Slift-Ilion

The best thing I can say about Ilion is that it is the first album in a while, in my memory, that really sells the idea of it being a journey, or telling a story- the moments that eclipse the album’s experience as a whole come few and far between, but every moment serves to communicate this great journey. And what a journey it is, told through an enormous, ever-shifting wall of sound, and through the three members’ stellar musicianship including great riffs, looming bass, passionate vocals, and propulsive, furious drumming. These elements are able to successfully carry the momentum across the entire length- not only does Ilion cover 8 songs in 80 minutes, but these songs really ROCK too. Even the repetitive closer feels like music that might play while looking at the destruction created after a final boss is defeated, or ceremony music that symbolizes a great and terrifying change in the life of a protagonist. Even if better albums come along later in the year, this is a story that must be told, and an album you must hear.

–Squiggly