Review by Adam M on February 5, 2019.

Soen continues there strong streak of albums with Lotus. They are now a much more mature band and it shows on these nicely developped songs.  There are nods to Tool for sure and Opeth as well.  This is because the dynamics of the songs resemble those bands.  The sort of mechanical nature of Tool is represented, but so is the progressive nature of Opeth.  The singer also resembles both Maynard James Keenan and Mikael Akerfeldt at times and this makes the album even stronger.

There is certainly a need to make the songs modern sounding and pristine and this comes across with the clear production the band presents.  Even from the first few songs, we can see the strong riffs pull the listener in for the rest of the duration of the disc.  There is just so much energy and drive in these songs that they are quite strong and have their proper impact.  There is a much greater punch than on eariler works like Tellurian and it leads to the creation of a strong presence.  The beautiful vocals fly nicely over top of the songs and give them increased character as well.  This is the most fully realised of Soen’s releases as the clarity of the release makes clear. 

It is heavy at moments, but the subtle beauty of these songs is what resonates strongly  the most.  The ability of the band to make any level of heaviness ring out clearly and have its impact is important.  It means the band has finally found its groove and is ready to entertain at any stage of the proceedings.  This is wonderful, semi-complex and awe inspiring music.  Alas, the band still sounds a bit too similar to other recordings and this is a small flaw.  Otherwise, we have an excellent album by Soen yet again in Lotus.

Rating: 8.2 out of 10