New Cyhra Album 2018-2019

The fact that they have to confirm that Jesper's still in the band, that was the reason of the post, is amazing.
 
Literally every comment on their FB is "where's Jesper?" so they had to address it at some point :D
 
Yet it raises a lot more questions about how he can still be in the band and never play a show.

Three possibilities. Might be a combination of these:
1. Relapse and he’s back in rehab.
2. Relapse and he’s in the gutter.
3. He’s done with Cyrha but he’s waiting to cash in and not sink the band. Without Jesper they aren’t a “\m/ metal superband \m/“ anymore.
 
I’m still rocking this Dreams Gone Wrong song. Hope there are more songs like it on the album.

 
Sounds very power metally... I dig it but can't see Eochaid or A88 being impressed :D
 
I appreciate your enthusiasm to discuss this Miniroch, but bro, you're taking more of my time on this than I need on a Sunday
I know, I know, took me a while... But hey, it is Monday in the end!

You're being lazy from the off with your argument here by grouping all power metal vocals under the same bracket. Which PM singer are you referring to here? Kai Hansen? Michael Kiske? Hansi Kursch? Tobias Sammett? Andre Matos? Malmsteen? Tim Owens? Jorne Lande? Russell Allen? Timo Kotipelto? Roy Khan? ZP Theart? I could go on but the point is that there is a huge, huge difference in vocal styles across the Power Metal genre. It's pretty ignorant to class them all as similar. It's the equivilent of suggesting Anders, Stanne, Speed, Gossow, etc all have the same style of vocal because they're all MDM vocalists. It's blatantly not true to anybody who listens and knows the genre. I can only guess like many people you don't really follow the PM genre and are making an assumption based on hearing a few bands like Rhapsody of Fire, Hammerfall, Helloween, etc.

With that all said, Jake's vocals are not really even similar to many of those singers. His style is a bit more raw and grounded. I could see his vocals fitting in many genres, even a pop band, whereas singers like Hansen, Kiske, etc would sound out of place in a pop song. The closest equivilent to Jake would be somebody like Roy Khan or Russell Allen who could definitely also sing across multiple genres, metal or otherwise, without sounding out of place.
Now that will be quite useful in a while, so let me get back it later.
Still, what I meant with PM vocals... I guess you can really tell, knowing all those guys? Sure there is a giant difference between Joakim Broden and ZP Theart, but that doesn't mean PM doesn't usually utilizes high pitched vocals. And yeah, that means Anders, Mikael and Bjorn probably will use (and actually do or did at some point) use same vocal technique or style - which is entirely true, as all of them were mostly focused on harsh vocals, usually screams. I don't even believe we're having that conversation at this point, since we're all on the same IF board. There is a pattern and it's hard to deny it. Death metal vocalists tend to use straight growl and I'm not suggesting at any point that George Fisher sounds similar to Nergal, but that's undeniably DM thing.

So yeah, Jake uses PM vocal style, whether I can compare his voice to any other singer or not (at this point I can't, but I can come back with that, it's stuck somewhere deep in my head).
And then, if you see him in a pop band, you mean The Police, Bee Gees, Genesis or is it Blue Oyster Cult?

But the thing is I was never comparing singing style. I was comparing how each vocalist's cleans contribute to their respective songs - and it is a valid viewpoint because much like Cyhra, In Flames in recent years has relied on the vocals to carry melody as much if not more than the instruments. How each singer's style affects that is a totally different argument, but it doesn't change the fact that (imo) Jake's style of singing is much better suited to achieve vocal melody in a song than Anders. They are both trying to achieve the same thing so of course it's a valid argument even if they are going about it in different ways.
I tend to believe, eventually what they are both trying to achieve is creating a good track, so it's too much general for me. And your argument about driving the melody applies to thousands of bands from all genres, which doesn't validate the comparison at all.
In fact what I like about Anders is that he, at least until Battles, wasn't always able to go with the melody (i.e. Siren Charms), giving it a sense of imperfection, gloominess and despair. With Jake everything sounds pitch perfect, that's why we get a happy funeral song about his brother.


As I said, there's a duality with the song and the video. The song itself is actually very sad. A lot of the lines are describing the devastating impact of a suicide and how difficult it is to move on.

"I was a child that played with fire
And as my childhood fell apart
I was detained from my emotions
How can you heal a broken heart?"

Your reaction to this is "you can't, Jake, fuck you" - but where in the lyrics does Jake say that you can? He's throwing that question out there for others to answer, he isn't doing an Anders and telling everyone to take his hand and follow him.

"When they expect we'll follow patterns
I saw my dreams just disappear
Confirm your own reactions
Become a child of fear"

Again, not much hope in this verse is there? Jake once again giving us an insight into how his brother's suicide directly affected him.

"These wounds won't heal"
"It's a defiance you can never win"

"You were the brave, the bold the strongest
While I just focused on myself
You'll never meet my son and daughter
Why can't the truth be something else?"

This is again a very sad verse. Jake somewhat blaming himself for not paying enough attention to his brother when he needed him.

So, surely this song is about Jake letting out his guilt in regards to his brother's suicide and asking others to look out for each other and reach out to people who are struggling? I actually think the lyrics itself are really tragic and depressing, and it's clearly a release of sorts for Jake - "I sing to heal - remember me". He's apologising to his brother because part of him thinks he failed him, and asking others not to make the same mistakes he did and try to change things before they go too far. To dismiss that as "you are not alone and you can do it" is total bullshit and a misreading of the lyrics. If anything Jake is speaking to the people who are in a position to help, not the people who are struggling, admitting that he feels he didn't do enough to help his brother and for others to make an effort so as to not go through the same guilt he feels.

To be honest after analysing the song in better detail I have a lot more appreciation for it. Some of the lines are quite heart-wrenching. To compare it to Anders fake whiny emo bullshit is frankly insulting and ridiculous.
And once again we go back to the basic, lazy lines. Sure, it's supposed to be sad, but it is not, because of both how it is delivered and how easy that was. My proposition for the bridge is "my brother is dead and now I am sad". I already quoted Katatonia same/super similar lyrical theme, which wasn't very complex but still a thousand times more touching. And no, I'm not expecting Jake to go complex at all. I'd like him to go anywhere near poetic. You don't have to look too far to see what I mean:

"Yell at me I want to be, your light that shines
But my ground is shaking and I might fall
I wish that I could say, I wish that I could be your evil in a closet"

It isn't exactly rocket science, but it is catchy, it is metaphoric, it is well written. Well delivered, also, you can hear the emotions, not just read about them, detached from the melody.

I think you overdid it with your effort to explain the entire lyrics, as I already mentioned it's inevitable to see what it is about, and I agree that I oversimplified it, sure. But it is supposed to show the impact of suicide. The video is meant to show you that because of this impact (and because you are loved and you can't give up hope, etc.) you shouldn't take such a drastic measure. And the music is delivered in it's happiest form. Honestly, I don't see anyone feeling sad after listening to that. And when you combine those three facts, it doesn't take much effort to classify it as another "don't do that" song. I can't hear any despair. I don't see any life crumbled. I can't feel his loss, as much as I didn't buy into Anders' ripped heart and will to survive. Because if you write that your life is crumbling and then compare it to house of cards (really? Could have gone with "that's the way the cookie crumbles"), the chances of convincing me it really is aren't that high. And I don't really want to be convinced, I'd rather feel that with a clever metaphor.

Another take on loss (I know it's not brother's suicide, but still, a nice though simple approach), from Insomnium's "The Day It All Came Down":
"Should I be content with the memory of the life I had?
Or is the Hell knowing what we could have become?
- Quite indifferent as the tides of time have now turned
And the past is buried in a drift of whirling snow
White sheet covering all things left behind

And from now on there's an absence of hope"

So, surely I agree that Cyhra's lyrics were supposed to be heartbreaking, but the final form is unbearable. I'm sure those guys are capable of something more than healing a broken heart.

And leaving "Battles From Within", this new live song sounds... nice? It has good pace, well used vocals without unnecessary ornaments and a cool sing along moment. I don't see myself listening to it, but looks like a cool live track.
 
Our opinions obviously differ quite extensively on this, but I do agree that the lyrics and music don't really go together. The music is quite uplifting and hopeful, as are the vocal melodies, but the lyrics are pretty sad and depressing, so... eh. I'm not sure it necessarily makes sense logically either. With that said I don't consider Evil in a Closet to have especially deep lyrics either, they're kinda generic too :D but if you go back to Clayman then you've got some excellent lyrics about depression, ruined relationships, etc. You could argue that the music on there doesn't necessarily match the tone of the lyrics either though, also being pretty energetic and upbeat. Doesn't really matter though as the album is awesome.

I'm not convinced these were the best two singles to release. The first song, name I can't even remember at the moment, was bland as fuck and I haven't listened to it since the day it was released. Second song not the worst thing ever but not showing us anything we haven't already heard from Cyhra. If I'm a casual hearing these songs I'm going to assume this second album is basically exactly the same as the first, except less complex and with slightly better production. Not sure that's going to entice many newer or casual listeners to go and pick up the album. Maybe I'm wrong. It hasn't made me more excited for the release, it's just made me hope that the songs on the album are a lot different and have much more creativity.
 
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Second song is even blander. If it weren’t for the lyrics we would’ve trashed it so freaking hard by now. This discussion wouldn’t have even happened.
 
I actually much prefer it to the first song, although that's mainly down to the chorus (imo at least) being really strong, whereas the first song's chrous was very forgettable. Everything else about both songs is very average though.
 
There's a review up for "No Halos in Hell" on roppongirocks: https://roppongirocks.com/2019/11/01/album-review-cyhra-no-halos-in-hell/

Might be the first review for the album? I haven't seen any others. Anyway...

"It is a contemporary melodic metal sound with plenty of pop hooks. But within that signature style, there’s actually quite a bit of variation which is why this works very well."

"It’s partly more of the same modern melodic metal with pop hooks, plenty of keyboards and guitar riffs that we heard on the debut album. But, additionally, we get a somewhat more mature band that explores some new musical areas."

"They are not creating something truly new here, but they are doing great radio-friendly poppy melodic metal."

"There are some very strong songs on this album, including the power ballad “Lost in Time” and tracks such as “Out of My Life”, “I Am the One”, “Blood Brothers”, “Kings and Queens” and the title track “No Halos in Hell”."

The fact they consider "Out of My Life" one of the "very strong" songs is obviously a bit concerning. Otherwise not much meat to this interview, very generic but seems to confirm we're looking a pop-based chorus-orientated album which sounds similar to the first.
 

“Kings Tonight” is perhaps the most uptempo song, and also one of the heaviest songs on the album. This, again, will definitely make a great and dynamic song that fans can sing along to during live shows. While “I Had Your Back”continues in a similar way, it’s “Blood Brothers” that is easily my favorite track on the album. The song sounds different than anything that CYHRA has brought out, and yet keeps their identity so intact, with that IN FLAMES-like melody line, and energetic vocals. The song symbolizes the band’s brotherhood, and the pieces of the puzzle just fit.
 
It seems that the problem is with Jake... He's a good singer and a competent songwriter, he has a good crew around him, but now he's trying to make Amaranthe v2 without female vocals and easy-on-the-eye singer. Not gonna make it no matter how much weird electronic sounds and catchy choruses he puts in these new songs. Even the music videos seem like a lesser version of A.

Amaranthe is really slimy and awful (basically a cheesy pop of the worst kind with distortion and a touch of extreme metal), but it just... works because of the whole setup. Cyhra should try a more serious, mature, guitar-oriented approach.

Dunno, I'll give it a spin, but at this point, I'm not expecting too much. Well, I guess we had our share of good albums this year already.
 
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Amaranthe is really slimy and awful (basically a cheesy pop of the worst kind with distortion and a touch of extreme metal), but it just... works because of the whole setup.
Let’s just be real. It works cuz of the girl.
 
If Cyhra hired a female bassist and/or female live keyboardist they would gain a lot of popularity. Not saying that makes good music, but that would continue some of the Amaranthe tactics.

Called it here. Next members will be girls.