The Singularity: Ekleipsis is one of the most ambitious releases of 2026, from one of the most bustling men in the industry. Bear McCreary is an American soundtrack composer with six Emmy and four Grammy award nominations, plus a slew of musical and television-related merits. Over his 150+ releases, he's orchestrated soundtracks to beloved media series, including Battlestar Galactica, Metalocalypse, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., God of War and many more. Aside from this work, he has also been working on a metal concept series: The Singularity. The first piece of this giant Ravensburger puzzle was released in 2024, and its successor, Ekleipsis has now arrived.
There's really something for everyone in this record. Ya like Gojira? Coheed and Cambria? Meshuggah? Guns N' Roses? The fukin' Police? (Aside from GnR) I do, too! Which is great, because members of all these bands pitch in to assist McCreary in creating as big an album as his unparochial brain desires. The most prominent member is Bear's vocalist brother, Brendan, who appears eight times across the record's fifteen tracks. He's adequate on his own, when not rapping about politics, on "Kill Us Anyway". Powerhouses like Alissa White-Gluz (Dragonforce, ex-Arch Enemy), Stewart Copeland (The Police, Curved Air), Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump and even McCreary's wife Raya Yarbrough, are miles better by comparison, however. Moreover, others like Slash, Steve Vai, Polyphia's Tim Henson, and The Red Hot Chili Peppers' Chad Smith, however, further dwarf Brendan with their glorious guitar additions. Even then though, a standard mid-tone is utilized amongst most patrons, which doesn't exemplify the amount of creativity we could see from the cast, with probably the best moment entirely coming from the only bout of gutturals on the record, courtesy of Meshuggah's Jens Kidman.
You'd presume a collaboration between all these artists in a project like Ekleipsis would be outstanding, but the record is particularly disappointing. McCreary's symphonic, cinematic feel is apparent throughout the runtime, but a flat production, weak lyricism and uninteresting songs in isolation make it hard to enjoy—especially since it's over an hour long and not immediately reminiscent of a fluid concept piece. I was expecting Bear to concoct some extravagant sonic scenery. But, in essence, Ekleipsis is a compilation of middle-of-the-road alternative metal with a crew of artists better suited to other musical coalitions. Remember USA for Africa? This is like the metal-ish version of it, without the charity.
Elsewhere, the thin mixing makes way for a struggle for any movie-like attributes to truly take hold of the release, and for me to appreciate it. It's not like the influences of the performers don't show: Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares darken the atmosphere on "Black Box", and when Tim Henson of Polyphia debuts on "Blueshift" the song gradually builds in gentle technicality. On "Cool Kids," the cringe-but-mainstay attitudes of Slash and Chad Smith also manipulate the track's attitude greatly, but eight-minute proggy epic "One Fine Day" doesn't benefit from Slash's soloing, which is really saying something. These virtuosos make themselves heard, but never collectively impress.