✦✦✧✧ What happened?! Somewhere between their last album and this one, STS decided to start sounding like a puréed mix of themselves, Periphery, Animals As Leaders, The Algorithm, and Eric Johnson. The shredding is delightful, which is to be expected… but everything else feels like a misstep. Disappoint.

★★★☆ This album chronicles the band taking a couple of half steps in jazzier, erratic directions. In other words, it’s slightly more BTBAM than their previous album. But it’s still guitarwankery at its finest, and I’m stoked that the band are venturing out into new territories while still repeatedly coming back to Shredsville.