BACK TO TIMES OF SPLENDOR

Well this album just downright leveled me. Back to Times of Splendor is a colossal debut by a band who seemed to come out of nowhere. Disillusion play with the brute force of nu-metal bands, but the sophistication of, say, Opeth and Green Carnation. The songs cover a range of sounds and emotions - loaded with bludgeoning riffs and melodic solos, not to mention ethereal acoustic passages - led by the passionate frontman Vurtox. I don't know where that name came from, but clearly a mind that thought up that name is capable of writing equally awesome music. Vurtox boasts both a very intimidating growl and a unique clean voice capable of transmitting some stunning melodies. This is done over a thick wave of sound, largely based on guitars, bass and drums, but also includes some well placed keys and strings here and there.

What helps make this album so forceful and stunning is the production. The sound is so densely packed with layers of carefully selected riffs, chords, etc. with the most apposite tones one could think of. This is, simply put, a mammoth of a record, but a very expressionate mammoth.

The music here avoids the typical extreme progressive metal standards in favor of this simpler, denser sound emotion-ridden sound, and this album consequently stands out as an intriguing, yet accessible and wholly unique. Instead of trying to figure out crazy patterns on your repeated plays, you'll be trying to dig through layers of instrumentation for new parts you've never noticed before and seeing how they all fit together to create such a massive sound. And of course, with each listen you'll be taken upon an emotional journey as well. There are no particular standouts on this one; it is just a top to bottom treasure chest of an album. It stimulates your senses and your emotions with every passage. Stunning.