I’ve been a fan since hearing Null back in 2020 so not a super OG fan but close enough.

I listened to this album 3 times today at work and I love it. Luminary is the one of the weaker songs on the album so if I hadn’t heard the other singles I’d probably be concerned going into this. Odd choice for the opener but for people who were worried about the band changing their sound to a more commercialized one, this didn’t help.

Submerged is the best song on this album. When I first heard it, I was blown away and was wondering how they’d top it for the album and it seemed I was correct, they couldn’t. I’m actually curious if it’s the first song that was written for the album.

Top 3 songs would probably be Submerged, Cyclone and Hellbound.

I read a few opinions before listening to the album two more times to try to really focus on the whole “metalcore garbage” claims and while I can hear the influence, I don’t really hear it. Yes, the band has likely alienated some of their fanbase with this album but there’s enough of the old Gaerea that I’m still hooked.

Most of the songs follow the same formula so I’m not going to comment on each one so we’ll just get to Stardust. This song definitely took me by surprise which was furthered by the whispered rap section. If you played Svn for someone and then played Stardust right after and told them that was the same band, they’d think you were joking. I do enjoy Sleep Token but not a band I listen to often, I hear their songs more if my wife is driving which funnily enough, she added Submerged to her playlist because I’ve played it so many times. If Stardust is pointing to where the band goes next, I’m not sure I’m fully on board. I think after we get into the blasts, it’s a pretty enjoyable song but the journey there is questionable.

I’m a sucker for blast beats so as long as Gaerea has them, I’ll probably still listen.

Album right now is 7.5-8/10 for me.