SUFFOCATING THE BLOOM

Unique, very complex, yet with a bombastic rock edge and chock full of extremely enjoyable moments! Wonderfully crafted melodies, genius harmonies, and a new twist on the progressive rock sound of the 1970s while still sounding modern. All of this describes Echolyn quite well, particularly their album Suffocating the Bloom.

On my version of this album there are over 20 tracks (because the epic is split up), so I'll just go over some highlights. The epic (A Suite for the Everyman) is the epitome of modern Symphonic progressive rock in typical Echolyn style, full of fantastic musicianship, catchy melodies, and entangled song structures. I also really love "21" and "Winterthru" (which is great to hear in the winter!), and there is NO weak song on here. "A Little Nonsense" is absolute genius! Expanding on a quote that is feature in the classic film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Echolyn show really well that a little nonsense now and then fits perfectly combined with tasty prog!

It lacks the cohesiveness As the World or The End Is Beautiful for me to give it full-blown masterpiece status, but your collection would be MUCH better with this album. This barely misses the mark of perfection, but it's certainly an action-filled ride!

Highly recommended.