The meaning behind SULLEN GUEST represents unexpected experiences and emotions we are inevitably forced to face in our lives: pain, death, loneliness, fear, betrayal...each one of us has been visited by these sullen visitors. The new EP presented here titled "Phase" represents psychological stages of grief whom we are enforced to meet every time we lose someone that really matters. The album contains three tracks.

"Come with Me" leads off the album. It opens with a heavy and dark riff and a long, deep scream. Bass guitar thumps away, creating this very slow and caliginous rhythm that is aggressive and somber. The screams would be indicative of someone experiencing loss for the first time and angrily raising their fists in protest. The clean passages allow for more of the despair one might feel to intermix with the anger. "Voice of the Subconscious" is a longer affair, beginning with slow, somber rhythms and a mix of clean and distorted guitars. The tones build slowly, and maddeningly, as the subject wrestles with the loss.

"Assent" closes the album. It begins with more of those deep and dark tones. The track opens up a bit and explodes with anger. Anger that is soon displaced with withdrawing from the world and locking yourself inside your home for the foreseeable future. I am typically not a fan of short EPs because they don't really allow you a long look into the band. But with these three tracks, I can feel the bevy of emotions that a loss of someone close would bring, with the odd exception of acceptance. If it was a part of the music, one could expect a distinct shift in sound. The female vocalist has about a commanding a roar as you might hear in the genre. This was a good release, but just a little more diversity could have made it better.