Hailing from London, four-piece band The Night Suns have announced their presence with ‘human’, their debut, three-track EP. Combining a wide range of influences, the band draw upon a mix of genres and sounds to create a surprisingly satisfying mix with plenty of depth.
The band launch themselves at the listener with opening track ‘smoke’, a riff-driven monster with strong undercurrents of Jerry Cantrell’s solo work (think ‘Degradation Trip’), not least in the deftly layered harmonies. It’s a hell of an introduction to the band and Tom Donovan (Foreign Beggars, Dani Filth) captures it all with depth and clarity. In contrast, ‘my blood is cold’ is a slow-burning and atmospheric piece with the simmering anger of the verse giving way to an explosive chorus that has its roots in the harder edge of 90s alt rock, Radu Constantin’s vocals edging into Mansun territory along the way. The song brims with ideas and devolves into a perfect firestorm of heavy riffing as it reaches a climactic peak that undoubtedly slays live. The final track, ‘human’, brings the EP to a close on a surprisingly light note that once again edges into indie/alternative territory, bringing to mind The Cooper Temple Clause with its subtle deployment of synths, soaring vocals and heavily reverbed guitars.
At the outset, the easy descriptor for The Night Suns is ‘grunge’, but that initial vibe dissipates after the first song and it’s clear that the band have ambitions to carve out their own sound, incorporating a disparate set of influences into their sound to create something that sits somewhere between alternative rock, indie and metal, without indicating any particular genre preference at this point. It’s an intriguing and beguiling first listen that suggests considerable talent, and I can’t wait to hear how the band develop as they expand their ideas to a full-length LP. For now, this is a cracking start. 8
