Abyssal

Following their acclaimed fourth album, Insomniac Doze, Japan's Envy return with this face-melting four-song EP. Though acting as a stop-gap between Insomniac Doze and their eagerly anticipated next full-length, Abyssal sounds more like the missing link between the driving, cacophonous force of their breakthrough third album, A Dead Sinking Story, and the lush, cinematic tones of Insomniac Doze. In fact, were it not for its somewhat brief half-hour running time, Abyssal would be the ideal Envy album, marrying their vast influences into a transcendent, almost romantic sound that is rarely heard or felt in heavy music.