SPOILER ALERT: The use of the word “epic” will be used an epic amount of times within this piece. Consider yourselves warned.
Aw, man. This is some epic shit. Four tracks….yep, you read that right. Just four tracks of blissful heaviness that just transcends everything prog out there in heavy music today. Fer serious.
Who says that Devin Townsend Project and Rush are the only outfits that can do progressive rawk right in Canada??? (Disclaimer: I know there are other Canadian prog/heavy outfits but those two are the first that came into my head) Certainly not Loviatar who has effectively master crafted this masterfully crafted (See what we did there?) album that’s not quite an album but SO MUCH MORE THAN AN ALBUM.
Seriously, how can anyone NOT love this band? There’s riffs and this epic sense of awesome within EVERY track….and there’s only four tracks! Four Tracks.
“Nascent (Stygian Wyrm Part I)” gets the ball rolling with a beyond epic monolith that definitely shares some DNA with Isis but strays from the path considerably when JD opens his maw and delivers (gasp!) decipherable lyrics! “Discordant (Stygian Wyrm Part II)” is half its’ predecessor’s length yet even more intense with a constant barrage of JP Sadek’s drumming skills and an onslaught of riffage.
“Ascendant (Stygian Wyrm Part III)” regresses back to the slow build and pays off tenfold as JD’s soaring vocal lines provide a welcome dichotomy to the constant sonic pummeling. The segue between “Discordant” and “Ascendant” is also of note as it’s reminiscent of “Parabol”/”Parabola”…that’s right, we brought the mighty Tool into the comparison mix.
“Blind Goddess of the Nine Plagues”….Sweet jeebus! You can’t make this shit up. The name alone is epic beyond epic. Add that it corresponds to an almost TWENTY MINUTE jam and is its’ own EP within an LP makes it that much more great. Just like this album: Everything is so much more great…than everything else. Seriously folks, check this one out.
Loviatar is out now via Prosthetic Records. You can obtain a precious copy here or here.