This is the band’s 7th studio album released in 2020. The band are grouped into the post rock category (personally I put them under Prog), and are known for their extended instrumental jams – although they have dabbled in lyrics much to fans angst. When you think of instrumentals your mind goes to Dream Theater style workouts, but that is not the case here. The songs range from the heavy to the ambient, and all points in between without the widdly diddly solos.
The album is about humankind’s obsession with looking to the future and how AI will play a part in that. Curiosity is split into two parts, although it’s just one song really, and has a superb opening before the heavy chords of Hazard close out Side 1. Voices was released as a single, and if you’ve seen the video, you will know it is about human’s relationship with their AI partners. It starts off as quite a delicate piece before the guitars kick in. Fail/Opportunity has a very electronic vibe to the whole tune with strings pushing through as the main instrument. Synths start off Immunity with the electronic vibes, before the heavy guitars arrive towards the end of the piece. I love the track Sharing Thoughts with the echo guitar and ambience. Some very U2 vibes start off Beyond Your Limits, and this track actually has a vocal line and I think it’s my favourite on the album. The rather short True/ Negative opens up Side 4 and has a somewhat industrial vibe, before Ashes comes in with a very dark chilling soundscape and a fitting end to the album.
9/10 from The Grooveman.
