There is a trio from Hamburg, Germany that may be the next great Stoner Metal act to come from Europe. These three Hamburg-ers call themselves SKYTHEN. They're a mix of Alternative Rock, Stoner Metal and post-punk. This is their debut EP called "Silverowls" and it is available to stream for free on the band's website.

SKYTHEN find an odd point between stoner metal and hardcore that is certainly infectious and I could see going over very well in a live atmosphere. I think the vocals are the clearest focal point of every song that tend to overshadow the guitars, bass, and drums on the songs. But there is still a lot of power put into the production of the instrumentation. And each song is at a normal, comfortable length as well.

For an independent band, this band has a ton of potential. I think that in this mode of their songwriting history, they decided to play it safe and keep the songs they have pretty formulaic. By that, I mean that there is a lot of verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge type stuff on here like "The Saint" and "It's Alright". I don't think this should be held against SKYTHEN but it is certainly something the band can work on branching out of in the future.

SKYTHEN give a fresh take on the long-standing genre of hard rock-meets-metal. The band is very cool but it doesn't grow a big head about it. I think if this band were to tour in the United States, they would be very well received. But because this band is so fresh out of the box, they haven't had much of an opportunity to fine-tune their sound yet.

So don't pass on SKYTHEN. Definitely give them a listen. I think this band has a lot of potential to get a lot better than they already are. "Silverowls" starts their listeners off on the right foot and this is but the tip of the proverbial iceberg for this German group.