I can’t even describe how excited I was to hear the new Imonolith full length. I am a big fan of their debut, owning a signed copy, which was from a pre-order. However, considering this album has 10 songs, including 3 demos of previous songs, a cover, and a re-recording of another, to call this an all-new full length is… a bit of a stretch. Don’t play with my emotions, boys.

So, let’s try not to be disappointed and take this on its own merit. The first track, “Angevil,” showcases the immense vocal talents of Jon Ryan (Threat Signal and Arkaea), taking nothing away from the pedigree of the rest of the band. If you like your metal without clean vocals and syrupy choruses, look elsewhere, though.

A little further on, track 4, “The Reign,” features Jens Kidman of Meshuggah. It’s also featured on State of Being, their first full length (sans Kidman) and to my ears is indistinguishable from the version, making it wholly unnecessary.

Immediately after it is the title track, and one could say the most adventurous, “Progressions.” This track has clean guitars, electronic beats, and the clean vocals to match. With that being said, aggression never kicks in and there’s a solo section, which could have been ripped straight from an 80s hair metal ballad.

The very next track, “We’re in this Together,” track 6, is a Nine Inch Nails cover. When I first heard it, I thought “This sounds like nu metal,” then I recognized the song. In this one, Jon shows his vocal similarities to Chester Bennington of Linkin Park and if that’s not up your alley, skip it. Otherwise, it’s actually a pretty solid cover which brings some heavy riffing and the band puts their own spin on it, which is what a good cover is supposed to do.

The last track (if you don’t include the demos, which I sure fucking don’t) is called “Words in Silence.” So, like whispers…? Either way, this final track is all clean vocals and piano. Even if it doesn’t all entirely hit, it’s excellent to see Imonolith branching out and trying new things.

Overall, I can’t help but be slightly disappointed with this. However, that’s mainly because of the fact that I was geared up for a full length and received an EP. Don’t give me a 60 percenter then leave… Taking this EP on its own merits and disregarding the demos at the end, I must say I enjoy it for what it is. As far as I can tell, it’s digital only, so I think I’m out on buying it, but this is a nice stop gap before the next full length, which I hope is on the way sooner, rather than later.

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