Review Summary: A cosmic swell from whence a star of musicianship is born.
This album is spacious, quite literally. From the absolutely pristine, gorgeous album cover to the crystal clear yet vaguely mysterious production to the slow moving, well-orchestrated guitar parts, to the occasional snarls that seem to only increase the albums vibrant yet meditative trance. Their should be a sheer opposition of sounds here, and yet for whatever reason, not only do they integrate well, but they coexist as the same sound. The vocals are harsh and abrasive, the riffs are sweet and symphonic, and create a musical soundscape as vast the ever expanding cosmos themselves. Yet, for whatever reason, they don't have a stark contrast for the sake of having a mix of musical styles. In fact, clean vocals would feel almost positioned poorly here (however, the vocals off "In Our Mind" are quite mesmerizing). The reason being that everything was built towards an explosive, alluring, calming atmosphere. Space is explosive, alluring, and calming at the same time. Think supernovas-utterly destructive, massive forces that would obliterate all anything nearby, and yet from afar they are awe-inspiring swells of crimson. They invoke a sense of inspiration, yet if one knows how they are formed, they will always be reminded of just how powerful they are.
This album embodies space. It embodies the destructive force of a supernova and the beauty contained within its destruction. It embodies the vast empty universe, which is so rife with the unknown which still only occupies such a minuscule amount of its space. From the same place where chaos is born, serenity is as well, and yet it all still feels perfectly in place. It's a mystery how such a balance is maintained, and how Enshined have managed to capture it all sonically. Synthesizers fade into the atmosphere, always creating a vaguely hypnotic atmopshere to compliment equally mesmerizing guitar riffs. With all of this in mind, while the greatest enjoyment does come in truly saturating the beauty of the music, their is a certain amount of simple enjoyment to be had as well, simply because the riffs are damn as hell catchy, especially of tracks like "Resurgence" and "Dual Existence", both of which have the most badass riffs off the album. I still implore the listener to absorb the album however, because while you can find simple enjoyment in a masterpiece, you will always find the most satisfaction in indulging in its intricacies.
