Halcyon
Pastures

Release Date: 2011 | Tracklist

The more that I sink my teeth into the core of progressive, the more I realize that the genre can be stale if you don’t know what you’re looking for. What taints the genre’s perception overall is the sky-high pretension that often accompanies soaring ambition. It’s necessary to be able to connect with the musician through the music, despite its quirks. This realization has naturally led to me being much pickier in what I devote my attention to, but there and again there’s an album that’s worth fiendishly promoting. For instance, over the past couple of weeks Halcyon’s first foray has been the center of my attention, and will continue to be throughout the summer. It’s tranquil while jarring, evocative while bearing a mind of its own.

And you don’t even have to believe me on this one, but it’s <i>almost</i> as lush as its artwork. <i>Pastures</i> has got soul, my friends, and it’s unbridled passion that cuts through the blackest of night without a second thought. And the persistence of variety on <i>Pastures</i> isn’t even what floors me, but rather the manner in which it’s executed. Halcyon easily could have taken the archetypal approach to modern progressive metal and expressed every hue of the EP through cookie-cutter djent. What’s most respectable, though, is the pervasive versatility at hand. There lie vast stretches of jazz-colored passages like “Waterfall”, which is just as cascading as its title suggests. Meanwhile, there are more bold shades of heaviness to be found elsewhere on the release, and perhaps the Scale the Summit-esque “Firefly” proves this point the most poignantly. But while the versatility is admirable in its own right and ensures repeated listens, the emphasis on melody is what makes the end product sweetest. When considering the various palettes Halcyon could have worked with, the various colors utilized are even more reputable because of how natural they are. The innovative riffs expected from this sort of release are certainly there, and are even more effective within the context they inhabit. With flying colors, Halcyon have met the precedents decreed by their progressive lineage, and have painted a portrait of what their genre is capable of portraying with the right mentality.

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3.9 excellent

Rank: #0 for 2011