Sometimes, you open your inbox and there's an email with the perfect combination of words. This time around, it was "Willotip Records" (one of our favorite labels) and James Christopher Knoerl (one of our favorite drummers, from Aviations and Gargoyl, to name just two of the projects he is part of). Sure enough, when I opened up the lead single from The Anchoret, the project this email was there to tell me about, I knew I had to premeire it. What we're dealing with here is expansive, well crafted, and passionate progressive metal. "Forsaken" is the first single off of It All Began with Loneliness, which is due to be released on June 23rd via the aforementioned stalwarts at Willowtip. It is also a seven and a half minute joyous epic, filled with saxophone, riffs, mellotron and just overall expansive, and well made progressive metal. Head on down below to check it out, alongside its cool, sci-fi video!
I think that the synths on 4:06 is what finally made me fall in love with this track. Don't get me wrong, everything before that is just as awesome but there's just something about those synths, coupled with Knoerl's excellent drumming and the beautiful guitar riffs which accompany them, that conquered my heart. It helps that the track once again dips right after them, revisting the more somber sections of its compositions and re-introducing the saxophone before making way for the best vocal segment on the track. This passage is truly the high water mark of the track, as everything coalesces after it and starts to build towards the epic outro of the track and its eventual resolution (just fucking listen to those blast-beats and cymbals go! James you wonderful beast).
Having heard it, I can confidently say that the rest of the album is just as well crafted, every piece in its ambitious structure placed just right. Add in the excellent video by Eduard Levitsky and the evocative cover art by Joseba Elorza and you've got yourself the full package. That's no coincidence as the band say "We are proud to present Forsaken, our first single from the upcoming album It All Began With Loneliness. Forsaken is about losing your purpose, about feeling disconnected, acknowledging past mistakes and the journey towards redemption - a journey we tried to represent as best we could musically and visually."
As mentioned, It All Began with Loneliness drops on June 23rd. Make sure to head on over to the label's Bandcamp page for more news and pre-orders as the date nears. You don't want to sleep on this one.