Wars of Spirit // Wards of Light

Some bands have unusual inspirations for their multi-album arcs: Morbid Angel went alphabetically, Mastodon’s first few albums were based on the elements, Baroness’s on colors. Dreadnought draws their themes from the temples in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. As silly as it may seem, their music actually makes sense in terms of Zelda games. It’s ambitious and complex, balancing between light and dark, offering an epic journey through worlds we can only imagine. Wars of Spirit // Wards of Light steps slightly away from the more mystical/fantastical elements of their previous releases and takes a hard look at technology and how it affects humanity. Certainly a timely subject. Accordingly, ethereal synthesizers and production effects play a larger role this time around. It’s a journey through space sonically and emotionally, harnessing the more expansive sound to create a vast atmosphere that allows them to weave together elements of prog, doom, black metal, and ambient into a gravity-defying epic. The structure of the album itself is impressive as well – each subsequent song builds on the last, culminating with a shattering climax in “The Twilight Protectorate.” Out of this world.