The Prescient

Progressive metal, a genre/sub-genre that literally means “no boundaries”; Its a very attractive concept, wouldn’t you agree? Well, if you don’t, then I’d recommend you gather yourself, clear your mind, and take an unbiased dive into the tempestuous, ever-changing ocean of ideas that is-Progressive Metal. Give it a chance.

If you decided to do so, whether it was an eye-opening swim or not, I have just the band for you: Antlion-A young “psychedethic”( the band’s self-proclaimed genre) metal act hailing from Ottawa, Canada. Although they are relatively new to the scene, their debut album, The Prescient, reeks of musical maturity.

Heavy and melodic in equal amounts, the eerie and somewhat dissonant soundscape maintained throughout The Prescient is pulled off beautifully. The passion present in each composition is palpable; Not many bands can execute such a feat without revealing a number of musical weaknesses. And truth be told, even in their stale-er moments, Antlion’s music is mind-boggling. Sweeping lows to soaring highs, you won’t find any redundancy here.

For instance-clean sections like that in “Incubation”, the introduction track to the album, are used often but are neither overused nor lazily copied in other tracks; moreover, heavier runs like that in the middle of “Hive” are plentiful, but vary in structure. On that note, don’t expect to fully understand the magnitude of this go’geous piece of art in the first listen, give it a few playthroughs and REALLY allow it to soak in!

Release date: 28-12-2015
Reviewer: Joseph Prieto
Score: 9