‘I’m done pleasing the crowds,’ croons frontman and chief songwriter Einar Solberg on , the opening track on . Which is surprising, as it wasn’t apparent that he had been. Even in progressive circles there are those who would prefer a band to carry out variations on a theme for the rest of their career and there are plenty who yearn for a return to Leprous’s earlier work – pre-2017’s , essentially – when they could still be accurately described as a prog metal band.
Solberg’s pre-release chatter around this album will be music to those people’s ears. It’s being trumpeted as the heaviest thing they’ve made in some time. At the same time, like some of his peers – ’s among them – the Leprous man seems to push back against the ‘p’ word these days.
“I’m not sure it’s very prog,” he says of the record. It sounds like an attempt at distancing the band from the scene that’s supported them, ignoring the fact that the engine which drives most modern prog is experimentation and a desire to carve out new sonic paths rather than week-long solos and capes. is certainly not a return to the labyrinthine compositions of 2011’s or 2013’s .
It’s still shaped by crystalline melodies and the flawlessly expressive vocals that have come to be an increasingly defining factor over the past few years. Granted, it simplifies the equation to some extent, presenting the essential elements of the band in a more direct and stripped-down manner than they’v.