(Melodic Death Metal) Fragments Of Unbecoming - Skywards - Chapter II - A Sylphe's Ascension - 2004, APE (image+.cue), lossless

I'll admit, this album takes quite a long time to get used to. At first glance, I thought Skywards was just a repetitive, uninspired melodic death album with too many acoustic fillers. But after countless listens and some deeper analysis, it isn't hard to find an extremely high redeeming value in this album. After a rather poor EP, Framents of Unbecoming comes back with a huge jump in the maturity of their writing. The harmonies, melodies, riffs, and acoustic passages are all higher in originality, and the production is much better on top of that.
The beinning of the album is truly where their unique style shines. Up from the Blackest of Soil, easily the finest acoustic moment on the album thanks to layered harmonies and beautiful melodies, flows directly into The Seventh Sunray Enlights My Pathway. Complete with brutal riffs, deep growling, and an orgy of melodic lead guitar dynamics towards the end, the first seven minutes of the album are more than enough to get one hooked for the entire twelve tracks.
Contained in that brief moment is nearly every aspect that makes this band so great. The riffs of this album of fast and heavy, complemented greatly by a deep dual growling attack. The drums are nearly grinding with their fast double bass and heavy blasting tincture. Every song features some memorable melodic moment, such as Shapes of the Persuers' tremolo-picked madness or the groove riff feel of Fear My Hatred. To offset the brutal/melodic death flow of the album are four instrumentals, four of which are acoustic. While most will likely find these to be annoying filler, I for one think they contribute to the nice theme of the album. While Up from the Blackest of Soil is an incredible acoustic showing, Lour Pulse is is a faster, heavier way to draw the album to a closing moment.
While far from what they are obviously capable of achieving Fragments of Unbecoming have made a significant improvement since their questional Bloodred Tales release. With so many strengths and so much for them to still improve upon, this band has a very enjoyable future ahead of them. It's understandable if vast numbers of metalheads are already impatient for Sterling Black Icon.
Recommended tracks:
The Seventh Sunray Enlights My Pathway
Shapes of the Persuers
Scattered to the Four Winds
Fear My Hatred
Written by ShadowsFallen /metal-archives.com/

Recording line-up
Stefan Weimar - vocals | electric guitars
Sascha Ehrich - electric & acoustic guitars
Wolle Schellenberg - bass guitars
Ingo Maier - drums
Credits
"Skywards - A Sylphe´s Ascension", the second Fragments Of Unbecoming volume was recorded at various times in summer 2003 at Stellwerk Studio by Stefan "Joe" Hanbuch.
Produced | engineered | mixed and mastered in autumn 2003 by Stefan Hanbuch and Fragments Of Unbecoming.
All lyrics and musical arrangements by Fragments Of Unbecoming.
Band photography by Bernd Siebold.
Cover artwork "Skywards" | booklet design and Fragments Of Unbecoming logotype by Sascha Ehrich.
"...the entire artwork shall be dedicated to Anna-Lena for being the precious lightsource of my inspiration in this turn of the tide..."

EAC extraction logfile from 3. September 2007, 11:13 for CD
Fragments Of Unbecoming / Skywards - Chapter II - A Sylphe's Ascension
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End of status report