What does this have to do with the nude man standing at, what I can only assume is, the edge of time you saw in the beginning of this long-winded introduction? Well that happens to be the cover of one of the albums that have arrived in my mailbox in recent weeks, To The Edge Of Time by the Australian band Alithia.
After going back to it repeatedly due to my subconscious fascination I found an album filled with both old and new elements but also a timeless element that would have probably been missing if this was a pluralcore (patent pending) album:
(get ready for the cheese)
...
(it's coming)
...
Emotion.
Considering how many progressive metal bands are embracing the more prog rock infused side of the spectrum I wouldn't be surprised if Alithia has a large fanbase waiting for them in the Contortionist/BTBAM camp over in the US if they play their cards right. That one scream in Sacrifice was effective enough so perhaps Alithia's on their way to meet their metal counterparts in the middle, who knows?
It took it's sweet time to grow on me but once it did I had a hard time finding a reason to remove this benign fungal infestation (this suddenly got a lot less endearing) and I've stuck with it ever since.
I feel like I should probably mention the long list of guest appearances but honestly I have no idea who any of them are (or what the hell a "Gaida" is*) so you can check out the list on Bandcamp and challenge me in some music elitist pissing contest if you're so inclined but all in all it didn't really matter, I enjoyed their contribution.
If you're into post rock, 70's prog and dynamic songwriting I'd strongly recommend listening to at least a few songs (if you haven't already, I did leave you a couple of tracks up there) and even if you aren't this could change your mind, sum of its parts and all that. It's available digitally on Bandcamp and I'm pretty sure there are physical copies somewhere if you look hard enough.
*I now know what I gaida is after a quick Google but I had no idea when I first saw the name.