Review: Red Sun Rising - Polyester Zeal (2015)

Artist: Red Sun Rising

Album: Polyester Zeal

Genre: Hard Rock/Post-Grunge

Released: August 2015

Album length: 42:45 - 11 tracks

Background

Red Sun Rising was formed in Ohio in 2006 by vocalist Mike Protich and lead guitarist Ryan Williams. Polyester Zeal is their first studio album, released through Razor & Tie. The band is currently on indefinite hiatus.

The track breakdown

On repeat: Worlds Away, The Otherside

Skip it: Bliss, Imitation

For the gym (150+ BPM): Push, Blister, Bliss

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Push starts the album off strong. In general, the song is really high energy. I'm not a fan of the bridge, but I like the way Protich uses his voice differently throughout the song. Push isn't a favourite of mine.

Amnesia begins differently to most of the tracks on this album, starting off with a strong riff instead of building up slowly. The bridge and chorus are really catchy. The riff that follows and starts the verses is superb. It sadly lacks a proper guitar solo, which I feel would have added a lot to the track. Otherwise, it's a great song and gets stuck in my head.

The Otherside is my second favourite from this album. I love the build up from the first verse into the catchy bridge, which slowly picks it up until the heavier, even catchier chorus starts. There's a great riff in the background of the chorus too. This song may suffer from being repetitive like some of the others, but I think it works with this song. The "yeah, yeah!" before the final chorus is great, and really builds excitement for the crescendo. If you feel music in your body like I do, you'll know what I mean!

My Muse is constructed nicely, and one I often listen to when it comes on shuffle. However, I wish it was heavier throughout; the heavy parts in the song are great and are almost a "here's what you're missing". This track is somewhat repetitive, but the lyrics are powerful and you can almost feel the emotion in the chorus.

Emotionless is a bit slow to build up, but worth the wait for Protich's vocals. As with much of the album, he shows off his voice with the gentle intro, working into stronger vocals, which add power to the song. The solo is different in a positive way. Whilst the outro is good, I feel like the song is at least a minute too long and starts to drag after a while.

"It's really hard to feel comfortable showing Imitation to someone when the lyrics "kill yourself" are repeated over and over."

Blister is an all round great song. The slow build-up, the way Protich uses his voice throughout, the lyrics, the riff after the chorus which develops into a solo, and builds even further into a powerful rendition of the chorus once more. The way the intro and outro match is a really cool element to the song.

Worlds Away is almost the definition of perfection and the standout track on this album for me. The emotional build up in the intro to the ridiculously touching lyrics. Protich's vocals excel on this. The emotion in his voice is palpable and truly makes it a star. The music fits the lyrics perfectly. My only criticism is that I wish it had a proper solo instead of a repeated riff; they definitely could have amped up the emotion with a soaring guitar solo, but I guess those power metal vibes that I love don't actually fit their style! The outro is really strong too, and almost feels uplifting after an emotional roller-coaster.

Unnatural is one I often mistake for Emotionless for some reason. They're very similar sounding to me and tend to merge into one in my head. The chorus goes from being aggressive and in your face to mellow, which is unique and interesting. It's got a short solo which is good. But once again, the song feels too long and it gets repetitive.

Awake starts off with a very unique sound for the album, the solo is awesome too. However, I feel like it's a bit stunted once it gets to the bridge and chorus, like they're trying too hard to get frantic and gentle into the same 15 seconds. They don't achieve it on this song like they did with Unnatural. Not a favourite.

Bliss is an enjoyable track, but I'm not a fan of the acoustic outro. The song has powerful lyrics and great progression into heavier instrumental, not to mention the really good guitar solo.

Imitation is a real disappointment. The guitar and drumming are truly amazing, but the lyrics are ridiculously repetitive. From personal experience with this song, it's really hard to feel comfortable showing Imitation to someone when the lyrics "kill yourself" are repeated over and over. I understand this fits with their "edgy" lyrical vibe, but it's unfortunately poor. Considering the topic of this song, they could have gone much deeper with the lyrics than they did, but instead it's shallow. It's a shame, because the music on this track is some of the best on the album.

In summary

Overall, Polyester Zeal largely blends into one for me, but not in a good way. It starts to feel repetitive, especially if it's on shuffle and the average tracks get thrown in together. When I listen through an album, I want to enjoy all the songs and not feel the need to skip any; Imitation is a song I can't help but skip, and I skip some of the others too as they build up too slowly.

After Worlds Away, I could largely pass on this album, although Bliss is a good song. I think what adds to the "eh" feeling I get with this album is that it finishes on the worst track of all. It feels like it's 15 songs long because of the repetition, but it's actually only 11. And even of those 11, I feel like 2 of those could have easily been cut out. I think it's an album that can grow on you though; I liked a few of the songs more on my third play through, and I definitely prefer them played on their own instead of as a whole album.

This was my first experience with Red Sun Rising. I was drawn in by Mike Protich's vocals, which are absolutely awesome and unique, so I enjoy listening to this album for that. I also like the guitar throughout, but I wish the solos were given a bit more time and attention. The heavier songs make me wish the rest of the album was heavier too.

If you listen to one song from Polyester Zeal, Worlds Away is always going to be my recommendation. It's a solid favourite song for me at the moment and always manages to tug at my heart strings.

Album rating: 6/10