Sometime in February – Where Mountains Hide
Review by: Chad Pab
Review Score: 7
Sometime in February’s album Where Mountains Hide starts off with the
happiest shred guitar playing I’ve heard. My first thought on
listening was, “Wow, this is like a free-range Animals as Leaders,” or
maybe an (un)Haunted Shores kind of thing. The major-key shredding was
a nice change from the usual minor-key shreds you so often hear in
metal and this style of guitar playing. The album opens with a track
called “Palantir,” and the sunny weather I was experiencing during
that first listen seemed to match the vibe perfectly.
The album sticks with that high-energy, uplifting shred feel for the
next few tracks. The next thing that stood out to me was the saxophone
on the song “The Bad Fight,” which I thought was a really cool element
to incorporate.
I found myself listening from different perspectives. At first, I was
coming at it from a guitarist’s point of view, thinking, “Man, this
stuff is complicated,” and that it’s a bit of a riff soup. I found it
a little hard to pick out memorable moments because the songs are
mostly through-composed—meaning a lot of these cool guitar riffs only
happen once, never to return again. I think that’s kind of a shame,
because some sections are so good they could’ve been repeated.
That said, the through-composed structure does add to the overall vibe
of the album and really shows off the complexity of what Sometime in
February has created. Once I shifted out of the “guitarist brain” and
listened more like a general music listener, I found myself
appreciating the album in a different way. It lifted some of that
technical weight I was initially feeling and replaced it with a
lighter, sunnier appreciation for the music as a whole.
As the album progresses, it becomes slightly darker—not evil in the
typical metal sense, just less bright than the first half. I found
that I liked the latter half more. Starting from the track “What Was
Said,” the album hits a run of my favorite songs: “What Was Said,”
“Phantom Sea,” and “Bury You” really stood out. The cool, bendy,
almost Eastern-sounding guitar riff in “Bury You” especially caught my
attention. Unfortunately, it only lasts about 20 seconds before
developing into the proceeding riff, then moving on to the next
idea—which is kind of how the whole album goes.
Sometime in February’s Where Mountains Hide ended up being a great
match for the sunny spring weather I was listening to it in—even
though it wasn’t February, but March/April. It’s a solid album for
people who like complex music, phenomenal guitar playing, and happy
instrumental tunes that work both in the background or as something to
really dig into.
Things that stood out to me:
The exceptional, acrobatic guitar playing
Creative whammy bar use
The almost djent-feeling rhythms
The super cool bendy, Eastern-desert riff in “Bury You”
The blast beat drumming in “Funeral House”
I enjoyed it and added a few songs to my guitar shred playlist. I’d
definitely go see them live.