The Aphelion – Nascence
The Aphelion – Nascence
Self-Released
Release Date: 09/08/2024
Running Time: 47:28
Review by Beth Morait
9.5/10
Well, it seems to be Prog Rock season here at EMHQ, and that’s something that pleases me a lot! The amount of really great Prog that’s dropping in our inbox is lush, and it’s only a couple of months until the next Devin release, which I’m already salivating about. And Canada seems to have more than its fair share of Prog, one of those being the subject of today’s review.
The Aphelion’s new album, “Nascence” is the first part of a two-part release, telling the story of a man’s descent into madness. The album opens with a grand opening instrumental track, which is a clever meld of the main musical motifs from the other tracks on the album. Moving into the title track, the band begin to introduce the story and themes. It opens calm and orchestral, with Piano and voice being the dominant force. It soon descends into harsh Proggy craziness, indicating the beginning of protagonist’s fall into the mental pit of despair. This is a theme that so many of us can relate to, sadly. And the band have done a very good job of creating a representation in music of that feeling. It’s pacey and rhythmically dangers.
Another theme that a lot can relate to is how relationships suffer, and are caught up in the fall-out when someone is battling mental illness. This is illustrated in the second track ‘The Seed Of Doubt’ where the protagonist meets the love of his life, and feels happy for a while, but then is attacked by paranoia about his love, and how he will end up hurt. This further fuels his madness, and the descent into the pit. ‘Fragility’ see’s the protagonist hurling accusations at his wife. This song is masterfully handled musically, with soaring vocals and string melodies, all tackled in a minor key, that oozes melancholic hopelessness. It’s a crazy juxtapose of beauty within the instrumentation, and utter painful madness lyrically. Heavy riffs, growls, thunderous drums, and cyclical riffs in crazy time signatures create the soundtrack of sheer madness and terror by the end of the track, along with multi-layered vocals, like voices in the head of the protagonist. A very clever track indeed.
And this is really how the album carries on. The protagonist’s fears and paranoias take over his life. This album is filled with sheer brilliance musically, and lyrically. It’s pacey with the full smorgasbord of polyrhythms, and Progressive hooks that any discerning prog fan would want, all handled in a way that displays the full musical talents of this band. But it’s also a very real and hard-hitting piece of storytelling. The mixture of vocal styles used also helps paint the picture of madness that the band are aiming to convey. Mix wise, the band also have everything spot on, with different sounds, instrumental, and vocals taking front and centre, depending on where we are in the story. While harrowing, this is probably one of the best and most relatable albums I’m going to listen to this year. And in true theatrical style, when there’s a second part in the offing, the album leaves you with a tense and thrilling cliffhanger; The protagonist running off into the forest, still fully in the grasps of madness, with many questions about his past, and a psychopathic thirst for understanding. I’m already looking forward to part 2, in a weird, depressing way!
TRACKLISTING:
01. Prenascent
02. Nascence
03. The Seed of Doubt
04. Fragility
05. The Heavy Mist
06. Flight
07. The Interloper
08. Deserter
LINE-UP:
James Cabral – Keyboard, Guitar
Tyler Davis – Guitar, Vocals
Evan Haydon-Selkirk – Lead Vocals, Bass
Nathanael Livingstone – Drums, Percussion
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Beth Morait and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.
