12" vinyl LP including download code for the full album!
The progressive metallers from Berlin/Kaiserslautern reach a new level with their second album: More virtuosic than ever, mature, and aware of their strengths, the band, founded in 2012, celebrates their incredibly energetic interplay at a rapid pace with almost pedantic perfection. Comparisons to PERIPHERY, KARNIVOOL, TESSERACT, but also OPETH, PORCUPINE TREE, and DREAM THEATER are repeatedly drawn in connection with the band's sound. Double bass storms, djent riffs, and bloodcurdling growls alternate with magnificent melodies, harmony vocals, and acoustic guitars. Modern and uncompromisingly produced, powerful, virtuosic, intricate, yet always focused on potentially hit hooks, the record guides you through its nine chapters, intertwined with recurring motifs and themes.
The album's content is more topical than ever. Away from the genre-typical fantasy epics and surreal dream sequences, the band processes their opinions on racism, xenophobia, the refugee problem, and the moral decay of capitalism in a cynical and haunting way. "Somehow, it no longer made much sense for me to make up stories in a time when there are enough stories to tell about what's really going on," says singer and main songwriter Jan Listing in an interview with Shieldmaiden's Voice. Mixed and mastered by Christof Kempe (Embark Audio), who has also been responsible for the sound of bands like TIME THE VALUATOR, BREATHE ATLANTIS, and BURNING DOWN ALASKA, the album is in no way inferior to its international competitors.
01 Enjoy The Rise
02 Amen
03 Mediterranean
04 DOA
05 Limbus Inn
06 Soldiers
07 Criminals & Sons
08 The Lying King
09 Heavenly Island (Epilogue)
