✦✦✧✧ For an instrumental proggy metal album four years in the making, there’s just not enough “there” there. Sure, it evokes a mood, but the tracks which aren’t electronic filler tend to not go anywhere and leave you wanting more. Not in the good “Encore Encore!” kind of way, but more like “And then what?”

★★☆☆ This EP is not unlike taking a quick regional flight: you spend so much of your time getting to cruising altitude, that once you’re there it’s time to start your initial descent. The material here is good and lush and well-done, of course, but Cloudkicker music needs time and space to unfold into its ultimate form, and that means that there’s actually not a whole lot here.