Sky Pig Disclose Stark New Music Video “Sinning Time”

Sky Pig describe their sound as a psychedelic sludge. I’d add ambient to that description, for their latest album ‘It Thrives in Darkness’ (2022) is less a collection of catchy songs as it is an unfurling dreamscape, its atmosphere building gradually like a mounting stormfront of ominous gray clouds.

You’ll scarcely find an album that’s as dark as this one. Reminds me a lot of the menacing, unsettled sound coming out of the early '90s with bands like Alice in Chains, Nirvana, and Korn. After the heavy metal parking lot disbanded, grunge came on the scene. No one knew what else to call it, and it seemed to fit. This was the era that gave birth to mutant children: death, thrash, and doom metal. It was downcast, downtuned stuff, rough around the edges and a glass-half-empty perspective for lyrics. These emerging genres always came across to me as Generation X being pissed off upon learning that life would have far less opportunity than our parents had and our teachers promised – and oh, by the way, you will one day die. I digress.

The album starts in the red, with the brash welcome of drums and cymbals. In “State of Anger” riffs and rhythm converge in a dizzying dirge. At times, you’ll notice the movement between chords is sudden and jagged, as though the very foundations of the earth were being ripped asunder.

Your life has let you down
This world has shit you out
Dark is the road you’ve taken
Cast out, God forsaken

On “Larva” the vocals reflect to me the anguish of a Cain-like figure, who feels cast out by God as he looks at this mess of a world. There’s our idea of how the world should work, and then there’s how things actually pan out. Real life is filled with as many sorrows as joys, but sometimes there’s a chance to rise again. This one’s got a great theme to join the vocals and it’s one of the key highlights for me.

Bending time
From ungodly depths
So blind
The ones that caused this mess

“Motionless” gives respite with those quiet, reverberating guitar notes strummed for nearly a full minute of solitude. Soon the rain comes and with it a tragic doom melody. When the vocals enter, they feel as if underwater. Perhaps floating just below the surface of the flooded plains. The song is constructed with several interlocking and contrasting riff motifs. When we next hear vocals its a chorus with the soaring amplitude of Slomatics, Domkraft, and Conan. If you’re listening with headphones, especially, the words “Look to the sky!” will seem to surround you. Dare I say, they sound almost authoritative, prophetic.

The eyes of God have turned away
His grace a shallow grave
When darkness comes
Surely then we’ll see his plan
When we become motionless

When we reach “Sinning Time” the floods have subsided and the sinners are back at it again. The beat is steady and unrelenting, the guitars grindy and dissonant, vocals low-key and matter of fact. Then the swell picks up and we’re treated to a downpour of drizzly fuzz, stout low-end, and banshee vocals.

Fall out of your mind, into the next life
Pray for the end, for the end of time

“In Light of Your Death” is like waking up in a hazy stupor and trying to get a grip of the situation, where you are, what time it is, and who’s around you. This feeling is interrupted by a feeling of dread, articulated by crunchy slow 'n’ low axemanship and singing that rival the roars of Gojira.

Sleep for a while
We’ll be here to guide you
Dream through our eyes
let the darkness blind you.“

The album comes to a head with the title track, "It Thrives in Darkness.” Its foggy opening has a Mellotron like vibe, which I’m informed is a bass pedal effect. The guitar strums morbidly atop it. Now we’re deep into doom territory, with riffage that fans of Cough should take a liking to. An epic way to end the record.

My world, your cage
You’ll know my rage
This house of pain
Is where I stay

Now that you’ve had an overview of the album, Doomed & Stoned presents the official music video for a track we featured on our last Doom Charts countdown show: “Sinning Time.” It was produced by Dark Sprite Videos.

Give ear…

Track-by-Track with
  Sky Pig’s Rob Sneddon

State of Anger

About a guy who just snapped. He feels betrayed by the world and God because of horrific things that happened to him. He feels like the only way to feel relief or to get back at God, perhaps, is to go on a killing spree. Probably the most straightforward song musically and meaning-wise on the record.

Larva

Borrowed a little from the Call of Cthulhu, but more a Biblical idea about this creature called to earth from God after the world has exhausted its resources and become rotten, both in its form and the nature of the people inhibiting it. God feels he has no other choice but to destroy everything & everyone and start over.

Motionless

This song is based around the famous question, “Is there a God? And if so, why would he let all this awful stuff happen to innocent people?” It suggests maybe there is, but at some point he gave up, realizing it was hopeless. Similar idea to “Larva,” but God takes a different approach by simply giving up and leaving everyone to simply destroy themselves in “Motionless.” There is definitely a theme of questioning God on this record. I think it had a lot to do with my mindset during the pandemic, losing close friends, the craziness in the world lately, and a feeling of hopelessness. So it’s really just asking a question and posing a possibility because I really have no answers for the chaos in this world. I just write music based on my fucked up perspective and try to make it interesting.

Sinning Time

In the style of Melvins, “Sinning Time” is a pretty ambiguous song leaving a lot to interpretation. It conjures a weird, scary creature with nefarious intentions. Was going for a similar vibe as “The Scag” from our EP, 'Hell Is Inside You’ (2020): uneasiness leading up to impending doom.

In Light of Your Death

This song’s hard to explain, because this one has a bit of ambiguity. I was shooting for a “if David Lynch wrote a song” vibe. Are these alien beings? Shadow people, Cult leaders? Up to interpretation. But they’re controlling this person’s mind or consciousness and leading him somewhere, possibly to another dimension or an endless void or afterlife. I have no answers, really. The words were driven by the feel of the music. That generally dictates how I write songs. Always the music first and then words trying to fill in the blanks and paint a picture.

It Thrives in Darkness

This one’s about someone living in a very dark place physically and in their mind. Kept away from the world, abused, neglected. Hoping that someone or something rescues them before they have to do something they don’t want to. Almost sarcastic title in regards to the song. I thought of this title for the record long before the song, actually during the early stages of the pandemic (along with most of the other songs), but just thought this song was the perfect one to sum up the record. Sad, violent, hopeless. Tried to convey all of these things in the music and words.