PART THE SECOND

This particular motW release bears a far more refined quality than the avant-garde masterpieces of Bath & Leaving Your Body Map, adapting a more atmospheric, post-rock feel as opposed to free-form avant-prog metal as seen in the previous releases. There are no truly growled vocals on this album, which may attract listeners who are unable to tolerate "cookie monster" vocals, although I personally enjoy them. The musicianship on this album is outstanding, which is something that should be expected when listening to any of Toby Driver's projects.

1. An Excerpt From 6,000,000,000,000 Miles Before the First, or, The Revisitation of the Blue Ghost (10:55): An excellent opener for an excellent album. This particular composition bears many themes & ideas first examined in The Blue Ghost/Shedding Qliphoth from the Bath album, which I also highly recommend.

2. Another Excerpt: Keep Light Near You, Even When Dying (5:59): This song continues an already great album opener. Soft melodies start off this epic track before some violin begins to fade in, eventually leading up to some Isis-esque sludge oriented riffs. The song then takes a strange turn around the 3:25 mark. Toby Driver begins with some underwater-sounding vocals before the song gains an avant-garde jazz direction, the underwater vocals continuing overtop the melodies.

3. Rose Quartz Turning to Glass (7:30): This song begins with some soothing violin symphonies complemented with some piano at the beginning. Various other instruments, including xylophone and glockenspiel are added to the medley. At 3:15, Miya Matsumiya takes a wonderful violin solo which lasts a number of minutes. The song ends off with some laid- back post-metal melodies - great music for falling asleep.

4. Clover Garland Island (8:18): Quite possibly the heaviest song of the album. It is not heavy in the metal sense, but rather in its strangeness and avant-garde qualities. It gets very soft later on in the song, beginning with a smooth jazz sounding section, followed by more soothing melodies in strange keys. The track finishes off with soft vocals, violin, and guitar, slowly fading out.

5. Laboratories of the Invisible World (Rollerskating the Cosmic Palmistric Postborder) (11:50): My personal favorite. The composition begins with some minimalist clean guitar. The song fades into a short post-metal section at around 2:14, briefly fading out for a few seconds before coming back with a barrage of interesting riffs that aren't too overwhelming for the average listener. This is followed by some very strange falsetto vocals. The post-metal section continues to the end of the song, which finishes off with a short orchestral vocal segment and a graceful piano solo at the end.

This album is highly recommended for fans of Kayo Dot, Red Sparowes, Isis, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and all other atmosphere-flavored progressive music.

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