On occasion, we get an album that seems to almost spit in the very face of genre boundaries for how explorative the sound is right from the beginning and how unashamed the band in question is to explore the possibilities that can be found across the near-endless spectrum that is metal music. It’s far from common for us to see a new come along to not only dare to attempt such an ambitious thing, but to go all the way and deliver a work that cannot be defied in any form is to create a true rarity that we’re lucky to see at all in any form. From a single man putting forth his debut album, it’s with Contemplation that I feel fortunate enough to hear the material that I have for you tonight.

The cover art for any album speaks a thousand words and is always more than enough to get someone guessing what kind of performance is held within with Contemplation’s very much giving me progressive vibes, but much like the music itself it was hard to get a pin on it that really fit. In no less than exemplary fashion, it’s across these eight tracks that Contemplation not only defies expectations but blows them right out of the water for there isn’t a single facet of this creation that I would’ve dared to fathom before listening to even just the first track. No two tracks in this entire work are exactly the same as we see the act take cues from all over the expanse from metal as we’re treated to a gorgeous tapestry of doom, death, symphonic, atmospheric, and even pagan metal to provide an immensely dense work that is just as explorative as it is compelling with damn near every moment not just having something to call its own but something to fall in love with. It all quickly piles up to make the very whole of this creation an absolutely beautiful one that’s nigh on compelling almost without a single fumble in any category as Contemplation not only continues to astound as the work powers along one minute after the next, it constantly and consistently grips the imagination with just as much as awe as exquisite power with each listen offering more glory than the last.

Truly, this is a complex creation like incredibly few others the likes of which we should consider ourselves extremely fortunate to see at all and to see it as Contemplation’s only body of work at the moment makes me no less than exhilarated to see what it can craft next even if it’s half as good as this mastery. I cannot recommend diving into the colorful, dusk-wreathed world of Contemplation for anyone who’s not at all afraid to explore all that metal can be for I can promise you that you will find one majesty within.

LISTEN to “Contemplation” on Bandcamp here.