01. Exhaler 02. Woolgatherer 03. Passenger 04. Identifier 05. Ambition 06. Distraction I 07. Distraction II 08. Distraction III 09. Distraction Nulla 10. Everything In Its Right Place [Radiohead cover][digipak bonus]
Additional info Produced by Wilderun. Mixed by Jens Bogren. Mastered by Tom Couture.
Recorded at More Sound Studios in Syracuse, NY, Jan-Feb 2021.
Electric Lap Steel, Resonator Guitar, Baritone Guitar and Mandolin recorded and engineered in Norwalk, CA.
A lot of bands fancy themselves as cinematic or epic, but very few bands manage to mirror the actual experience of a story. Wilderun so effortlessly drag you along for the ride, and Epigone rewards every bit of patience you give it.
I think my expectations were too high for this album. Don't get me wrong, is not bad at all but also not as good as Veil Of Imagination.
It also didn't help that Passenger (the best song of the album in my opinion) was released before as a single.
Maybe it will grown more on me with time
I think my expectations were too high for this album. Don't get me wrong, is not bad at all but also not as good as Veil Of Imagination.
It also didn't help that Passenger (the best song of the album in my opinion) was released before as a single.
Maybe it will grown more on me with time
Have the same feeling with the 14 minutes song, which sounds softer than the previous stuff, but the rest of the album was very solid, specially the 20 minutes opus song.
I think my expectations were too high for this album. Don't get me wrong, is not bad at all but also not as good as Veil Of Imagination.
It also didn't help that Passenger (the best song of the album in my opinion) was released before as a single.
Maybe it will grown more on me with time
Have the same feeling with the 14 minutes song, which sounds softer than the previous stuff, but the rest of the album was very solid, specially the 20 minutes opus song.
I was like "What the hell is this slog??" when listening to track 2.
Fortunately the rest is better but I wouldn't call it great either. Here's hoping it's a grower like Veil was. Although that one grew on pretty quickly.
I think my expectations were too high for this album. Don't get me wrong, is not bad at all but also not as good as Veil Of Imagination.
It also didn't help that Passenger (the best song of the album in my opinion) was released before as a single.
Maybe it will grown more on me with time
100% agree.
I think a lot of the album sounds a bit directionless. Still a great listen, but not the release I was hoping for.
Already sounds better than almost anything I heard from last year (not that I listened to a great deal of prog last year). Well it's a good start if this is a sign of what we have in store for this year.
Wow... I'd say I'm speechless, but I probably won't be able to shut the fuck up about this album to any of my prog friends for a while. Full disclaimer, I only just got it and I've only listened beginning to end once. But this feels like the best prog metal record in at least a couple years. I can't think of anything last year this good, and only a couple things in 2020 that come close. It's all subjective, of course. I get where the "directionless" critique comes from; it just feels like a journey to me. I get that there's not enough of the heavier elements for some people, but I listen to everything from metal to jazz to classical to folk and so on. So that doesn't bother me. This is an album that celebrates the mystery behind consciousness and life. I really dig it. I'm half tempted to hand out my first 10 score in a few years. Maybe after a couple more listens to let it digest.
This is their best record IMO. I enjoyed the previous couple quite a bit, but this one was even more ambitious and somehow still managed to nail the target.
PS - If you enjoyed this as much as I did and haven't ever listened to Xanthachroid, DO IT. There are a lot of parallels in approach here without either band being a mimic to the other.
I love Sleep at the Edge of the Earth and Veil of Imagination, I think both those records are masterpieces. I'll have to listen to this one more, but it's not clicking with me as much. Still good, just feels meandering and has too many tracks that don't do much. The second half of the record is notably better than the start. I wish they cut Woolgatherer altogether
It's been three listens now and I'm in love with the album: the solos, Evan's voice, the instrumentation, everything is brilliant.
If I had to choose the highlight of the album for me, and there are many, I would say that it is the last 2-3 minutes of Identifier: wow is amazing.
Why would they leave out some of the best melodic ideas of the entire album? Sure, you could argue it should be trimmed down, but as a whole it's too good to be cut off entirely. I think I'm at my fourth listen of that track now and it's gotten better every time. It feels like a crooked cousin of The Means to Preserve at this point.
Sorry but I don't see the appeal in this one. It takes a while to get going but it doesn't seem to know where it's headed.
Tracks 1 and 2 are a chore to get through.
Sorry but I don't see the appeal in this one. It takes a while to get going but it doesn't seem to know where it's headed.
Tracks 1 and 2 are a chore to get through.
So far I'm inclined to agree. Plenty of good ideas scattered throughout, but overall a bit aimless, songwriting wise.
Sadly I have to join the 'not entirely convinced' train - there's a lot of scattered moments that sound nice, but apart from Identifier, nothing that brought me really in on first listen, and the Opeth bits sound a bit too derivative of Opeth. Impressive work, but like the last record, not one that drags me back. Plus, the clean sung parts remind me a bit too much of the clean moments on Autotheism throughout
I seem to read some pretty negative opinions and I don't understand why.
I met them thanks to Veil of Imagination 2 years ago and they impressed me a lot, especially their Opeth's influence (which I like a lot) but this album, guys, is perfect in everything, songwriting, sound and composition, I have not found any flaw to be honest.
I seem to read some pretty negative opinions and I don't understand why.
This is a really "you feel it or you don't" kind of thing. Happens a lot with a bunch of stuff that I like that if you don't feel it, it feels directionless and boring. Plus the Opeth influence would feel even more derivative if Opeth were still doing stuff like that.
But then again, Wilderun just hit it for me. I liked Veil a bit more, and that one was a 10 for me.
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking
One day there will be no heart at all?
I think a lot of the album sounds a bit directionless. Still a great listen, but not the release I was hoping for.
Pretty much just what I was thinking. I love the sound so much that I'm almost drawn to rate it a 9, but I know I'm being tricked as I'm just a sucker for that kind of epic sound.
After three listens, this album’s a frustrating let down after all. Veil Of Imagination was my AOTY in 2019 against a pile of strong competition, but this album is just solid, nothing more. Identifier is a tremendous track worthy of the previous album and boasts the strongest harsh and by far the finest somber moments, but nothing else comes close to that level. The potential to be the next big thing in prog and symphonic metal is there for Wilderun. I think that in order for them to realize that potential, Wilderun’s songwriting calls for less meandering tracks and a far less derivative sound. They are close to making an album for the ages, I hope they don’t blow that chance with their next release. Oh well, time to go headbang to “ The Tyranny Of Imagination” again and dream of what this album might have been and of what might yet be on the horizon.
Veil Of Imagination immediately clicked for me and it was my AOTY in 2019. This one took more spins but the time invested was rewarding in the end. The biggest flaw here is Woolgatherer, its placement in the tracklist and its length make it a difficult track do digest, and I believe people less impressed by their softer, acoustic side loose interest in the album in those first two tracks. Identifier and Distraction (with all parts combined) are truly excellent. 8.7 for me.
----
Taste the DARK...
... and you'll live FOREVER!
The biggest flaw here is Woolgatherer, its placement in the tracklist and its length make it a difficult track do digest
Saw someone on RYM offer an alternative tracklist with the interludes removed and "Woolfatherer" placed as a closer, and apparently that makes it flow much better.
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking
One day there will be no heart at all?