UMUR "Interval 01: Parallel Infinities - The Inner Universe" is the debut full-length studio album by US progressive extreme metal act Lascaille's Shroud. The album was released in collaboration with Masters of Metal Productions in January 2013. "Interval 01: Parallel Infinities - The Inner Universe" is available at a "Name Your Price" tag on the band´s Bandcamp profile. Lascaille's Shroud is a one-man act consisting of Brett Windnagle (Sedulity) who plays Guitars, Bass, Drums, Synths and Keyboards and sings the extreme metal type vocals on the album. He is helped out here by Patrick Hoyt Parris (Project: Roenwolfe, ex-Theocracy) who sings the non-extreme type vocals on the album and by Tyler Sherrill who plays a Keyboard solo on "Epilogue: The Acceptance of Death".

The music on the album is sci-fi themed progressive extreme metal. I label this extreme metal because even though there are elements from both death and black metal, this is really neither. The song structures are unconventional and quite surprising at times, but as a consequence some of the tracks also feel a bit fragmented. Several of the tracks exceed the 10 minutes mark and with many changes and different sections in the tracks, "Interval 01: Parallel Infinities - The Inner Universe" is an album that takes time to get into. Add to that the fact that "Interval 01: Parallel Infinities - The Inner Universe" is a concept album and that there are elements from all sorts of metal styles like progressive metal, power metal, avantgarde metal, death metal, black metal and symphonic metal on the album and you´re pretty surely in for a challenging sonic experience. The addition of guest vocalist Patrick Hoyt Parris is a brilliant move and one of the great assets of the album. His clean and rusty screaming type vocals provide a completely different atmosphere to the growling and aggressive vocals delivered by Brett Windnagle.

The music features quite a lot of synths/keyboards which provide it with an epic atmosphere and they are central elements in the band´s sound. Lascaille's Shroud generally produce a huge wall of sound and if you enjoy your music basic and to the point, you should look elsewhere. The album doesn´t sound fully professionally produced to my ears but all instruments and vocals are clear in the mix. The programmed drums do sound a bit artificial though and after a while the digital nature of the drumming does result in the music sounding a bit static. There´s simply not the drive in the music that a human drummer can produce.

"Interval 01: Parallel Infinities - The Inner Universe" features 7 tracks and a full playing time of 72:55 minutes, which makes for a very long listening experience and as mentioned above, several of the tracks are really long. It´s a lot to take in and even though Lascaille's Shroud understand the importance of variation, some tracks do feel too long and could probably have prospered from being cut down to the essentials. So upon conclusion I´m a bit biased towards "Interval 01: Parallel Infinities - The Inner Universe". In many ways is a greatly adventurous and charmingly bold one-man project release, but there are features like the programmed drums, the sound production (which is actually decent and only a minor issue) and the fact that the tracks too often overstay their welcome, that result in the album being a mixed bag. Interesting but flawed. Still a 3.5 star (70%) rating is fully deserved.

adg211288 Interval 01: Parallel Infinities - The Inner Universe is the debut full-length album by US progressive death metal project Lascaille's Shroud. It was released in 2013. Lascaille’s Shroud is pretty much the solo vehicle of musicians Brett Windnagle (Sedulity) although as of this album Patrick Hoyt Parris seems to also be considered a part of the line-up despite only providing clean vocals on an additional basis (two songs) as well as a bit of the spoken word. A guest keyboard solo is played by Tyler Sherrill (Steamforged) on the last track but everything else is handled by Brett Windnagle. Interval 01: Parallel Infinities - The Inner Universe (which from here in will be shorted to just The Inner Universe) has been released as a name your price download (including free) and it is one of a few albums to be released through the Masters of Metal Productions label to see a CD release.

The music on The Inner Universe is best described as progressive death metal but of the kind that puts emphasis on the progressive aspects of the sound over the death metal backbone. While there are some pretty intense death metal sections to be found here more often than not the music on the album focuses on its complexity and multiple influences, which includes but is not limited to electronic sounds, symphonic elements, clean vocal dominate songs and generally long tracks including the over fifteen minute piece Extinction: Swarming the Sun. There are also shades of black and doom metal to be found if you listen closely enough.

The lyrics are science fiction themed, presented as a concept album but heavily influenced by the work of British author Alastair Reynolds, from whose Revelation Space series the band name also comes from, but there are other sources drawn from in the album, such as the video game Mass Effect. Parallels can definitely be drawn to the latter within Extinction: Swarming the Sun. The music seems written to accommodate the sci-fi theme, making for quite the atmospheric listen that sets Lascaille's Shroud apart from technical based acts like Obscura or Augury but also from acts like Opeth or In Vain who utilise their melody in an entirely different way to Lascaille's Shroud.

The music is a demanding listen at 72:19 in length, but also a very rewarding one that didn’t need time to grow on me as most albums I’d describe as such tend to need. The Inner Universe is easily one for the prog fans first and foremost, but I’m sure death metal fans will find some enjoyment within the album all the same, although they’ll need the patience to get through the elongated sections of instrumental music, a fair bit of which isn’t even metal based, such as the track Shattered: Love Lost And Worlds Destroyed. Regardless of what twist or turn Brett Windnagle takes Lascaille's Shroud on though the music is always of an exceptionally high quality, with the very best of the seven tracks being Prologue: She Dreams of Earth, Resist: Fall Into the Arms of the Sun, and Extinction: Swarming the Sun. An exceptional grade rating is deserved.

94/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/lascaille-s-shroud-parallel-infinities-the-inner-universe-t2969.html)