Sunlight – 'My Own Truth': An epic Power Metal album

Your favourite, perhaps… For me the answer is very easy. It's not the genre of music I listen to, but its quality. What really excites me is having a new album in my hands, waiting to be heard. Those moments from the second I choose it, right up to the moment I hit play. That's kind of how it went with 'My Own Truth', the record by Sunlight…

First silence, and suddenly 'Back To Life'

The record opens with one of their most dynamic tracks. Right away, the band's intentions become crystal clear. Powerful sound, vocal lines pitched very high, all of it framed by keyboard accompaniment. My first contact with their music mentally takes me to many different sounds. Sure enough though, we're not talking about a pure Power Metal album. There are plenty of other elements at play.

At first glance, the tracks have something of Hard Rock in them. Makes sense, since that was the first musical path they wanted to take when they formed in 2009. Among the elements that give away this influence, we can count the epic guitar solos, as well as the sheer weight the rhythm section carries (bass and drums).

A deeper analysis

Bass and Drums: The pillars of the rhythm

Let's take the elements one by one though. Starting with the bass (Panos Mourtzinos) and the drums (Dimitris Kapoukakis). Roles that are extremely important in making a track interesting. Here we have a very solid rhythm section, moving mainly in straight timestamps. Of course, there's also all that wonderful dynamic playing and those pauses, which turn each track into a whole bag of surprises for our ears. They're further enriched with some metal elements on the drums (double bass pedals) and some particularly distinctive rhythms on the bass.

Guitar: Sets the tone of the tracks

So the foundation is there, and it steers the band onto safe metal ground. Moving on now to the sounds of the guitar (Makis Kaponis). Here we find tracks with a hard rock feel (like 'Eastern Train') and others that lean more towards power metal (like 'Follow your Heart'). A significant part of every track is the solo section. We're talking about solos with a lot of dynamics and multiple changes in rhythmic timestamps. I should also highlight the interplay between guitar and keyboards. Especially during the solo sections, there's a call-and-response feel between guitar solo and keyboards. Something that brings to mind bands like Iron Maiden, where that interplay happens between the band's three guitarists.

Keyboards: Atmospheric parts that give a different feel

And now we come to the keyboards (Panos Anastopoulos). Here we have a very interesting addition to the sound. The keyboards give the band's sound a different 'flavour' and fill it out, compensating for having only one guitar. The collaboration between keyboards and guitar is very beautiful and organic. Not just in the sections where each instrument gets a solo, but also more generally in the melody of the tracks.

At this point, I'd like to stress that the tone of the keyboards gives me the sense that the style lightly brushes against Symphonic Metal. Generally speaking, I'd say the sound has something of Epica, Nightwish and Within Temptation, as far as the use of keyboards and the overall style of the music goes.

Voice: The element that ties everything together

In every band that has tracks with lyrics, the main impression given to the audience comes from the singer, male or female. Sunlight Sunlight have a frontman (Dimitris Giannakopoulos), who we could say largely shapes the style of the tracks. He has characteristics that place the tracks within the range of Power Metal, but also within that of Symphonic / Epic Metal. The techniques used on the record (with multi-layered vocals, as in 'Follow your Heart'), have something more Scandinavian about their sound. At this point we should also give proper credit to Makis Kaponis (Guitar) and Panos Mourtzinos (bass), who back up Dimitris with backing vocals.

Finally, the vocal range is wide. On the record you'll hear performances that whip you up (like 'Earthquake' and 'Rockin' all Around'), but also powerful ballads (like 'When I See You'). Dimitris seems comfortable moving between tracks, using either epic vocals inspired by Bruce Dickinson, or low-frequency vocals with a slight bit of grit.

'Eastern Train': A track different from the rest

Usually, I don't make a point of singling out specific tracks. However, I can't just breeze past 'Eastern Train'! To my ears, it's a track very different from all the others on the record. It has something more classic about it. Not so much Power Metal — here I detect some blues influences, along with Classic and Hard Rock.

Its danceable groove and, generally, the main riff of the track (repeated together by keyboards and guitar), give the sense of a track that could be played in the Juke Joints of Mississippi. The rhythm alone makes me picture this eastern train coming to sweep me away. And since the best is saved for last, in a sudden shift, the band changes the tempo of the track and turns 'Eastern TrainEastern Train', into one of the most beautiful tracks on the record!

If Sunlight ever think of making a videoclip for 'Eastern Train Sunlight ever think of making a videoclip for 'Eastern Train', it could be a cartoon-type clip (like Go With The Flow by Queens of the Stone Age). A Rock music train that's out to sweep us all along in its path!

Sunlight: A versatile band that's here to stay

Wrapping up my listen of the record, I conclude that Sunlight Sunlight are a band that gives off experience and a willingness to engage with plenty of elements. It's very positive that even though they operate within Power Metal, they bring in their own personal touches and influences. And in doing so, they create a very distinctive blend and a unique result.

Having played more than 80 live shows since forming in 2009 (both in Greece and abroad), we can tell this is a band that places emphasis on the vibe of a live show. And that's exactly what I'd like to confirm for myself. The record radiates huge energy. So I'd love to catch the band live to witness the energy they bring to an audience.

'My Own Truth' was released under the label of the Ukrainian company Metal Scrap Records, while the recording, mixing and mastering was done by Dionysis Christodoulatos at CFN Recording Studios.

In the near future, we can look forward to the completion of their second album, expected to be released in 2022.