Philosophobia released their eponymous album (2022, see review) three years ago. This German based band, which was founded in 2020, released with The Constant Void a strong successor. Keeping the line up of their debut almost together, might have been the reason that the strong level of musicianship is also present on this brand new album. This time without Kristoffer Gildenlöw (ex-Pain Of Salvation), but with Sebastian Heuckmann on bass. Who has been playing live with the band since 2024. The rest of the band remains unchanged. Greek singer Domenik Papaemmanouil sounds just as good, if not better, than on the debut album. He shines throughout the entire album with his beautiful clean voice. But also his screams are impeccable. The skills of guitarist Andreas Ballnus and keyboardist Tobias Weißgerber are once again top-notch. You regularly hear splitting solos from one of them, or even both simultaneously. The nine tracks include harder and softer parts. This is certainly well done because this way the album has enough variety. Most of all the two beautiful ballads Underneath Grassroots and Will You Remember? make sure not everything is full speed on this album. But the biggest achievement is most of all how they work with mellow and heavy parts on one single composition. This can be heard throughout of most of the tracks. Good examples are songs such as The Forgotten Part I, Inside His Room and The Fall. The instrumental song F 40.8 features a guest keyboard solo by Vikram Shankar, and the epic twenty-minute closer, The Forgotten Part II, features spoken text by Rob Leland. Mentioning The Forgotten Part II means talking about the absolute highlight of the album. This track shows all the way what the band stands for. Mixing heavy and mellow parts the best possible way and giving their fans outstanding solos performed on the guitars and synthesizers. Strong emotional vocal parts next to heavy brutal grunts. It simply doesn't get any better than what you hear on this musical rollercoaster. A prog metal monster of exceptional quality. Dream Theater eat your heart out! On this new album, Philosophobia continues where they left off on their predecessor. I could even say they've taken a step further in perfecting their prog metal sound. This album is just a nerve-wracking journey between progressive metal and emotional, melancholy melodies. Combining the strength of the debut with a more modern and heavier twist. The Constant Void is highly recommended for fans of Pain Of Salvation, Threshold, Dream Theater, Kamelot and Haken. Listening tip: The Forgotten Part II! **** Henri Strik (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
