"Precipice" is progressive Extreme Metal plummeting inside a black hole: scorching, twisted and transfixing. The band have upped both the dystopic prog-Death quotient and their sense of experimentation, moving with formidable, mechanized poise and a surrealist's sense of dread. LYCHGATE layer fusion riffs, leads and rhythms into skewed melodic entanglements which erupt into strident bludgeon - balefully contrasted with spacious, keyboard-led, classical/jazz-inflected passages rich with tension-heavy dynamics. The players bursting forth in a rush of devastatingly claustrophobic vocals and finely-honed avant-Black Metal mastery. Interweaving literary, philosophical, and cinematic influences, "Precipice" is conceptually based on E. M. Forster's "The Machine Stops" (1909) - a story of humanity's underground existence and total dependence on a god-like machine - and also draws from Plato's 'allegory of the cave', H. G. Wells' "A Story of the Days to Come", and T. S. Eliot's "The Waste Land".

The album has nine songs, and "Introduction – The Sleeper Awaits" sets the tone with creepy piano notes and other orchestration. "Mausoleum of Steel" is heavy, dark, and aggressive out of the gate with some odd, Progressive chord structures. The vocals keep the sound evil, and the music is rich with shadowy orchestration. It's a strange but harrowing sound. "Renunciation" begins with a much darker sound, and it's the kind of sound that digs deep into the caverns of the earth. The lead breaks butt against the vocals creating a wall of dissonance, and the animated bass notes hold down the bottom end with the dexterous drumming. It swells at times, and you can feel the hot breath of the beast on your face. "The Meeting of Orion and Scorpio" has mostly clean tones, but they are still quite creepy. It's as if the beast is resting for a spell but he is still out there and will never abandon his hunt.

"Hive of Parasites" has a strange but very rich sound where lead guitar combines with Progressive rhythms that are quite deft, and it takes you a few moments to gather your bearings. The harsh vocals are probably the only constant on the album, and it's as harrowing as dungeon full of wraiths. "Death's Twilight Kingdom" begins with piano notes and a heavy heaping of bass guitar that keeps it lurking under the surface. As it moves, you feel like you are constantly chasing the sound, until you catch up and it disappears in front of your eyes. "Terror Silence" is a little more straightforward, but on this album that just means you can catch a whiff of its scent, not fully understand it. Like OPETH, they are constantly shifting the riff and the sound to the point where you are unable to make it stand still.

"Anagnorisis" translates to the point in a story in which a principal character recognizes or discovers another character's true identity or the true nature of their own circumstances. It has rough, dark edges, and invites you in with a sweet piece of pie that is tainted with deadly poison. Once you realize it, it's too late to go back, and the hasty sound towards the end reflects your impending death. "Pangaea" is weighted, heavy, and as dark as the void within a black hole. You feel like each thudding note brings you closer and closer to discovering something as monumental as the secret of life. A precipice is the edge of a very steep cliff, and that's what I felt the entire time...standing so close to death. This was a pleasantly strange, unsettling listening experience for me, and the closest feeling that I can think of to describing it might be either the liberation, or the horrible guilt, one feels when they have just taken the soul from a fellow human.