Lunar: Eidolon (Divebomb, 2019)

US-based progressive metal band Lunar suffered a major blow last year when founding guitarist/vocalist Ryan Erwin passed away unexpectedly. Co-founder Alex Bosson decided to continue with the band, and it’s fitting that Lunar’s latest album Eidolon reflects on the themes of life, death and grief.

As on the Lunar debut (2016’s underrated Theogony), Bosson is joined by bandmates Chandler Mogel (Outloud) on vocals, Ryan Price on bass, and Balmore Lemus (Novareign) on guitars. Eidolon also features a whole host of guest appearances, including contributions from Andrew Kingsley (Unleash The Archers), Richard Henshall and Diego Tejeida of Haken, Scott Carstairs (Fallujah), Raphael Weinroth-Browne (Leprous) and Sam Vallen (Caligula’s Horse) among others.

With Eidolon, Lunar once more masters the modern progressive metal soundscape, bringing in elements of djent, death metal and even melodic rock. The touchstones here are Opeth, Caligula’s Horse and early Leprous, but Lunar definitely has their own approach to this kind of music. Part of that is having such a huge vocal talent in Chandler Mogel, whose background in melodic rock adds a whole other dimension to things. The shift between his style and the very well-placed growls just works so well. Another balancing act Lunar pulls off here is the contrast between melody and technicality. There are some very impressive musicians doing some very impressive things, but the songs maintain a melodic aspect and an overall tone/atmosphere that keeps it from getting too far afield.

Eidolon is a concept album, and as such works best as a whole album experience. It does have standout tracks though. The two longest songs: “The Cycle Starts Again” and “Your Long Awaited Void” make the perfect bookends, running the full range of tones, speed and emotion, and giving you a feel for everything that makes Lunar so effective. The “shorter,” more melodic songs like “Comfort” and “Potion” are powerful in their own way, making the lyrics the star of the songs. Both have a classic Enchant vibe.

Like Theogony, Eidolon is another very impressive showcase of modern progressive metal. It’s technical, emotional, melodic and aggressive and is just very well put-together overall. Fans of Opeth, Caligula’s Horse, Leprous and Barren Earth will want to discover Lunar, and adventurous fans of Mogel’s work in Outloud may also get some mileage from this one as well.