First Impressions
Another Disney prog banger.
This album was both exactly what I expected, and nothing like I expected. Since it is a predecessor to Aphelion, I expected it to maybe have a bit of a heavier sound, or even a more different sound than that album. And honestly, it was almost exactly the same... at least at face value.
Here's the thing, I've realized with this sound, not only do you have to let it settle, but the more attention you pay to the details, the more it's going to grab you. And honestly, this album is one of the most subtly incredible things I've heard in a long time.
The songs here are so much more calmer, so much slower, more quiet. Where as in Aphelion you'd spend maybe 2-3 minutes in quiet before the song broke out, here, some songs will take a whole 5 minutes to do that, and the choruses are much less explosive.
Initially, that might seem like a bad thing. And initially, it was something I didn't like. But with a few more listens, you really start to catch more and more of the details in the songs. You start to match the vibes of it, and when you do, it really does click.
There are so many sections that caught me off guard with how incredible they are. I'm not talking about the big belting moments, we'll get into those later. But just moments where the production and musical choices were just so cool. I'm thinking of the super cool electronic groove of I Lose Hope, The beautiful overlayered vocals in Observe The Train, the absolutely incredible drumming in Alleviate. God, everything about Distant Bells. I have to dive deeper into that song.
Every song here is an entire world of it's own. That is super unique and something I haven't really experienced before, at least not to this extent.
Okay, so yes there are some really cool subtle moments, but this is Leprous dammit. Where's Einar? Oh Einar is here all right. While I would say there are fewer amazing vocal moments here, like what you'd get in On Hold, Castaway Angels or Nighttime Disguise. There are still plenty of times where I was blown away by them.
Below is a bold way to start the album, one of the more intense songs in the entire runtime, the chorus is just glorious. Einar's high notes are completely ridiculous in the best of ways and they really do convey the pain of the lyrics. Then you have Alleviate, which is by far the most poppy song in the album, also comes with the most show-off moment from him. The moment the chorus goes full out is absolutely perfect, there's no other way to describe it. It's so beautifully grand, melcancholic, almost epic. Once again, perfect
While there are no growling moments in this album, there is one part that caught me off guard. The end of Foreigner has a scream that's nothing like anything I've heard from Einar so far. It's a full back of the throat belt, and it's not the craziest thing but considering I've NEVER heard it from him just added to the intensity of it.
If we're talking about highlights, then I have to start praising Baard now. I have heard so much about how incredible he is. And while I did see that in Aphelion, here you can see him in full display, at least for this style. He honestly plays like a programmed drum machine. His cymbal work in the more quiet moments almost make it sound like a trap beat (this is a good thing). And the more intense moments are just an absolute walk in the park for him, you can tell.
I love when he does things you wouldn't expect to fit, but makes them work. I love the fill going into the second verse of Foreigner, it always throws me off. Alleviate, as mentioned before, has some of his best work. His rolls are just so damn precise, and the production makes them sound huge, almost tribal. And the big epic, The Sky Is Red, has really everyone show off. With it's odd timing and more intense sound, the drums are just crazy all throughout.
Once again, the best part of the album is the ending stretch. I do like the beginning, but to me it's significantly weaker than the absolutely journey the last three songs take you on.
We start with Distant Bells, my favorite song of the album. I'm sure this might not be a complete fan favorite, judging by how slow it is. You really have to be patient for this one. But the lull in the beginning is perfect to warm you up for how the song evolves. You start getting some strings with the barren vocals. The cymbal focused "drum machine" type accents. It keeps adding and adding layers. Then the strings turn into a beautiful solo, which ends in one of the coolest effects I've ever heard. It's like it teeters off into a tremolo.
And then if that wasn't enough you get a super cool delay guitar afterwards, which bounces from ear to ear. And THEN the song breaks out. A whole six minutes into it's seven minute runtime. High notes, the strings come back in an amazing fashion, the little "oh oh oh" chants at the end. I don't understand how they achieved this, but this is a perfect song for me.
Then you get to Foreigner, a song I did not initially like. But after Distant Bells, and especially as a transition into The Sky Is Red, it works so well. It's a more intense and traditional song. The riffs are catchy and pretty badass. It's much more intense than most other songs here, and it's got a slightly threatening sound to it. I especially like in the transition to the first chorus, where the funky riff stays the same, but they put ONE chord underneath it that just sounds so evil and dissonant, it changes the entire perspective of the song for me. And as mentioned before, the scream at the end is so cool.
And then, the big boy. The eleven minute epic, The Sky Is Red. I think listening to Aphelion kind of skewed my expectations, because wow I was extremely disappointed by this track at first. I was expecting another Nighttime Disguise, a super heavy and epic track to end on. The Sky Is Red is not that, and it was very underwhelming for me.
At least, this was at first.
The more I listened to this song, the more I liked it, the more I LOVED it. It has it's own kind of intensity, it's so ominous and threatening. The journey it takes you on is more akin to watching a forest burn rather than an explosion like you'd expect in the climax of an album.
The main riff is honestly so fun to listen to. It's got grit, teeth, but it doesn't completely lose the artsiness of their sound. The chorus is very dissonant. It took the most time for it to grow on me, but once I embraced the super dark sound of this song, honestly it fit really well.
My favorite part was the solo. It's so simple, not flashy at all, but goodness is it beautiful. It's got that signature strat sound, so bright and airy. It's like a moment of reprieve and beauty in the madness of the storm. And once again the sparse string arrangements really add so much to it. And the way it fakes you out by going silent for a bit before brining in the monster of a final riff? Oh yeah, this song's got the sauce, in SPADES.
As I said, I think the best of this album is in these last three tracks, that and Alleviate. The rest, I did like, but I can definitely say I'm not going to come back to it terribly often. Did I like this more then Aphelion? No. BUT I do appreciate how different it is, how it embraces atmosphere and subtlety much more, and yet it still manages to make incredibly hard hitting moments. It's was a super interesting listen.
Ranking
Distant Bells
Alleviate
The Sky Is Red
Foreigner
Below
I Lose Hope
Observe The Train
At The Bottom
By My Throne
Rating
7.5/10
Leprous listening order