Review Summary: Picking up the slack, SUE have crafted a progressive metal album for the ages.
Back Home is SUE’s best album, by a mile. Rather than changing their sound, this is the quintessential Spheric Universe Experience album, and it comes with huge leaps forward. This is their best produced album. Everything from the singer’s vastly improved performance, to the funktastic, get-down-and-boogey slap bass are audibly clear. The mix is also impressive considering how many ideas the band juggles. This is a progressive metal band, similar to Dream Theater, due to jaw droppingly technical instrumentation and wonky time signatures. SUE certainly stand out though, with extra sci-fi/spacey electronics, symphonic music, neoclassical metal, power metal influence, and Arabic melodies. Their ten years to make this album really shows, in the best possible way. Though they throw everything and the kitchen sink into the album, the sound is beautifully homogenous.
At times in the past, the songwriting was a bit bland, and didn’t showcase all the band had to offer. This time around, the band sound focused and passionate, and the singing is honestly captivating. Every sound has its time to shine (often with solos), but the songs sound like cohesive efforts rather than a band just showing off (although they definitely are). The songs can sound a little dragged out, after all, they are entirely bloated, but there’s always a catchy chorus around the corner, or another awe-inspiring instrumental section. This is easily going to be one of the best prog metal albums of the year. Complaints about this album or minor gripes are not even worth talking about, because the music is that good. There has never been a better time to check out Spheric Universe Experience.
