An alchemist and an astronomer pursue competing ideas of immortality on Alchestronomy, the new PARIUS album, now available through Willowtip. The U.S. progressive metal band present its seven songs as both a connected suite and individual, traditionally structured pieces.
PARIUS describe the premise as: “An alchemist and an astronomer engaged in a battle of ideals. Each of them convinced they know what will ensure they live forever.” The band call the album “a sort of musical inkblot test,” intended for progressive music fans and casual listeners alike, and cite Dream Theater’s Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence and The Mars Volta’s Cassandra Gemini as reference works for its format.
The announcement describes Alchestronomy as a 36-minute suite celebrating the band’s 15-year career. It follows the 2022 album The Signal Heard Througout Space, which Heavy Blog described as “a sweeping, intergalactic prog metal rollercoaster.” The new recording uses no quantizing or pitch correction.
Louis Thierry handles vocals, Ryan Rauch guitars, Kenny Rentz bass and Dan Silver drums, with Diego Tejeida appearing as a special guest on keyboards. PARIUS produced the album; Jamie King mixed and mastered it. Stephen Andrade painted the artwork, and Christophe Szpajdel illustrated the PARIUS logo.
The release announcement includes reviews addressing the album’s performances and connected structure. Technical Music Review awarded it 10/10, praising the musicianship and execution of the concept. Heavy Music HQ gave it 4/5, calling it “Stellar progressive metal,” while Scream Magazine’s 4/5 review described “a focused and adventurous follow-up that works better as a complete journey than as a collection of individual songs.”
Metal Noise rated it 9/10 and drew comparisons to Between The Buried and Me, Devin Townsend, Dream Theatre and Queen. Metallerium awarded 8.8/10, highlighting the script, ideas and broader musical scope. The supplied responses from Head-Banger Reviews, Rhyme Signatures, Heavy Blog is Heavy, Prog Critique, Metal Temple, Flying Fiddlesticks and ZwareMetalen also praised its performances, construction, dynamics or unpredictability.
Alchestronomy is available on digipak CD, limited edition longbox CD, vinyl gatefold LP and digital formats. The announcement supplies an album stream alongside its streaming and purchase destination, plus a separate YouTube link for the fourth track, “Chrysopoeia.”
- Alchemy (5:49)
- Unbecoming of a Gentleman (3:47)
- Celestial Sea (3:45)
- Chrysopoeia (3:14)
- Equivalent Exchange (6:14)
- Blind Eyed Starlight (6:01)
- Astronomy (7:54)
