HOPING AGAINST HOPE

I really don't have the words for how well crafted and amazing this album is. Full of strange beauty and subtle intricacies, this is an album to listen to loud, at night, when you can focus on every note and allow yourself to be completely captivated. Every note seems perfectly placed, and whereas fast runs are usually found in solos, here they are found in subtle and almost delicate, yet intense forays of composition, which to my ears is a much more effective and appealing way to demonstrate one's chops. But chops are not really what this is about. I have to apologize, I so rarely write a review, and don't want to bungle it up with repetitive adjectives, but don't know how else to explain this. This album, furthering the sound of their previous album, is in a world of its own. I know of nothing else out there that sounds quite like this. A touch of King Crimson, yes, but only a touch. I tend to think, how can one listen and not be blown away, but in a world we have to hope against hope in, for many reasons, I think it will be truly appreciated only by the relative few. Too bad. This deserves so much more. Even among the prog communities.