THE FRUIT FALLEN

While you're mesmerized by its binding, this melodic werewolf may get an opportunity to take a bite out of your hide. In other words, the slipcase is exquisite as it's a realistic-looking but ersatz book. Also clipped within its lip is aesthetically-pleasing liner notes laminated with a protective sheen. Not to mention, this Necronomicon of sound is stunning and precarious as soon as it's ajar.

Edensong has developed a style that brings many adjectives to mind: For starters, their sundry material is organic, orchestral, acoustic, accessible, gothic, and tetchy. It's as if they've combined Jethro Tull with Porcupine Tree. Like Aqualung, these cohesive pieces seem to tell a story while having a quality that lets them standalone. Like Fear of a Blank Planet, it'll make the hair on your neck stand to attention while encouraging your noggin to bob in tandem with riveting beats.

You wouldn't know it from listening to these worldly cuts but the band spends most of its time playing on North America's Eastern coast.

To that end, each song exhibits a range of elements that would be statistically out of character. "The Prayer", for example, borders on Pain of Salvation if you were to remove the violins and flutes. These sophisticated instruments make it extremely folksy in that Scandinavian sense. Alternatively, "Nocturne" is a roundabout take on Genesis if it were to intersect with Yes.

On the whole, the album has a high concentration of progressive pectin. From the peel to its core, enriching fibers contained within this fallen fruit make it hard to resist. And inline with that legendary aphorism involving Adam & Eve, ingesting this material will evolve countless listeners from troglodytes into human beings.