Considering Aaron Marshall a composer isn’t just leveraging a technical term appropriately, it’s also doing justice to one of the most productive brains in the djent/prog community. Aside from Tosin Abasi who leads the brilliant Animals As Leaders, Marshall practically chartered this unique lane that sprouted opportunities for the likes of Chon, Polyphia and the latter to step ahead into the spotlight without vocalists (sans one album) and lead the way into new terrain.
The songwriting is captivating, and at times a bit eclectic and animated, as the guitar sorcery takes the center stage. What’s unfortunate is that the band behind Marshall’s guitar sounds systematically generated, and while modern production has certainly allowed for artists to showcase what they’re truly capable of and catering to every performance nuance, sometimes it’s just nice hearing an actual band, instead of the latest update to the Drumkit From Hell plug in. This tends to claw at the experience of the record, and although many might want to hear what Marshall has up his sleeve as each trick comes and goes, it may be necessary to chew this up in several sits. One time is either just too many variables to take on at once and doesn’t do the release any justice, or that it’s just too digitally manipulated to stay captivating.
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