STORYUM

Slovakian outfit Storyum only formed in 2010 so are relatively new on the scene. Taking a glance at their Facebook page, I initially believed I was looking at another band with the same moniker for the impression they give from particular promo photos is that of a boy band. Storyum's hardly a generic band name so I realised that I was, in fact, looking at the correct page. Hmmm...intriguing. So just who and what are these Slovakians? Well, the core lineup seems to be that of guitarist/vocalist Gila, bassist/vocalist Dodi and drummer/keyboardist/vocalist Joe. 'Insomnia', however, is a re-recorded album and now includes the addition of two female vocalists - Suzy Isis Morovics and Alexandra Oroszova - and Jandura who's simply billed as 'DJ'. Musically, it's a melodically engaging and sonically infectious amalgam of alt-rock, metal and pop (the latter element being no surprise judging by the image conveyed through the band shots). And it's all so nicely balanced in its fusion of said styles as they're blended in a natural sounding unity. And where the metal, alt-rock or pop elements are more emphatic as individual components then the progression between each of them in the song structures never sounds mismatched or forced. In one sense, 'Insomnia' is primarily about incredibly good songwriting and disparate genre approaches have been deployed to embellish different passages in each of the compositions. It all works so well and the vocals provided by Morovics and Oroszova fit the music perfectly with each lady in perfect pitch throughout. The production and mix are fantastic too. My only quibble is with the first and last tracks, two instrumental pieces labelled as 'Intro' and 'Outro' - both are nice compositions but neither segues into/from the subsequent/preceding songs and, as such, feel superfluous to the album. Overall, though, without being overly innovative, this is pretty amazing cross-genre stuff, slick in its execution and, perhaps most surprisingly, not at all that cheesy despite having the potential on paper to be so. If you love the rock/metal/pop stylings of bands such as sadly now defunct For Selena And Sin but with a little more diversity then this is for you.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Ravenheart Music

Album

INSOMNIA

Review by Mark Holmes

RUNNING TIME:

39:24

RELEASE DATE:

2012

TRACK LISTING

1) Intro
2) Walk the Way
3) Fire
4) Don't Leave Me Alone!
5) Forget
6) Angels
7) Scars
8) Illusion (Heaven)
9) Enough Cash
10) Insomnia; 11) Closer
12) Outro

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

Slovakia

"...'Insomnia' is primarily about incredibly good songwriting and disparate genre approaches have been deployed to embellish different passages in each of the compositions."