The self-titled debut album of Finland’s Crimson Dimension consists of four tracks, but it’s more than an hour long, with each of those songs ranging in length from 12 minutes to more than 18. Two of those epic-length excursions have already been revealed (the first one as far back as 2017), and today we present a third one — the longest and perhaps most astounding of them all — “Age of Awakening“.
The length of these songs should not be a deterrent, because notwithstanding their duration they are all tremendously captivating. They represent a union of wildly adventurous song-writing ideas and jaw-dropping instrumental skill, and trust us when we say that it’s very easy to lose track of time as you get caught up in them.
If there is a genre label to be applied to music of such high-flying and wide-ranging ambition, “blackened progressive metal” seems to be the one preferred by the band. And that makes some sense, because although the music does incorporate sinister and ravaging elements of black metal, it is absolutely the kind of record that should prove powerfully appealing to ardent devotees of progressive metal.
At nearly 18 1/2 minutes in length, “Age of Awakening” is a sprawling and completely enthralling soundscape that leads listeners through a great range of increasingly fascinating experiences — from exotic, swaying, Eastern-influenced melodies that grow increasingly dervish-like in their energy, backed by increasingly electrifying drumwork, magma-like bass lines, and scalding vocal intensity, to bursts of jabbing riffage and neck-snapping snare patterns, and surges of galloping rhythms and incendiary, swirling guitars.
The music has its more dismal and dread-inspiring moments, but also includes sublime, ringing arpeggios whose glistening tones are spellbinding, which leads into the pairing of an extended saxophone solo and an even more extensive and scintillating guitar performance accompanied by shimmering and panoramic ambient tones.
Those two solos are truly wondrous episodes in the song, but there are still magnificent crescendos lying in wait beyond them, in which the music soars with enormous vitality and becomes exultant in its frenzies as that gripping guitar motif continues to flicker and dart, as well as another splendid saxophone solo that’s soulful and seductive as it sings on the surface of a sonic astral sea, eventually joined by gripping drum-and-bass rhythms and followed by yet another stunning extended guitar solo.
The entire excursion is an extravagant flight of the imagination, one that’s breathtaking, eye-popping, head-spinning, and yet viscerally powerful as well.
Crimson Dimension‘s self-titled album will be released by Spread Evil on June 4th. In addition to our premiere of “Age of Awakening”, we’re also including streams of those two previously released songs, “Crimson Dimension” and “Black Mass” Make time for all of them — you won’t regret it.
PRE-ORDER:
https://spreadevil.bandcamp.com/album/crimson-dimension
SPREAD EVIL:
http://www.spreadevil.net/
https://www.facebook.com/spreadevilproductions
CRIMSON DIMENSION:
https://www.facebook.com/crimsondimensionofficial
https://crimsondimension.bandcamp.com/