It’s been nearly a decade since The Aurora Project released their last studio LP, 2016’s World Of Grey, so the five-track EVOS12 is highly anticipated. It’s worth the wait, too, with an intriguing plot (revolving around a saviour liberating a dystopic Earth) that yields a compelling start to a planned two-part saga. The group’s signature blend of emotive singing and sophisticated cosmic and moody instrumentation is recaptured from the start: opener Slave City establishes the hopelessness of the narrative thanks mainly to vocalist Dennis Binnekade’s operatic desperation. It’s almost as if Van der Graaf Generator’s Peter Hammill is fronting Marillion, RPWL or late1970s Pink Floyd, and that chemistry carries through to the more expansive and dynamic The Traveler and Have Some Tea (both of which ebb and flow expertly around spacey respites and complex, guitar-driven jams). Closer Freedom Of Thought largely follows that same musical trajectory, yet it’s easily the most fluid and epic amalgamation of those qualities. Only the somewhat bland The Movement stands out as a weaker moment, but it’s not enough to stop the record from being a triumphant return.
JMB