A pretty legit example of a death metal album actually pushing the compositional envelope, this latest outing is so different from what Rivers Of Nihil are known for that it was a bit of shock for me earlier this year listening for the first time. Trumpet and sax? Clean vocals here and there? Actual melodies? It's like I needed to be pinched to be sure it was the same group who recorded The Conscious Seed Of Light.

While I have this at number twenty four, it's honestly top ten material for me. There's the usual onslaught you'd expect, but there's a dazzling amount of musical diversity here that keeps pulling you back in every time you think you've heard it all before. You get these jazzy yet heavy basslines on 'Subtle Change' and the magnificent title track that seem so alien to death metal but work here to surprising effect, plus a few sax solos here and there that would do Bath-era maudlin of the Well proud.

Lastly, the concept is great. The main character is an ageless being who is forced to watch the world die around him in a Elvish LOTR-esque fashion (though the concept reminds me of that one future Hulk timeline a bit). There's some other neat themes running through the story, but it's just icing on the cake to an awesome experience if you like your heaviness mixed in with a multitude of ideas.