I've been writing for a while about the injection of ideas and sounds from shoegaze, indie, and alternative rock into post-rock and metal. I mean, the process has been going for decades now but it seems that another wave has hit us in the last two years or so. What I've yet to hear though is a doom band incorporating these same influences. On Cycles in the Infinite Dream, REZN appear to have done just that. While the bedrock of their sound is still there, namely thick guitar chords over dreamy atmosphere conjured forth by synths and evocative vocals, the flavor feels wholly different. The guitars are not as dominant and the structure of the tracks is less concerned with crushing as it is with unfurling. As a result, the atmospheric elements of REZN's sound take precedence and blend with ideas from the aforementioned genres.
This is all great stuff by the way, if you were having doubts on where I stand. Cycles in the Infinite Dreams is the band's sixth release (depending on how you count) and comes on the heels of the excellent and successful Solace and Burden. While I adore those releases (and their earlier ones are also great), it's fantastic to hear something new from the band. "The Vessel" is probably my favorite track on the album. It showcases the new melodical layout of the album in a great way. It opens with a classic REZN riff, all doomy groove and presence. But along the halfway mark, we can find a chorus resplendent in a more somber guitar lead and adorned with a grungier, more melancholic main riff. Add in the vocals in a new, "thinner" mode (which is not a criticism, rather a description) and the picture coalesces into something new, more contemplative and open ended than the band's previous sound. This is capitulated upon a bit later with a passage I can compare to no one else but Karnivool.
Like I mentioned above, the heaviness is still there for those of you who are worried. Check out "Cloudfall" for example and its extremely kick-ass main riff. The guitars and bass still know how to go when REZN want them to, delivering thick, redolent doom metal when the band want them too. In fact, I think Cycles in the Infinite Dream has some of the band's best riffs, perhaps due to the fact that they have more freedom, and obligation, to play around with how they are constructed. But on this track as well, the presence is not maintained throughout the track but rather used as just another element in the sound.
The end result of all of this is an album that might disappoint any REZN conservatives out there (is that even a thing?) If you're looking for Burden 2.0, this is not that and I, for one, am very happy about that. I want REZN, who are one of my favorite doom metal bands in operation, to keep pushing their sound and see what else they have to say. On Cycles in the Infinite Dream, it seems as if they have plenty left in their vocabulary. The album shines with a fresh approach, one that is happy to jump into the current direction that many (if not all) bands in the space are taking.