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In the 14 years since Green Carnation released new material, progressive sensibilities in heavy music have undergone a thrilling renaissance. The Norwegians must be due some effusive recognition, and this is precisely the album they needed to make. Diehard fans will recognise and embrace the sumptuous blend of epic heaviness and refined prog melodies, the flashes of windswept folk and the elegant use of rippling Hammond organs, but it’s not hard to imagine any fans of modern prog succumbing to these songs. The opening title track neatly encapsulates everything that has made Green Carnation so irresistible in the past, while the extravagant sprawl of Hounds and a re-recorded My Dark Recollections Of Life And Death rival even the LightOf Day, Day Of Darkness masterpiece for sheer prog-powered charisma and heft. The succinct, muscular Sentinels and a sublime reading of Black Sabbath’s Solitude complete a triumphant comeback.

Dom Lawson has been writing for Metal Hammer and Prog for over 14 years and is extremely fond of heavy metal, progressive rock, coffee and snooker. He also contributes to The Guardian, Classic Rock, Bravewords and Blabbermouth and has previously written for Kerrang! magazine in the mid-2000s.