Altesia - Paragon Circus (2019)^{Release ID: 28687}

It takes a lot of work for new progressive acts to impress me. It seems like the further we move away from classic albums in this vein (Images And Words, Blackwater Park, Light of Day, Day of Darkness) the lexicon of progressive music, and progressive metal more specifically, has become incredibly stale. You either have bands that know how to write songs, but are unabashed in their worship for those iconic artists, and become incredibly forgettable as a result. Or you have technical wankery that is less concerned with songwriting and craftsmanship, and more so the virtuosity, which... is incredibly forgettable as a result. The later of those two descriptions is especially true today with the incorporation of djent as a prominent progressive metal subgenre. 

I discovered Paragon Circus on a Bandcamp recommendation late in 2019 not expecting much, as is the case with most albums that are released late in the year or early in the next. I was not expecting the level of detail that this French group would put on display; an album that is well in debt to bands like Opeth if they continued to make Blackwater Park compositions with their new progressive rock sound, while doing it in such a way that is not only unique to Altesia, but also incredibly precise. This is an album that began with no expectations, and shot up my favourite albums of 2019 list in record time. This album hit me like Veil of Imagination by Wilderun and that's high praise!

Nowhere is this display of songwriting more apparent than on the second track "Reminiscence". This song has many different musical phrases on display, but they all feel like they belong to the whole. The technical soloing by Idler during the introduction creates the framework for the rest of the tune, the main theme is introduced and is further developed through style changes, vocals, djent riffs and even jazz-y saxophone solos! This song shows a band that has been listening to a lot of Opeth, but has refined the compositions to near perfection!

Many reviewers sight this album as being remarkably redundant towards mid 2000s Opeth. And while the influence of that band is on full display here on Paragon Circus, it is remarkably ignorant to the copious amounts of forward thinking on display. I already mentioned that this album sounds like a mid 2000s Opeth record combined with the sound of Pale Communion, but the compositions are far more complex, and the development of those themes are very impressive. Furthermore, unlike a mid 2000s Opeth record, this album contains an abundance of brighter tones in the leads as well as fundamentals; more major harmonies and soaring melodies are among just some of the traits that make this record stand out among its influences.

The rubato piano intro that opens "Hex Reverse" is beautiful, leading into a gradual buildup throughout the track, as vocals and lead guitar alternate never outshining one another, culminating in a final refrain with both simultaneously at their peak and it sounds awesome! "Amidst the Smoke" is probably the most accessible song here; maintaining its pace throughout, but subtly changing between different themes so effortlessly that you might not even notice! And the way this album ends with "Cassandra's Prophecy"? I'm usually quite pessimistic when it comes to 10+ minute tunes on the best of days, and this album has already defied those expectations...twice! But at almost eighteen minutes, there is no way Altesia can keep the momentum going right? The way Altesia takes such a simple two note motif and mutates it, and the outro solo being the ultimate culmination of the entire project, without feeling over-indulgent, is something that I will hold on to for a very long time.

This albums main weakness for me, like with a lot of progressive albums, is the synthetic instrumental choices. This most notable on the outro to "Reminiscence" and the intro of "Amidst the Smoke". Many of them sound very thin in comparison to the larger string/choral synths that persist throughout this albums larger portions. Beyond that, it is really difficult to critique the production on this album. The guitars have a pin point precision when it comes to having just the right amount of dynamic without interfering with this albums spectacular low end. It is not flashy by any stretch of the imagination, but the bass lines are heavily pronounced, even during the records most emphatic moments. Like with the guitars, the percussion is expertly produced and performed; only giving more when necessary and never overpowering the lead. Meanwhile, Clément Darrieu's vocals rival those of Tommy Rogers of Between The Buried And Me and shows off more vocal range, which does include some altissimo, which may take some time to get used to, but they occur late on the record and are complimented by growled vocals effortlessly.

As I said off the top, progressive music in the modern day has a difficult challenge that many other genres don't. By nature, it is music that is supposed to be forward thinking and is willing to take risks at the expense of accessibility. Modern progressive metal would rather be too technical or just copy Scenes From A Memory/Images and Words into oblivion. Altesia is the band that are willing to challenge that claim. It may be redundant of one progressive metal giant in particular, but it does more than enough of its own to make it standout beyond just another Opeth clone. The songwriting is impeccable, the progressive elements are not self-indulgent, and the concept is truly awesome for a debut. This is one carnival that I am thrilled to go to again.