Album Review: Rise to The Sky – Let Me Drown in You (GS Productions)

Rise to the Sky is a one-man doom metal band from Santiago, Chile. Since it’s inception, the band has been very busy, releasing the album ‘Moonlight’ in 2019, the EP ‘In the Grave of a Forgotten Soul’ in June of 2020, the second album ‘Death Will Not Keep Us Apart’ in October 2020 and another EP, A Cold Embrace from Life in December 2020.

It’s been a few months so it’s time for Rise to the Sky to emerge from hibernation and release a new record. Called ‘Let Me Drown in You’, the album was conceived in a time of fear and isolation and conveys deep reflections about life and death.

Sergio, sole member of the band says:

This album is released in loving memory of my father, who passed away suddenly on Jan 6, 2021. He was passionate about the people he loved and about everything he did, this music is a clear reflection of our way of life. By far this is the most sincere and expressive album by Rise to the Sky, it displays a more developed and mature sound than the previous releases, so expect strong emotions.

It will be released on March 12th, 2021 via GS Productions.

We all deal with grief in different ways. This is how Sergio is dealing with his. An album that honours his late father while staying true to Rise to the Sky’s modern atmospheric laden doom sound.

That loss alone adds massive emotional weight to the record but crucially, it comes through in spades via the music. Now, we’re big fans of Rise to the Sky. We loved Death Will Not Keep Us Apart (read here) and put the EP, A Cold Embrace from Life as number 4 in our best EP’s of 2020 (read here).

So, it’s not surprise that our expectations are high here. What is less of a surprise, is that once again Rise to the Sky exceed them. Let’s make this clear right away, this album is stunning. Spelling-binding, heartfelt, emotive and crushingly heavy. Few bands are as good at making you feel as deeply as Rise to the Sky, but even fewer are as capable of making your neck ache at the same time.

Split into two chapters, the first is based around life, dreams and passion. Beginning with melodrama that bleeds into a fervent display of the heftiest and sluggish kind of doom. The vocals growling with such vigour and the atmosphere deepening as it goes on. Atmosphere that dominates Dream the Pain is Gone and the title track in the best possible way. The tearful sentiment dragged out to breaking point but impossibly addictive to listen to.

Eschewing the more drawn out listens we’ve had so far, Liebestod is more a concise effort but still dripping in strong melancholy vibes. Before Chapter I wraps up with the soft interlude that is Passion.

There’s plenty more to come though as Chapter II: Death, Grief and Transformation begins with a similar melody to the previous interlude. Turn Us to Stone continuing the moving atmospheric melodies while being crushingly doomy. A dark drop into gorgeous depths near the end of the track just makes this all the more impressive.

Speaking of impressive though, the pairing of Leaving This World and Bury Me in Your Heart is Rise to the Sky at its strongest. Both within the emotional atmosphere and bleak heaviness aspects of the band. By the end, few won’t be completely spent but grateful for the sharing and depth of feeling Rise to the Sky has portrayed here. It’s with the hopeful and somewhat uplifting melody of Transformation (Postlude) that things truly come to a close.

Do you really need to be told that you must hear this album? A contender for album of the year and it’s unlikely anything with this much heart will be heard anytime soon. At least until the next Rise to the Sky release.

Rise to the Sky – Let Me Drown in You Full Track Listing:

Chapter I: Life, Dreams, and Passion

1. See Me Fall Down
2. Dream the Pain is Gone
3. Let Me Drown with You
4. Liebestod
5. Passion (Interlude)

Chapter II: Death, Grief, and Transformation

6. Turn Us into Stone
7. Leaving This World
8. Bury Me in Your Heart
9. Transformation (Postlude)

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