They crash right into the first song which is a mid-paced rocker with a big chorus, not unlike what they did on their previous album. For Jonas the verse in in a slightly lower register than where he normally sings. I like this approach as it carries a little more heft. Is it the hookiest song they have done in the past decade? No, but it works for what it is. I prefer the darker heavier mood to "Colossal Shade". This album is not at all produced like a metal album. This can really be felt on "Opaline". There is some interesting jazz like layers of guitars, blended with a wide scope of electronic sounds. This is clearly more of a progressive rock album and thankfully falls on the darker side of that genre.
"Birds" marks the second time I had to pause this album to see if I had left Pat Metheny playing in another window of my computer. It is somewhat upbeat with the kind of atmospheric nuance that a Pat Metheny fan might also mistake for the jazz icon to be noodling in the background. "Drab Moon" is the kind of classic melancholy we have come to expect from the band post- "Night is the New Day". "Author" builds off a similar mood, with more of a straightforward rock dynamic. Many of these songs took repeat listens to fully ingest everything that is going on here, the more power ballad like "Impermanence" being one of these songs that a few listens to wrap my head around. Jonas doing different things with his voice and the moody phrasing of the band swirling around him.
Every album has found the sound of this band progressing. This album marks another noted changed though a logical stepping off point when you consider the guitar heroics that could be heard on "City Burials". "Sclera" simmers on a more reflective tone that is perhaps more familiar than not. "Atrium" is one of the few straight forward rock tracks. It is no surprise this was one of the album's lead singles. It's more upbeat than the bulk of the album. The more progressive direction is even more obvious amid the groove of "No Beacon to Illuminate Our Fall". I am fine with this more progressive direction when it comes coated in slithering darkness like it heard on "Absconder" I will give this album a 10 as it finds the band evolving even this late in their career. This drops on Napalm Records January 20th
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