A DROP OF LIGHT

After several several spins of this beautiful album, I'm ready to say it's a 5 star masterpiece. There's a nearly unmatched attention to detail as well as many layers of vast, varying instrumentation throughout every song. Pair this with flawless production and you got a great recipe. I love that the songs aren't afraid to strip down and get very quiet developing into these very flowing, somewhat rustic feeling sections. This album sort of takes what Anglagard has done in the past (worth noting 3/4ths of the members of this band are from Anglagard), and adds several elements of Avant Garde and Zeuhl, as well as a much greater emphasis on symphonic instrumentation. Specifically in the very abundant use of woodwinds throughout. A lot of the music is just straight up menacing and carries this heavy feeling of doom. If you're looking for something happy and cheerful, this ain't it. But if you're looking for some dark, heavy, mindbending, mellotron soaked symphonic somewhat retro prog, this is simply the cream of the crop. I purchased the $40 double LP on a bit of a whim, and initially it was a lot to take in. However, the more I came back to it the more I realized that each listen revealed so much new stuff to pick up on. My favorite track is the opening title track, but this isn't to discredit the rest, as I believe all that tracks are nearly equally as great as one another. The opening minutes of buildup just gets my heart racing, and when it finally pays off its like getting smacked in the face by a brick.

5 stars