J-Man Playing a style of progressive and melodic death metal, Mexico's The Advent Equation was originally formed in 2006 under the monicker Advent, and released an EP in 2008 with this name. The band became known as The Advent Equation in 2012, and released Limitless Life Reflections, their debut full length album, later that year. The Advent Equation's extreme style of progressive metal brings acts like Opeth or Edge of Sanity to mind in terms of quality and even in sound, but this observation's modern and innovative spin on the genre makes for an intriguing listen. As punishing as it is intricate and melodic, this stunning debut is likely to have something for every adventurous metal listener.

Despite being labeled as a progressive death metal act and having origins as an Opeth tribute band, The Advent Equation has a rather innovative approach to the genre. Sure, the contrast between heavy and light sections is here in spades, and there are even a handful of acoustic portions, but Limitless Life Reflections does reach far beyond the melancholy and dynamics of classic Opeth material. Modern touches in the form of atmospheric keyboard tones, sleek production technique, and occasional djent-y riffs give the album a fresh coat of polish, and while fans of 'classic' extreme progressive metal should have no problem approaching this album, it offers a myriad of new ideas to keep things interesting. Influences from jazz, traditional progressive metal, and Meshuggah-inspired polyrhythms spice up the expected blend of gloomy melodic death metal and progressive rock, and this variation is much appreciated.

Fortunately, The Advent Equation also knows how to write some exceptional material, and tracks like "Glimpse of What May Be" and "Hopeless" are superb displays of technical wizardry and compositional finesse. Fans of metal that is simultaneously catchy, progressive, and devastatingly heavy should find a lot to enjoy from Limitless Life Reflections. This is one of the strongest debuts I've heard in 2012, and I highly recommend all extreme progressive metal listeners to give it a purchase.

adg211288 Cast your minds back to 2011. A Swedish band called Opeth, whom I’m sure anyone with even a bit of interest in metal music has heard of, dropped their latest album entitled Heritage, and produced something with a vastly different sound to what came before it. Naturally the album received both its fair share of praise and derision, and it was a classic example of being a fanbase divider. Well fortunately for those that found themselves less than impressed with Opeth’s latest effort, there now exists the debut full-length album from young Mexican group The Advent Equation (formerly known as simply Advent), called Limitless Life Reflections. Do they sound like Opeth? No. I mean sure, they can be placed in the same bracket, but The Advent Equation do not rip Opeth off. That said they do draw an easy comparison through the use of similar aesthetics. Limitless Life Reflections was released independently in 2012.

Like Opeth, The Advent Equation are best described as progressive death metal or extreme progressive metal. This is highly progressive music featuring both melodic clean vocals and deep deathly growling. This is why Opeth remains the best comparison for of this sort of act though, because unlike say Obscura or Augury, whose music contains constant reminders that death metal is the true driving force behind the music, The Advent Equation don’t exactly structure their songs around death metal riffs, at least not as often. In this sense they may even be more varied in their approach than the typical Opeth album is. Limitless Life Reflections generally favours a long song format, the shortest being Visions of Pain at 6:35, and it’s the sort of music where you can expect many a curveball to be thrown at you during its over an hour duration across eight songs. Expect combinations of piano with heavy riffs and growling vocals, light and melodic non-metal sections, female vocals, jazzy bits and more.

The Advent Equation have produced a debut here that sets their bar high for future records. The prowess of the musicians both of players and composers is evident throughout and the music is creative without becoming self-indulgent. Bearing in mind that Limitless Life Reflections is a self-released affair the standard of professionalism is very high. I personally enjoyed Heritage, but even a part of me thinks that this is the album Opeth should have made after Watershed, because with Limitless Life Reflections The Advent Equation have shown themselves to be a contender to take away the Swedes crown as the kings of extreme progressive metal and an exceptional grade rating is deserved.

93/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven (http://metaltube.freeforums.org/the-advent-equation-limitless-life-reflections-t2715.html))