Lux Terminus consists of Vikram Shankar (Pain of Salvation, Redemption, Silent Skies) on keys, Matthew Kerschner on drums, and Brian Craft on bass. The album is mostly instrumental but has vocals scattered throughout with guests like Ross Jennings from Haken and Espera from Sleep Token. Like Vikram’s band Silent Skies, which features Tom Englund (Evergrey, Redemption) on vocals, the music on the album is very emotive and cerebral.
Cinder consists of 10 songs that are extremely textured with beautiful landscapes of lush and seductive passages, while at the same time being fairly complex in nature. Musically, it reminds of The Alan Parsons Project with keys being the main instrument. Cinder drags you in and keeps you there completely mesmerized. Keep in mind that music this deep takes a little time to fully sink in because of so many layers that need to be digested.
Vikram’s keyboard performance on this might be the best I have ever heard in my 50 years of listening to progressive music. His sense of melody is unmatched, and while he can play complex shred, he also makes the instrument sing. The part that blows me away is the fact that there is no guitarist on the album, which furthermore impresses me with such a potent rhythm section of Matt and Brian. The songs are uplifting yet dark at times, but overall beautiful and meaningful.
To my ears, Cinder is not 10 separate songs, rather a 50+ minute journey into Progressive New Age Fusion wrapped into one incredible sonic experience. There is nothing forced or pretentious on the album as they steer far away from any pop culture trappings. The music pierces your mind and stimulates your senses, and modestly blows you away with top-notch performances in such an avant-garde way.
Songs like “Neon Rain” are massive and atmospheric while still being striking and catchy enough to make you want to listen again and again. “P.L.O.N.K.” and “Catalyst” have some bluesy undertones and gorgeous ambience with some impressive sax playing and stellar vocals.
The bottom line is Cinder is one of the most impressive albums I have heard in a while, but already being a fan of Vikram, I am not shocked that he would outdo himself on this. If you are a fan of Prog, New Age, Fusion, Pop, and even AOR, I am sure you will find something to love about Cinder.
Rating: 10/10.
“Cinder” Track-listing:
- Jupiter I: Starless
- Jupiter II: To Bend a Comet
- Jupiter III: Perihelion
- Mosaic Mind
- Neon Rain
- P.L.O.N.K.
- Catalyst
- The Devil’s Eyes
- Apparent Horizon
- Natsukashii
Lux Terminus are:
Vikram Shankar – Keyboardist
Brian Craft – Bassist
Matthew Kerschner – Drummer
Lux Terminus online:
