BEYOND THE EXOSPHERE

I tend to find it great whenever I get requested to review some modern prog metal album, since while I've been very vocal about my dislike for the direction it's headed as a whole, these requests always tend to reveal the material in the genre I find more enjoyable to an extent, and this one's definitely no exception. As is fairly standard for these sorts of albums, there's no doubt that there's a lot of extremely clear influence taken from past giants of the genre, in this case Dream Theater, but as is also practically the standard these days, it's also a lot better than any of the material that DT have put out over the last 10 - 15 years or so. The fact that there's also some clear Rush influence in this further helps separate it from the sea of DT clones to an extent, with the sometimes catchy, more straightforward melodies and hooks giving the album some more lasting impact, rather than simply feeling like yet another band soloing for the sake of looking cool and proficient at their chosen instrument.

From the moment the opening epic Beyond the Exosphere kicks off, it immediately becomes clear how Rush inspired the band, with the opening few seconds sounding incredibly similar to Fountain of Lamneth before breaking into more traditional prog metal territory. The epic as a whole is honestly pretty well structured, constantly ebbing and flowing while also progressively becoming more intense with each build up, managing to actually sound worthy of being the length it is, rather than simply sounding like a regular track but long. I also get some occasional Symphony X vibes from the vocal delivery, the more powerful nature of it, which is another thing I quite appreciate, further separating itself from the overt similarities to Dream Theater. This also happens to be a rare case of a prog drum solo not being a complete waste of time, being rather short, yet also contributing to the progression of the song in the way it brings for a somewhat darker tone that ends up leading into an extremely solid groove as the song explodes into an absolutely amazing, climactic few minutes that completely reminds me why I used to have such a love for the genre. The song on the whole is just a really fun time to me and definitely sets the album up nicely.

The rest of the album unfortunately is a step down from this first track, although is still pretty good for the most part. Main issue with this part is that it sounds more like a dramatic, densely produced 80s metal album, rather than having the prog qualities that made the opening track as good as it was, but even so, it's not bad, albeit not too memorable for tracks 2 and 3 either, being vaguely nice to listen to rather than anything I have the desire to look deeper into. It's in Closer to the End where things get back on track, being yet another more straightforward song with a clear cut chorus and everything, but I really like it, it feels like there's a bit of genuine emotion behind it and evokes almost apocalyptic imagery with how downright grandiose and epic it sounds, especially with the choral vocals. Intonate closes the album off decently, with the vocals being of particular note here with the great harmonies bringing an additional powerful edge to the track, solidifying the sense of finality that it's able to bring to the close really nicely, especially when combined with the amazing symphonic outro.

Overall, it's stuff like this that ends up reminding me why prog metal was a genre I loved so much at one point, as while this may not be an album with anything particularly new or shocking, it takes from its influences rather well to make an enjoyable listen, especially when looking at the epic on it and the way it actually fully feels like it deserves all 17 minutes. While not really an album I'd recommend to change someone's mind about the genre, I do think that this is an album you should check out if you're a fan of Dream Theater and Rush, since it's clearly the audience this band seems to cater towards, and it pulls it off rather well.

Best tracks: Beyond the Exosphere, Closer to the End

Weakest tracks: Freedom