Persefone - Spiritual Migration (2013)

Much like Ne Obliviscaris' debut album blew people out of the water last year with its insane technicality, epic songwriting and sheer uniqueness, so too I think will this album send ripples through the metal community. Combining the melodic sensibilities of Opeth with the raw technical power of bands such as Between the Buried and Me and Spawn of Possession, this is technical metal par excellence. There is not a single wasted moment or bad riff on the whole album. The band are clearly bursting with creativity, but they manage to direct it in purposeful direction so that you feel blown away but not overwhelmed. There's always some sort of beautiful, melodic moment in each song that bursts through the technical wizardry and ties the track together. It's incredibly rare to find a band that writes such well-constructed songs, but when they come along it's an incredible breath of fresh air with so many generic metal bands out there. Please do yourself a favor if you're a prog fan and listen to this album. It might just be the prog metal album of the year (barring the new Dream Theater and Ne Obliviscaris releases).
10/10