Empath

What better way to follow up a review of a super big pop record then to talk about a niche ass experimental prog-metal record? Christ, no wonder i'm single...

This album is super goddamn creative, and kinda batshit. It's calming, furious, atmospheric, gentle, harsh, aggressive, catchy, and...by god this album is nearly all of the tricks in the book! It's a strange album to talk about, because there is so much to talk about, from the mixing of different theatrical genres (electronic, death metal, tropical music, gospel, Disney scores, and much much more) to the dense wall of sound production that absolutely takes over your senses, it's a collage of intense emotional fragments, strung together in a series of astounding sounding moments in time. It's a very zen album, with the calm exterior being penetrated by a harsh, funky, destructive interior of clashing sounds that sweeps you off your feet and takes you to a new dimension. It's a huge, grand and high budget record that just scream that has nearly every sound know to man inside it. And it's immensely gratifying to listen to. This is definitely a headphone album for sure.

But, despite all of it's clashing, it always remains intensely positive. It's an album that screams at the top of its lungs: EVERYTHING WILL BE OK! And in the times we live in, hell, it's just nice to hear that once and a while without it being soaked in 50 tons of irony. But that being said...yeah the album is pretty goofy. While this is a great achievement for Devin, I can see why people who don't know of his dense and diverse discography would be scratching their head at this at first glance. Cat samples, odd jazz moments and the nature of the switch up of the time signatures, genres and styles don't really make for an easy listen. And it's not particularly an album to put in the background, it demands your entire attention with the dense and thick production style. And...yeah even I have to admit some of the lyrics here are slightly cheese filled. But what it gets right it gets so goddamn right it's almost criminal. It's captivating and earnestly interesting the entire hour long run time, and it's clear that so much time and effort was put in here to make this album has perfect as it could be. It's the most technically astounding record i've heard all year, and it truly deserves the title of being 'fucking epic'. If you have the time, immerse yourself into the isolated tropical world of a goddamn mad man.

Favorite Jams: Genesis, Singularity, Why?

Lest Favorite: Castaway

EDIT: This thing grew on me hard. This is shaping up to be my album of the year fellas.