo CD in my hands. Simplicity in harmony with melancholy is what I saw being offered behind this weird artwork. Press F1 for help: The back cover was even more unclear. A lineup of seven (?) musicians, featuring two vocalists (the established - nowadays - man-meets-woman duet) and three guitarists! Numerous bands/projects crossed my small mind. No data so far, and the journey began...
The band with the garden name - water melon at its best - took shape five years ago, positive to deal with melody, atmosphere, melancholy and darkness. The scope of mixing the aforementioned blend with the basic elements of 80's Rock/Metal music (guitar riffs, solid rhythm section) drove the band to build up a rich lineup of seven members. It is stated that Fruit Tree worked hard through live performances and an offer as support for acts like Napalm Death and Nile helped them spread the word around. The sessions for this debut effort took about a year, resulting in a contract with the - completely unknown to me - Casket Records. It seems that the band's lineup has changed since then, but we'll concentrate (thus, credit above) the 'recording' lineup of Sun Set.
This review would sadly end by declaring that Fruit Tree's music is similar to hundreds of bands featuring brutal male/clean female vocals to mix depression with viciousness. From Theatre Of Tragedy to ...... (add your own thought), the last 10-15 years this status won't slow down. Still, there's something that really makes a difference. And this would indeed be the elegant diffusion of Classic/Epic/Folk Metal ingredients in this set of seven destined-to-be-boring tunes. There's Maiden-isque lead guitar work, 70's Rock bass melodies and a tendency to drive each track to different paths, according to the composer's (mainly, S. Barham) appetite. Epic, folk, medieval, brutal, morbid, depressive... You want bands? I noticed Skyclad dancing with Blackmore's Night, I tasted In The Woods flirting with Iron Maiden, I recognized Within Temptation (or any other band of this style) fighting with Nocturnus (or any other band of this style, again). Add a so-and-so production (applicable only for an independent debut album), bare in mind that all players are well skilled and what do we have?
A not-boring-at-all album, Sun Set is a good friend for the aforementioned genres' Metal fans. Open minded classic metalheads could take a glimpse, no worries. I don't know anything about the distribution of this album, it's the band's site you can refer to; it seems they've published the CD in 665 copies... cool! Cool, as Sun Set is, overall!
- Album Highlights: Gary Moore, for proving that talent has nothing to do with good looks, Bon Jovi for proving, again, that talent has nothing to do with good looks. Andy Bullions' inner sleeve credits...