THE VOID

Alongside with the band Hillward this outfit surely sets a special trademark when speaking of melodic heavy prog music from Canada's Quebec region. And yes, there are some relations given, as David Lizotte is responsible for the mix and mastering on this occasion, at least that. After leaving five years behind INNER ODYSSEY are getting started as a fivesome yet again. Where guitarist Vincent Leboeuf Gadreau, while also adding the complete lyrics to the fold, officiates as the band's constant, head, during recent years. The new album is made of nine songs. They are thematically dealing with the context of rejection, failure and cyber addiction concerning social media respectively the virtual world in general.

While musically drawing some inspirations from artists like Mariusz Duda and Steven Wilson throughout, 'The Void' marks a typical prog metal and heavy art rock hybrid. Étienne Doyon provides proper lead vocals, interesting effect at this however also partially vocoder modified. Just mentioning the opener Overhanging by way of example, which appears in a rather charming mainstream outfit. The following The Reckoning sets the first album highlight, due to more complexity and a skillful blend of melodic melancholic and heavier constituted portions, this including multiple guitar variations and excellent polyphonic background vocals.

'Now I'm On My Own, I'm Drifting Afar, Deep Into The Void' ... catchy melodies respectively refrains with sing-along impact, wonderful! Even while initiating with modern technical beat this does not disturb the atmosphere on the prospering title track, which also shows an awesome synthesizer solo in between. Sparkling piano lines and dramatic synth walls, heavy riffs - on Nemesis then we'll meet them in full blow at the latest. Alex Rancourt's lively bass playing will need a special mention too, a pleasant addition. Official release date is 1st of March, please allocate enough time for this. 'The Void' may not offer something surprisingly new for one or two. Nonetheless it is essential for melodic prog fans, because compositions, flow, execution and production are top-notch in its entirety.

I'm been following this band since their impressive debut and this metal prog band seems to have polished their sound even more on this new release. The songs have a lot of room to breathe in with plenty of acoustic parts. "The Reckoning" shows his influence with a singer that steals a singing trick from Russ Jennings of Haken. His voice throughout the album is a cross between Jennings and Steven Wilson. "The Void" starts with an ambient passage with some melodic vocal part and a gentle guitar solo. It gets more intense before an acoustic part and more guitar solos. It has a nice and short keys part in the end. "Don't Walk Away" is the album ballad with a definitive Opeth or Swedish influence. "Endgame" is the most eclectic song in the Haken style with some impressive vocal work, strong bass lines and overall some strong instrumental part. "Nemesis" is the instrumental song with another tribute to Dream Theater. The mix and production on this album are excellent, I know that a lot of people have work on this to achieve this result. This band will not bring anything new to this genre, but they have succeed to absorb all their influences to create a solid album melodic, epic with strong musicianship.