| Track by Track Review
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Disc 1
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Dawning of the Miracle
A whispered voice says, "it's a miracle." Then the sound of an explosion is heard. Ambient sounds emerge before it explodes out into a rocking prog arrangement for the song proper. This is a short, but cool song. |
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Children of the Void
The modes that bring this in have almost subdued fusion vibe. The track takes on some spacey elements as the vocals join. This builds out into some cool powered up prog for a time, but then it drops back to just keyboards for an interlude. The piece grows back upward and continues to evolve. This has a lot of varying modes packed into it. It also includes some cool guitar soloing. It's hard to believe that so much is packed into a little less than six-and-a-half minutes. |
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My Name Is Forever
I love the rubbery bass work as this gets underway. This track has some cool trippy sound and a lot of style as it builds in a rather understated way. This really covers a lot of territory. There is a pretty crazed extended instrumental break on this. It drops through afterward to a mellower, keyboard based movement. It builds back out after a time for some powerhouse hard rocking stuff. This really gets intense and powerful. |
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Some Delectable Species
There is a real fusion-like sound as this thing gets underway. The track works through a number of changes, getting into some intriguing territory that fits well with the rest of the stuff we've heard here. |
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Transcending
At almost 14-and-a-half minutes of music, this is definitely epic. It has some of the most amazing prog jamming of the whole set on the extended opening movement. Everyone gets a chance to shine but the bass and guitar in particular stand out for me. It works out to more of the kind of modern prog sound we expect here. It gets pretty driving at times, but also drops back to mellower territory later. The jam just beyond the halfway mark with a focus on keyboards and killer bass work is especially strong. There is a cool, slow moving guitar based section later that really lends a different vibe. |
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Extinction Event
This comes in driving and hard-edged, but also intermittent. It drops from that intro to a particularly mellow keyboard and vocal section that is sparse. Hard-edged, metallic guitar rises up as a punctuation at the end of that vocal movement, but then drops away as we return to the mellower section for the next vocals. The mellower mode and the rocking one are the concepts that drive the rest of the song. I really love the metallic, high energy section that makes up much of the second half of this track. It still manages to be proggy, too. |
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Someone
Mellower and moody, this has a lot of emotion in the mix. This track is a much more constant than much of the rest here. It feels almost like a respite in that way. |
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Disc 2
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Daylight
Children at play get us going here. The track works out from there with style and charm. It's on the slower, mellower side of the equation as it does, but it evolves gradually outward from there. This works through a number of changes. It doesn't get as rocking as some of the rest do, but it does elevate a bit from it's more sedate movements. Still, this one of the less dynamic and rocking tunes here. |
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Symptom of the Miracle
Another that lands more on the constant and mellower end of the spectrum, this has some great dreamy textures. Jon Davison is the guest vocalist on this track, and he's instantly recognizable. This track does turn more driving and hard rocking for a while later. It eventually gets out into another high energy prog jam beyond that, too. It does great pretty exploratory later, too. |
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Evolutions
The piano on this as it gets going is beautiful. The cut builds out with so much mellow style and charm, bringing both moody prog and some jazz to the table. This remains more sedate and consistent. It does have some variety to it, though. |
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Anthropocene
Now, this is very interesting. It has a cool energy, plenty of prog twists and turns and a lot of intriguing sounds. There is some powerful jamming on this, and the whole track really does features plenty of contrast. It's one of my favorites on the album. |
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If the World Is Running Down
This has much more of a mainstream melodic prog vibe to it. It has plenty of balladic elements, but gets a little more intense than that implies. I suppose it's more of a prog power ballad. I love some of the keyboard melodies on this so much, and the whole tune had some hints of The Beatles on some of the hooks. |
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Miracles in the Nothingness
At nearly 20-minutes long, the title track is the true epic here. This comes in with some killer prog jamming. The bass work really stands out as it builds and grows. As you might guess of a piece that runs this long, it has a lot of different things. Parts of it lands on the moodier end of the spectrum. Yet it also rocks out at times. This seems to pull together a lot of the musical styles from throughout the album. It's perhaps a good encapsulated version of what this whole work feels like. Then again, since it's the title track, that makes perfect sense. |
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The Ineffable Bliss of Being
This is another potent prog rock piece. It covers a lot of range and modes. The closing flourish makes for a satisfying end, not only to the song, but the album, as well. |
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