New Cyhra Album 2018-2019

[DE4life]

Looks like the songs that Jake wrote are the ones I totally ignore. Guess I’m done with this band.

To be honest even if Jesper hadn't been involved in this at the beginning I might have given Cyhra a chance as I enjoyed Jake in Amaranthe. However without Jesper the first album would likely have sounded similar to this one and I definitely wouldn't have given a shit after that.

Jesper only involved in 60% of the songs in this album, probably even less next time around. I think Euge is a good guitarist but feels like Jake is in control of song structures which doesn't give Euge much space to work with - basically 30 seconds max at the start and between 15-45 secs any time after the two minute mark. Unsurprisingly those sections are by far the best parts of every song on No Halos In Hell.

 

[DE4life]

For me "Dreams Gone Wrong" should have been the first single released. It's simple and catchy but got enough about it to have gotten me somewhat hyped for the album. Second single I probably would have gone with "Hit Me". It's got an annoying chorus but the rest of the song is fairly solid.

The only problem is that if those songs had been released as singles I probably would have been even more disappointed with the album when it was released. Instead I went in with low expectations after the two singles released and those expectations weren't exceeded. Maybe that's better? I don't know.

 

[galvanized]

For me "Dreams Gone Wrong" should have been the first single released. It's simple and catchy but got enough about it to have gotten me somewhat hyped for the album. Second single I probably would have gone with "Hit Me". It's got an annoying chorus but the rest of the song is fairly solid.

Definitely agree with “Dreams Gone Wrong”. “Hit Me”, for its flaws is still better than the two singles. “I Am the One” would be another that they could’ve chosen (it’s one THEY would have chosen). Today I’ve been listening to “Man of Eternal Rain” and it’s pretty solid.

The album is definitely better than the singles, so that’s good.

 

[DE4life]

Definitely agree with “Dreams Gone Wrong”. “Hit Me”, for its flaws is still better than the two singles. “I Am the One” would be another that they could’ve chosen (it’s one THEY would have chosen). Today I’ve been listening to “Man of Eternal Rain” and it’s pretty solid.

The album is definitely better than the singles, so that’s good.

I wonder if Nuclear Blast picked the singles rather than Cyhra? There were playing Dreams Gone Wrong live before the album was released, which makes it strange that it wasn't one of the two singles. I kind of get why they went with Out Of My Life (short, kind of catchy, budget version of Karma) and Battle From Within (it has an 'inspiring' message they can make into a video) but whilst the former song may have been played live before the album came out, I'm pretty sure the latter wasn't.

Man of Eternal Rain is the most "LtM"-style song on the new record imo - which makes it surprising that Jesper wasn't involved in it at all. If I hadn't seen the songwriting credits I would have been fairly sure that Jesper had a hand in it, just because it sounds like it could easily have come straight off the previous album. Even thematically it's similar.

The songs I'm listening to at the moment are Bye Bye Forever, Dreams Gone Wrong, Hit Me and Man of Eternal Rain. BBF and Hit Me have irritating chorus's but I do like a lot of the stuff going on outside of that (also Bye Bye Forever's chorus is admittedly a bit of an earworm), whilst Dreams Gone Wrong and Man of Eternal Rain are just solid modern metal tracks. Nothing special but OK to listen to.

What's disappointing is that for me there is no Karma, Heartrage or Closure on this album - a song that I'd put above "good". I love all three of those songs. Karma and Closure especially were two of my absolute favourites off the first album. There's no song on No Halos in Hell that made me sit up and say "wow, that's great", and that's a shame. We know they are capable of great music, but this isn't it.

 

[JesterSlaveSucks]

the jester's slave is done i won bye bye for ever

 

[eochaid]

Moron.

 

[JesterSlaveSucks]

old bitch go listen to the old music and let us enjoy the new music ok

 

[eochaid]

You're not enjoying shit.

 

[JesterSlaveSucks]

yeah i like this album so what?

its like a colony with singing

 

[eochaid]

First time you're actually writing about the music. Lets celebrate it!

 

[JesterSlaveSucks]

hit me harder

 

[eochaid]

You would love it you little bitch.

 

[JesterSlaveSucks]

the pleasure is mine

 

[eochaid]

Of courae it is.

 

[DE4life]

OK so anyway, this is the setlist they seem to be going with on their current tour:



Not too bad, although personally I'd replace I Am The One with Hit Me and Out Of My Life with Heartrage. Would also swap the order of the songs around a bit.

 

[DE4life]

I've also just remembered that Kings & Queens/Lies are both bonus tracks, so actually the album ends on Man of Eternal Rain. With that said including all the acoustic tracks this album must set a record for amount of bonus songs?

Anyway my revised ratings after a few days of listening and digesting No Halos in Hell (normal album only, not the bonus tracks):

Out of My Life - 5/10 - as I mentioned before, the chorus literally takes up 50% of this song. It's ridiculous.

No Halos in Hell - 6/10 - it's okay. Nothing special.

Battle From Within - 7/10 - For some reason this song works fine for me, although I know most of you dislike it.

I Am The One - 6/10 - very average.

Bye Bye Forever - 7/10 - it's grown on me. Some decent melodies on this and a catchy albeit somewhat annoying chorus.

Dreams Gone Wrong - 7.5/10 - enjoyable melodies, good chorus. It's not anything groundbreaking, but it's better than average for this album.

Lost in Time - 4/10 - disappointing. They are capable of way better than this.

Kings Tonight - 5/10 - not feeling it. Boring mid-tempo nothingness.

I Had Your Back - 5/10 - this and the last two songs are where they lost me on this album. Another mid-tempo snoozefest.

Blood Brothers - 6/10 - appreciate they tried something different, but this isn't what I need or want from Cyhra.

Hit Me - 7/10 - another one that's grown on me. I like some of the heavier riffs here, and as with Bye Bye Forever the chorus is annoying but kinda catchy.

Man of Eternal Rain - 7.5/10 - joint with Dreams Gone Wrong as best song on the album. It's basically a decent song off Letters to Myself transplanted onto this album. I also love that for once the guitar is let loose rather than being cut off after 30 seconds, and we get a nice, long, extended solo/melody section without vocals. Then they keep the tempo change for the final chorus which was a good move.

So I'd maybe slightly up my overall rating to a 6.5/10, but still not as good as the debut album. There are many songs off Letters to Myself I still listen to today. Heartrage, Karma, Closure, Inside a Lullaby, Here To Save You, Letter To Myself, Rescue Ride, Holding Your Breath... I dig a lot of the songs on that album. From this new one I can only see myself listening to Dreams Gone Wrong and Man of Eternal Rain long-term.

 

[A88]

It is hard to find a bad song on LtM and it is hard to find a good one on Halos.

 

[DE4life]

There are a few clunkers on LtM. Muted Life, Dead To Me and Dark Clarity are pretty average. They'd be the better songs on Halos which kind of says it all though.

 

[eochaid]

I just listened to it twice and I'm yet bored.

 

[DE4life]

I've only listened to half the songs three or four times. Anything I rated below 7 doesn't hold my interest at all. The rest I think I'm just listening to because I really want to like some songs off this album. Dreams Gone Wrong and Man of Eternal Rain are the only ones I feel authentically positive about though. The others I'm just grasping at straws for the most part.

It's such a disappointment compared to the reaction I had to Letters to Myself. I think most of us grew to appreciate that album more and more after repeated listens. There was such a positive vibe about that release. Then we had a couple of years of confusion over album release dates, Jesper's status in the band, weird song titles, then the music drops and it's not even very good. Just a huge downer really.

I prefer I, the Mask to Halos, and I honestly didn't think back in 2017 or 2018 that I'd be preferring the new IF album over the new Cyhra album.