Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

The resting place of stars and heavenly bodies are not large tombs or memorials and cenotaphs signposted for the conscious and the spatially aware, they are for many the crypts for the dusty thoughts of past glories of adventure, of exploration, of missed opportunities to be put right, to be secured as illuminated mausoleums that draw the faithful inwards.

For Sky Valley Mistress, Luna Mausoleums is one hell of a reminder of the power of the electric rock, a show of force that grips the listener from the opening moments to the final, reluctant, withdrawal of the cd from the eternal machine and the ignoring of the silence that follows. That silence though is wrapped in the awareness of greatness, of being placed in the safe hands of the musical astronauts to whom the full throttle of power is one of high-octane drama, of a sheer pulse of beat that is absolute and dynamic.

The belief in the tracks The Exit List, Too Many Ghosts, the excellent Live Past Live, Thundertaker, and No Sleep is such that the listener could be forgiven for being overwhelmed, blindsided by the continual expansion of sound that was first in evident for Liverpool audiences especially at Hope Fest at the city’s District venue in 2015, and which has entranced the public since.

Even in regard to being a twosome in the form of Kayley Davies and Max Newsome, what comes across is almost akin to being immersed within the thrust of a large ensemble, of a formidable and liberated, developed sound that commands attention, that blast the cobwebs away, and is a significant admission of brilliance.   

Luna Mausoleums is an album of true rock luxury, it plays with the inspiration of those that inspired the sound, to the greats to which the pair now fully, energetically, belong. This is more than a heavenly unveiling, it is the craft which takes the listener to the point where they know they are on a journey out of this world.  

Ian D. Hall