It’s one of those prog/extreme metal albums that doesn’t really grab you straight away. It kind of sneaks in instead. “Journey To The Ethereal” starts pretty calm, almost unassuming, and then slowly pulls you in without making a big deal out of it. At some point you just realise you’re already into it.
The standout for me is “The Onyx Tower”. There’s this middle section where the guitars start layering and twisting around each other in a way that just locks in. RJ Stallkamp’s parts stand out too - there’s a bit more bite in those leads. That’s really the moment where the album shifts from “yeah, this is good” to something I actually want to come back to.
“Deimos” feels more direct and massive compared to the rest, almost like a reset before everything stretches out again. Then “Spires Of Flame” and “The Abandoning” lean colder and more distant. The sound gets heavier in atmosphere rather than just weight, if that makes sense.
Blake Lamoureux doesn’t try to take over anything here. He just fits into the songs and lets them do their thing. That actually works better than trying to push a frontman kind of presence over this kind of material.
The production, handled and mixed by Rick Stallkamp, is pretty spot on. Clear enough that you can follow the layers, but still with enough warmth that it doesn’t feel sterilised. Nothing feels overly polished or flattened out.
By the time “Touch Of The Meaningless” fades out with no extreme parts at all, it doesn’t really feel like a dramatic ending. It just sort of… runs out of energy and disappears. Weirdly, that fits the record.
Overall, it’s a solid debut. Not trying to reinvent anything or chase trends, just doing its own progressive/melodic/atmospheric thing with a slightly darker edge. Nothing flashy, but well put together and easy to return to.
I’ve already gone back to it more than I expected to. Curious to see where they take it next.
