Well it took long enough! Darkwater finally has returned with their third album after nine year hiatus. The Scandinavian prog metallers bring forth a modern, 76 minute storm of introspective, philosophical tunes that’s filled with plenty of grooves and melodies to keep listeners entertained.  

Reminded heavily of the Seventh Wonder’s phenomenal Tiara album from 2018, singer Henrik Båth is reminiscent of Tommy Karevik, possessing great strength and emotion in his voice displaying the moods brought forth through the music. Love the piano passages that pick up the rhythm of the music like in the opener “A New Beginning” and “In Front Of You” while guitarist Markus Sigfridsson plays off it perfectly with melodious guitar parts and fresh solos. “Alive (Part II)” segues from the short intro “Alive (Part I)” (I don’t know why these couldn’t just be fused together for one song) and is by far the catchiest tune on this juggernaut and a masterpiece of a track. I’m sure after being gone so long these boys had a ton of music to get out of their system, but a trimming here or there would have done wonders as I found myself zoning out towards the latter stages of the album, especially with the back-to-back nine plus minute opus’ “Turning Pages” and “Light Of Dawn”. Overall, glad to have these guys back in the foray and any prog fan should definitely give this a listen.