THE ULTIMATE MULTIVERSE

And now, for a return to music reviews, at least to some degree, so what better way to kick things off than with a requested review? Anyway, in general I've always had a problem with the prog metal scene, and believe that it's one of the genres to have stagnated the most of all, with many bands simply following a very bland formula based largely off of long songs and showing off their technicality rather than having writing that I find engaging. This album however, manages to be an example of a band following a lot of conventions of prog metal, not even adding too much new, but executing it well enough for it to be quite enjoyable regardless for a variety of reasons.

I feel what this album does quite well is how most of these songs take from different types of prog metal, not really adding much of a spin on things usually, but demonstrating some great skill in the various aspects of the genre. Tracks such as Cascading Darkness have a clear focus on the harsher side of prog metal, with the harsher vocals combined with breakneck riffs, providing a sense of urgency to the song. I really like the cleaner sections throughout the album as well, with the vocal effects put on it giving it a spacey, ethereal quality that I'm a big fan of, as it's executed quite well in order to give the album some genuinely engaging qualities. It's One Hundred that I personally consider the best track here however, due to how different it sounds at points, along with being genuinely emotionally powerful in parts. The heavy use of synth in parts of this is prominent enough to almost give it a synthwave aesthetic that I'm a big fan of, which is paired really nicely with how powerful the chorus is, being immediately ear catching and kinda moving, something that I find quite rare in prog metal.

The final track, Asimov further demonstrates the fact that this is a deceptively versatile album, being an instrumental track that evokes the sort of cold, futuristic atmosphere of bands like Animals As Leaders, but also demonstrates the great instrumental side of the band greatly. The guitarist is able to belt out some killer solos throughout without ever feeling as if it's excessive enough for the music to just feel like a lame vessel for pure wankery, a balance which I consider absolutely essential to good prog metal. I've also got to mention the fact that despite the fact that these are programmed drums, that they sound extremely good in general, not just feeling as if it's repeating the same few loops over and over, but actually having enough variation in the playing that I don't think I'd be able to even slightly tell that these were programmed.

Overall, I'm always glad to be shown prog metal that I genuinely would listen to again in the future, especially lately, since I love being proven wrong about probably disliking an album. definitely something that I'd consider a worthwhile listen overall, as while it may not be something that reinvents the wheel or anything like that, it's very solid prog metal with some great, spacey atmosphere to go along with it. Chaos Over Cosmos definitely has the potential to become something great if they step out of their comfort zone a bit more, but even as is, I enjoy this quite a bit and would recommend to those looking for some well put together prog metal.

Best tracks: One Hundred, Cascading Darkness

Weakest tracks: Consumed, Worlds Apart