I've been thinking that Visitations From Enceladus came out last year for about five years now.  I can't believe that was 2020.  It's kind of funny to hear that the decision to open with "Moonbelt Immolator" was entirely (or mostly) a narrative one; I could have believed it was all some form of grandstanding, because one of the primary reasons the album has stuck in my mind all this time is that it was some crazy ridiculous debut that put a 26-minute song at the very beginning. Manowar did that and it sucked, but these guys did it and it was great.

Also, wow, I was not expecting to hear the 2002 Clone Wars series invoked (the only Clone Wars that I recognize).  That was a hell of a way to lead into the classic question, and they didn't even know it.  I have not followed enough of the story of this character of theirs to envision how that would look, but I will agree, or I will say that they have succeeded in this regard, that so far Cryptic Shift's releases have been heavily visual - again, I remember Visitations From Enceladus as much for its cover art as for anything else, and there is a really cool "sci-fi novel" sort of aesthetic linked across their artwork, as you discussed. I need to listen to them again in preparation for Overspace & Supertime.