The Pitch: Instrumental progressive metal meets violin with Montreal's Cydemind. FFO Mendel, Tengger Cavalry, Animals as Leaders
What I Like: Just really beautiful stuff. I'm a sucker for both heavy, riff-driven instrumental prog and string music, so for me this is a match made in heaven. Also, if you listen to a lot of atmospheric folk metal like Wilderun, at times this is basically that without the vocals. The guitars are plenty thrilling on their own; running a wide range of styles with influences reportedly including Symphony X, Dream Theater, Haken, Plini, and Rush among others. Production is strong with the recording completed at The Grid with producer Christian Donaldson (Cryptopsy, The Agonist, Neuraxis) and additional grand piano at Studio 270. And of course, the violin is pure bliss.
What I Don't Like: Those more indulgent in the tradition of progressive and classical music may disagree, but I prefer the shorter songs here to the longer ones. 27 minutes is a heavy investment for a single track, and while it's a good one I still would have preferred breaking it up a little.
The Verdict: A lush and atmospheric journey that brings brisk mountain air into my lungs. While I feel like compositions could be more concise, the instrumentation and writing is on point enough to keep things interesting.
Flight's Favs: What Remains, Tree of Tales, Red Tides
