Album Rating: 3.5

I didnt like this album on the first two listens but now on my fourth this album makes me feel GOOOOOD!!

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

Once it hits, it hits haaard.

Fitting that Einar is on this, Persefone and Leprous got some similar career trajectories. Well done and pre-derivative debut, sophomore record that expanded on all the debut's promise while doubling down on what made them unique, third album that starts to veer away a little bit from the style, fourth record leans hard into bland chugcore at the expense of the record as a whole, and then the band decides they're going to focus on upping the atmospheric elements on subsequent albums, prob never to return to what made the second album so great

But also Leprous is way better'n Persefone's ever been

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

Spiritual is many things, but chugcore? You lost me there.



And then you lost me at the end, Leprous has never had a hit to rival Core, straight up.

Bilateral smokes Core, mon amour

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

In a parallel universe, it may. Not to say that Leprous are scrubs, but Core is on another level.

Fair, id also just say Bilateral smokes like any other progmetal rekahd so I ain't coming from a place of grounded analysis lol Core's still dope

But also SM has chugs that = many, in the same way that The Congregation does, even if they're not doing a full on djent thing

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

Just very interesting, as Spiritual is always considered a wankfest rather than a chugfest. Not to say it has none at all, but it's usually how far they go with the instrumentals that gets criticism.

Merkabah is incredible. Leap of Faith and Consciousness also really great.

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

Heck yeah man. February is insane though, feels like there's already like ten other big name albums out lol

Album Rating: 3.0

This has to be their most accomplished work since Shin-Ken, of that I am already convinced. We'll see how far this goes, but currently I'm just enjoying the vibe. Interesting atmospheric sound they have going on here. I don't find myself missing the riffs, or whatever.

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

They've still got riffs too, but it's not necessarily based around them entirely. The focus is shifted overall and there's a lot of beauty to discover inside of it.

Album Rating: 3.0

Yeah they don't appear to be the primary focus, which is fine. They do still make some welcome appearances though.



You definitely cannot accuse these guys of ever making the same album twice, that's for sure.

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

I think that aspect of their body of work is very underrated, honestly. They take risks all the time while also maintaining their core sound, it's impressive.

Album Rating: 4.0

Shin-Ken is still one of their best albums.

It’s emotionally powerful and much more consistent than this album tbh.

This record suffers with an overload of tame instrumental transitions that weakens the vibe of the album to be quite honest here.

Still I will keep this on my AOTY list for now due to few extraordinary tracks that are prog metal gems on here. Light 4 outta 5 .

Album Rating: 3.5

Well said!

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

I find that they space those moments out very well. It's a natural ebb-and-flow between the peaks and valleys. "Leap of Faith" in particularly is a perfect bride to "Aware of Being Watched" and I love that transition.



But Shin-Ken is epic so we still cool!

Album Rating: 2.0

Yeah, a lot of these transitions in the songs feel real aimless and sloppy. Guitar tone sounds pretty bad when they do djent-adjacent riffs. This reminds me of Spiritual Migration too much (that's not a good thing). Architecture of the I is the highlight, but it needs cleaned up.



Like Aware of Being Watched has this part around 3:10 that comes out of nowhere. "What the hell is this part?" is what I thought. Then the guitars come in like 30-40 seconds later, and it suddenly sounds fine. "Oh, this is what they were going for." So... why have this weird build up that doesn't mesh with what immediately precedes it? Why not weave it more organically into the song? And this problem is all over the album. They don't know when to cut a segment, they don't know when to hold a gripping part. Softer segments, like Consciousness Pt. 3's intro, often lead into louder parts that have nothing to do with what they were just playing. I think that's the poor songwriting other people are mentioning. It's just not flowing, and it's frustrating to hear, because there's certainly some parts here and there that sound nice.

Album Rating: 2.0

Pretty much my thoughts but explained better

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

Sounds fine to me but to each their own