Have you ever been stalked by some hostile creature while you were frantically finding your way out of a foggy swamp only to realise too late that you were walking in the wrong direction and that it's too late to turn back and escape? Well, I haven't either, but I am confident that it must not feel too dissimilar from what I have experienced while listening to the first track of this record. The opening synths, eerie and glitchy, are a perfect introduction for the hypnotic horns melodies and the obsessive percussions that haunt the first five minutes of the album.
Heavy guitars welcome us when we approach "Foxes and Safe Places", and the aggressive piano melodies suggests that the Places might not be so safe after all. The notes sprint with urgency, and they lead us breathless and sweaty to the third track.
Here we slow down a bit, but the atmoshpere is impregnated with mystery and the air is filled with the vapours from the cauldron of the "Chemical Witch". Is she a friend or a foe? We don't know, but again we are too intrigued to turn back.
The smoke gets denser and thicker, and solidifies into the Tungsten Clouds that the last track is named after. A wall of sound made of roaring guitars and thundering drums follows us in our exploration, with the main melodies that seem to be encouraging us to push through.
An intense trip, a journey through dark landscapes and nameless perils, but you will not regret it. Absolutely recommended.