With albums racking up under their belts and the aspiration to modernize and elaborate their sound, many Metal artists turn to a more contemporary-derived flair. This is especially true with Progressive Metal artists; with names like OPETH and RIVERSIDE testing their own musical boundaries every now and often, entwining their own unique motif with transitory masteries of foreign genres, it can be clearly understood that LEPROUS, out of all legible names, will stand front with regard to such account. With three singles already out in the open and its initial agenda conveyed, LEPROUS' sixth full-length record to date, "Pitfalls" can be described best as a leap of faith on the band's measures.

"Pitfalls", much like it's predecessors, does not mirror its formers. LEPROUS are known to attend each of their records as a solitary unit, and thus, no forerunner can predict what may be heard in the impending record. In the depths of the lyrical abstraction of "Pitfalls", LEPROUS' flagman, Einar Solberg, visually expatiates on his recent experiences with anxiety, and the bridle way he had to detour in order to abide by his feet. This is, perhaps, a first in the band's history when a record is exerted into a musical memoir. In typical LEPROUS fashion, every track on "Pitfalls" carries its own musical and lyrical weight through an apollonian, ever-intensifying ocean of sound. Even though the band chose to enforce a more dynamic approach to their already existing versatility, the output does not fall shorter than any other material previously released by the band.

"Pitfalls" can be generally fragmented into two main countenances: ballads ("I Lose Hope", "Observe The Train", "Distant Bells" and "The Sky Is Red") and false-ballads - which are essentially ballads disguised in a faster and more turbulent tempo, structure and production. What binds the two together is, of course, the lyrical background, but not less importantly - the eclecticism and dynamics LEPROUS have shown. Tracks like "By My Throne" and "At The Bottom" are perhaps the best examples to that. Some tracks, with more simplified and modern arrangements are, arguably, purposely trying reach to new audiences. Those who are interested, might find such approach on the album's second single, "Alleviate". But others, "Below" and "Foreigner", to name a few, mostly involve pleasant retracing to the band's earlier sounds. "The Sky Is Red", LEPROUS' second longest ever track, following 2009's "Tall Poppy Syndrome"'s "White", proves a good measure as the closure of "Pitfalls" - as it consists of all the elements exercised on the record.

LEPROUS, who never fail to take the role of connoisseurs - searching for more sophisticated and rich musical textures while embedding their own rooted imprint, managed to do so, yet again, in "Pitfalls". Consisting of nine, incredibly refined and sentimental upheavals, it is truly an album that can appeal to every listener, whether they are in one camp or another in the controversy sprung by the three early singles. Give "Pitfalls" a listen, you will not regret it, and might even find it a timeless piece - as this writer did.