A NEW WORLD IF YOU CAN TAKE IT: FIRMAMENT ALBUM REVIEW
- Kirsty Shepherd
- Sep 16
- 5 min read
do you like progressive metal and psychedelics, then this is the band for you. Disclaimer, I do not endorse the use of illicit substances. Metalcore/Progressive Post-hardcore firmament formed in Ohio, usa in 2012, and after a hiatus in which "Their adventures led them to various spiritual enclaves, including a drum circle promising astral journeys with ancestors, an invocation of Horus with a secret society in New Orleans,
and a Native American Medicine Man who gifted them a catlinite pipe. More recently, they stayed with an apocalyptic sect of Hare Krishnas in West Virginia." they are back with their full length albums 'a new world if you can take it'.
With a massive seventeen tracks I won't be able to deep dive into each song individually, but we will break it down as a whole. Let's start with the first three tracks, "liquid lush", "angels in vermilion" and "conduit". You begin with groovy bass lines, changing time signatures, a mixture of clean and fry singing and crisp drumming, before moving into a space with guitars that sound like water droplets and more "hippie" for lack of a
better word, vibes. Finally the tonne shifts again for an ethereal beginning that moves into an upbeat tempo. "go single file into the water I sink". All three song flow within the album without a harsh jump from one to the next.
"lunar eclipse" brings you to the first interlude of the album. it is a beautiful piece of music that introduces you to the first elements of something "alien".
"deadringer" is where you feel your first hint of frustratings being thrown out into the ether.
beginning with heavier guitars and then shifting immediately to something that puts a full vocal range on display. This track will have you slingshot from calm to rage in moments and uncertain of where you will be taken next. "We are not the same, he light is burnt out forever, hurt so bad when you stuck that knife right in my back." It is my favourite track off of the whole album and it leaves you feeling like you have listened to the most beautiful combination of placebo, sleep token, killing heidi and of mice & men. "I wish I would have set boundaries long ago."
next we will tackle "decomposure", "high as in
low" and "a new world if you can take it: autocult". decomposure overall has a more Pop-hook feel to it musically, while the lyrics are heavier. With moments of heavier screaming it ties in well coming off of deadringer. there were several points throughout this song that the vocals felt disjointed, but upon giving the song a re-listen, I understood it was to follow the melody of the song and saw the brilliance in it. "blacked out on the hotel room floor, you're not who I thought you were." high as in low carries on the same instrumentally lighter tonne before turning over to something more animalistic and the flow is so seamless it doesn't feel out of place. Musically there are several points
throughout this track that I just sat back and thought "wow". a new world if you can take it: autocult, has the most interesting mix of feeling alienesk, floating in water and vibing in a beanbag at the same time. I know that is a silly description but I genuinely don't know how else to think about it. I think this is the only song from the album that the screaming pulled me away from the overall vibe, but I'm definitely not mad about it as it is executed well.
"meltwater pulse" interlude flows straight into "after me, the flood", which does an excellent job of pulling you back to the feeling of the start of the album. It overall
has the most "rock" feel off of the album in my opinion and serves as a great palate cleanser.
"a prohibition on dreaming" throws you straight back into a more intensive experience. The mix of clean singing and the variety of screams hit extra hard as you flow between the scaling guitars and drum brushes. "feels like i'm falling asleep again." "Beneddictional" drops on you with a feature by "present" guitarist/singer Jordan beaston. Jordan's soft rock voice flows beautifully with the light rock overall feel of the song, bringing that added oomph that it
didn't need but isn't unwelcome.
"eclipse" is the next interlude, and if you are a fan of shpongle, this is definitely a track for you to sink into for two minutes. You are then thrown sideways into "cherub". It feels very similar in tone to a prohibition on dreaming and helps filter that initial experience of the start of the album onward. it looses me for a moment with some fancier guitar work which is personally not my style but I am right back in there again. this is purely a personal preference as I am not an overly large fan of guitar solos etc. if you are into that kind of thing, you will love it.
"antimony" is a one minute twenty-eight second
interlude of a one sided conversation, that turns more menacing as time passes.
"Remember that dream I told you about? The one I keep having: There's this man. He's got so much money, even his skin is gold I keep looking at him And then looking at you But you never speak. But your eyes are like antimony, then red And you go to speak and vomit up all of your skin And where you were, there's this tiny person And I go to pick you up, and you're both gone."
"a silence made for two" is the final song on the album followed by the interlude "AζΩፀ". the song feels like the final moment to bring all of their skills to the forefront with changing time signatures in abundance, guitar scaling madness, shifting drum styles, full vocal range on display with the subtle otherworldly notion. "how long til the sun claims its debt, feel my patience waning, how long til the blood stains make us red, we're
locked out of Eden." AζΩፀ is where it became most notable to me that I am not normally a prog music listener. it is a six minute and thirty-three second interlude that honestly had me confused for a majority of the time, with sounds of a rocking chair and animals for over two minutes, before slowly slipping in guitar and then with a spaceship landing and fragmented radio until it finally turns into a soft rock ballad “We must have taken a wrong turn somewhere, could we be caught up in a dream, where we narrowly, down stream, into a new world, for you”.
final thoughts: all in all firmament demonstrates a high level of musical skill, with interesting twists and turns throughout their songs that keep you on your toes in the best way. While I don't go out of my way to listen to progressive metal usually, there are definitely a few songs off of this album that will find their way into my regular rotation. "lunar eclipse" is a genuinely beautiful piece of music and I feel like I could listen to it for hours on repeat without ever getting sick of it.
For fans of: tool, of mice & men, sleep token, shpongle and placebo
8/10
