Ne Obliviscaris - Citadel (2014)^{Release ID: 2575}

There are so many awesome progressive metal bands I can listen to, but Ne Obliviscaris tops most of them off! And I'm not sure if any of those other progressive metal bands can pull off something as glorious as Portal of I, yet we have another grand masterpiece from Ne Obliviscaris, Citadel.

While this album isn't as epic as Portal of I (but a close second) and it's only two thirds of that album length, this one of those breathtaking albums I would always be in a mood for. The album has 3 long monolithic songs, but the intro and outros are separated as interlude tracks. I think listening to each song as a full suite with the intro and outros connected to their respective suites would give the songs larger quality than quantity. This album is stunning enough to make up for that separation!

With those first few piano notes drawing you in, the first part of "Painters of the Tempest", "Wyrmholes" is an amazing soft overture. Slow haunting piano gets surrounded by symphonic elements for a dark mysterious mood, along with a violin screeching like fingernails scratching a chalkboard. That haunting intro goes on for 3 minutes. Then the chaos is unleashed with part 2 of "Painters of the Tempest", "Triptych Lux". Even though the entire suite is 23 minutes long, this part would still be Ne Obliviscaris' longest song at 16 and a half minutes! This is perhaps my favorite Ne Obliviscaris song even though it's NOT in Portal of I. There are so many brilliant ideas! This part is actually is split into 3 smaller movements. The first movement, "Creator" has a couple transitions between fast storms and soft melodies. Then the second movement "Cynosure" is more acoustic/violin oriented, unlike the overpowering guitars in the other two movements. The avant-garde jazz themes are more apparent with only clean vocals and mid-tempo melodic grooves, until it builds back up to a crescendo of metal and growls. The last movement "Curator" is back to some of the most intense powerful chaos of the album until a nice ethereal ending. The third part, "Reveries from the Stained Glass Womb" is a beautiful outro of colorful chords and excellent melodies.

The second suite is "Pyrrhic", which is only a single-part song. It's not as epic as the other two suites but it still fits the godly skills of Ne Obliviscaris. The drums are beyond incredible with seamless transitions and perfect rhythms in impressive passages. The rhythm riffing and harsh vocals give the song a violent atmosphere, while the lead melodies and violin give the atmosphere a sense of despair. After all that epic chaos, there's a quiet section with just soft marching drums and a bit of guitar. Then it carries on through an excellent transition to an emotional ending of beautiful screaming violins atop growling/screaming vocals.

Finally, we have one more suite, "Devour Me, Colossus", the first part "Blackholes" starting off with a brutal riff and sinister growls give the song an evil atmosphere. Then you get an unexpected hit by one of the most brilliant drum grooves ever alongside emotional clean vocals and crazy riff-wrath. The bass draws you in further. Then all of the members unleash their instrument power at once with overwhelming section at once before transitioning to another quiet acoustic/violin section. The amazing violin solo soon gives in to more great clean vocals and some nice bass work... Then BOOM!! The brilliant chaos explodes in before quieting down again for that groovy bass riff. Soon the instrument layers of riffing and drumming build up with a godly guitar solo. And finally all of the intense instrument power is unleashed together with the (male) beauty and the beast vocals before ending in joy and sorrow. The second part, "Contortions" is an outro with the same format as the album intro, thereby closing the cycle.

Citadel has an absolutely brilliant and satisfying mix of epic and extreme. The suites are all bombastic with emotional purpose. Ne Obliviscaris has made albums that are some of the best progressive metal experiences ever and I would totally recommend this to any extreme/progressive metalhead. Forget not!

Favorites: All, but my #1 favorite is the full suite "Painters of the Tempest".