THE CYON PROJECT are a stoner/alternative metal band from Italy - having been playing since 2009 - this is their first full length album after their successful singles "React" and "Gears" that comprised into an EP.

The intro song "Joe" starts from what I can tell is a Prog Metal influenced calmly picked part (I am personally reminded of THE OCEAN COLLECTIVE) that is coupled with orchestrals supporting it. Then it transitions to an almost chicken picked western film sounding part that slowly, with a buildup of the drums and the strings forms into a big sounding ambiance that could be a theme song for an Elder Scroll video game.

Sounds good right? because it does - but the fault is that it does not lead into what it should as an intro to an album - almost as if it made to be an intro and not a part of the album.

The album sparks with an heavy direction with "Cheesy song" - Heavy yet melodic riffs coupled with Marco Priotti's throaty and dark voice. Eventually you are lead into the rhythmic yet mellow song "Riot" - continuing with the trend on orchestrals - the song jumps back and forward into a vibe similar to KATATONIA to kind of a Metalcore vibe. Following is "Rulemaker" - By far my favorite with its tasty groove and modern post-hardcore influenced metal sounding playing with vocals and lyrics sounding like CLUTCH.

Following is the acoustic led "Phantom Limb" has a very vague familiarity to many artists - lyrics that remind me of Richie Kotzen many passages that give me an immediate association to OPETH.

This albums fault is at its inconsistency - As much as I like an album to have variety, there's an appreciation for a tight, consistent album too. Sometimes you can find the balance of the two but "Tales Of Pain" sacrifices it by trying to cover too much ground at once - Post-Hardcore, Metalcore, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Stoner and acoustics. And yet you have a very talented group of individuals - each shining in this album in his own way. Hopefully the band will follow up with a more consistent release that will compliment their abilities more successfully - but don't let me completely turn you off, because this album has a song or even a few for everyone to have a good time with.