On Reddit some people had asked what I thought of the album, so seeing as it's not that far until release now and promo copies of the album have been sent out, I replied with a sort of mini review which I thought I'd replicate (replicate, replicate) here. Feel free to ask other questions if you have them, DTF is my online home so I don't mind being a bit more open here!
---------------
Ah what the hell, it's not all that long until release now. I'll give a few impressions. Keep in mind I can't claim to be wholly unbiased due to my personal connection to the band, but I don't think it has a strong bearing on how much I love their music.
Overall, it's among my favourite Haken albums. I don't yet know if it'll top The Mountain which is incredibly special, but I'm confident it's pipped Vector/Virus and Affinity (and indeed the others). I'd say it's their most varied album, but it works because it still all sounds like Haken, if that makes sense. It's very intricate rhythmically, but it's not super technical or anything. Or rather, it's not super any-one-thing. There's heavy stuff and jazz-influenced stuff and pop-influence stuff and quirky proggy stuff and emotional stuff. It's a very balanced album. It reminds me most of The Mountain and Affinity, but has elements of their other albums too, as well as some new stuff.
And just to tease a bit, a few thoughts on vibes I get from each song (non-exhaustive, a mix of Haken and non-Haken, and sometimes it's the song as a whole, others it's just specific parts):
1. Taurus - Initiate, Gojira
2. Nightingale - Mountain, Visions (album), Leprous
3. The Alphabet Of Me - Red Giant, Everything Everything
4. Sempiternal Beings - Mountain, Vector/Virus
5. Beneath The White Rainbow - Mountain, Tigran Hamasyan
6. Islands In The Clouds - Porcupine Tree, Host
7. Lovebite - Earthrise, Visions (album)
8. Elephants Never Forget - Devin Townsend, Gentle Giant, Rammstein, Visions (song)
9. Eyes Of Ebony - Affinity, Tigran Hamasyan