It normally takes a good ten years or so before you get a renaissance of a dead, buried and creatively exsanguinated genre, so it’s hard to tell if In Search Of Sun are spearheading a new (or should that be nu-) generation of alternative metal or if they missed the wake while they were in the midst of rebranding themselves from groove-metalcore outfit Driven in favour of a more honest, rockier sound.
Launching with a promising Tremonti-esque building intro to the opener and title-track, The World Is Yours (Raging Demon), their first full length, kicks off by showing a hand that will repeat itself throughout the album, the heavier commencement, dialling it back down for a shuffling verse to give room to Adam Leader’s decent half-shouted, half-crooned vocals that call to mind a gruff take on the legendary pipes of John Bush, particularly on ’51 56’, before bringing the guitars in heavier on an understated chorus.
So far so good, but while the concept is decent you won’t win a game of poker playing the same hand the same way, unless it’s a Royal Flush. With little distinction between the songs evident, and the parts of each song each so similar with rung out guitars and a stolid mid-pace throughout, this is more of a Ten/Jack hand and The World Is Yours runs out of steam at about mid-point, eventually seeming like one 48 minute long increasingly more boring song that never quite gets going.
There are moments of promise, but they lack the catchiness or quirkiness of Breaking Benjamin (I can’t believe I just used Breaking Benjamin in a positive light, I’m going to kill my brother for subjecting me to them over the years), the energy and swagger of a Soil, the class or distinctiveness of an Alter Bridge and don’t even come anywhere near close to the depth of a Superunknown (A&M).
Ultimately, while they may be In Search Of Sun, the London quintet never reach the light.
6.0/10
STEVE TOVEY