Class of 89

Herd of Instinct’s fifth album, Incantation, is the band’s most dynamic and radical release yet. The music explores the band’s progressive rock vocabulary mixed with excursions into densely layered post-rock compositions and hybrid orchestral styles. Incantation moves through pieces that fit neatly with the band’s previous work. The band also travels into new areas that take their music into new directions. It’s this “otherness" that makes this collection such a unique and challenging album. The minimal orchestral piece Myth and Ritual is a homage to avant-auteur Scott Walker, written a short time after his death, that references his stark and brutal compositional style. The two-part title track is a trip into avant-prog featuring a superstar list of players who help produce one of HOI’s most adventurous pieces. This is also the first album that features vocals since their self-titled debut release, back in 2011.

Sometimes heavier, and generally more traditionally structured, Lake of Tears' third Black Mark release A Crimson Cosmos, turned out to be the band's breakout recording. In Europe (where the Lake of Tears brand of dour but traditional metal never fell completely out of favor), critics and fans finally began giving some respect to the group and their rapidly improving sound. Songs like "Raistlin and the Rose" and "Cosmic Weed" are some of the most musically satisfying efforts from the band. But strange numbers like the curious and hokey "Lady Rosenred" and other singalongs, like "Devil's Diner," almost go too far. After starting out with a debut marked by its aimlessness, the turnaround of Crimson Cosmos - released just four years later - is profound for sure, but not always comfortable…