Dour yet soulful, lethargic yet vibrant, Sun of the Dying deliver codified Melodic Death Doom depression on their sophomore full-length, "The Earth is Silent." The ingredients in the mixer are 3 cups of gruff vocals, 1 cup of clean, the left side of a piano, synth strings, clean guitar arpeggios, heavy power chords, and slow-dirge drums. Their musical DNA is connected to Opeth, Katatonia, Draconian, and remotely to Paradise Lost and Type O Negative.

The tone is set with the opening title track, a short, melancholy instrumental reminiscent of Barber's famously beautiful bummer: "Adagio for Strings." Sun of the Dying like to employ abrupt tempo and tonal shifts mid-song to jar your attention back. If the experience of "The Earth is Silent" is akin to drifting on a great exanse of dark waters, then these moments are like sudden squalls and waves. The rest of the listening experience definitely washes the listener in a meditative state of sameness.
The album finishes strong, closing out with "Monolith" and the pretty, somber pianos of "White Skies and Grey Lands." "A Cold Unnamed Fear" is also a highlight.