Minutian
Inwards

Minutian are returning with an inwards journey where the album's narrative tells a story of the protagonist struggling with his visions and seeking ways to mend his shattered thoughts to ultimately find safety – a story told through different perspectives. That sounds fascinating, and this story has probably come up through the tragic and untimely death of guitarist Jaakko Jernberg, it was to handle that they wrote this material that is said to be an emotional thing. The track Redeemer is a track dedicated to Jernberg who wrote that song, I think the album kind of even looks a bit morose even though it is more colourful looking than the acclaimed debut which saw the light of day some years ago - that album was even acclaimed by us, so what about this one?

Well, it is a quite downbeat album, kind of dark or morose, low tempo with a very atmospheric feels to it. Kind of dramatic album I would describe it as, minimalistic progressive rock/metal, not very heavy and not particularly complex but it still requires some time in order to really sink in. The vocals are emotional and great, the production paints a dramatic soundscape and I would describe the album as an excellent production. For you with a bit of knowledge within the genre I would describe it as being somewhere along the lines of a more colourful edition of Fates Warning’s A Pleasant Shade of Grey but it is not overly similar to it in the song department, more in sound.

There isn’t much to complain about when coming to this album; it is really strong and very good. Though there are some minor things that one can have reservations about, one of these is that the songs aren’t that varied through the album and it is more atmosphere than the quality of the songs that holds this album up. But as I stated, these are minor problems and not something I really pay that much attention to when listening to the album but it shows up in the analysis of the album. In the end it is a quite impressive piece of work though and I doubt that Jaakko would twist in his grave over the result that is well worth giving 56 minutes of your time.

If you know the earlier album and wants to compare them I would say that this album is an improvement in every aspect, a small improvement but an improvement nonetheless. It is easy to say that the album is great but picking out the cherries is a bit more difficult but I think that the opening track Hollow Heroics is a very strong song and that can also be said about the third track The Crust of the Earth, I think these are the standout tracks of the album. With all that said I think that we can conclude that it is an album well worth giving some time and attention.

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