Earthside - Let the Truth Speak (2023)^{Release ID: 48760}

I don't know what it is about Earthside, but I have not been able to fully get into them despite many attempts at the 2015 album A Dream In Static. They are certainly well versed in their craft and know damn well how to make long songs that sound epic and all sorts of similar descriptors. But on Let the Truth Speak, Earthside are just going full balls to the wall with their pretentious progressive tendencies. It's impossible to call Let the Truth Speak a bad album, but something about it just does not sit well with me. Perhaps its the songwriting, which sits somewhere between technical progressive metal and atmospheric post-metal. Maybe it's the compositions, which are too self-indulgent for their own sake, and far too frequently.

Even still, the complexity of the forms and the way in which the album modulates between styles is impressive. It calls upon a very diverse cast of feature artists to play large roles. Most notably, Larry Braggs on "The Lesser Evil", which can be best described as a progressive jazz/funk rock opus with a heavy incorporation of strings and horn instruments. It may be the most unique song you hear all year, and I respect the hell out of that. But the album is way too long and does not do nearly enough to warrant it, and so much of this records "payoffs" feel less like a euphoric release and rather a "thank god they finally did something!" There is genuine quality here, no doubt about it. However, I won't deny that I was sonically exhausted when Let the Truth Speak was over. 

Best Songs: We Who Lament, The Lesser Evil, Let The Truth Speak