With one look at the artwork for Britain's ENOCHIAN THEORY's new album, Evolution: Creatio Ex Nihilio, one can get a good idea of what to expect. In addition, the title of the album furthers the notion that ENOCHIAN THEORY is a Progressive Rock band. There is a strong influence of British Alternative Rock is present as well.

ENOCHIAN THEORY was formed in 2004 and released their debut, A Monument To The Death Of An Idea in 2007. Following the departure of founding guitarist Scott Ware, the band continued as a three-piece.

As mentioned earlier, the sound is pretty standard prog-rock with some alternative influences thrown in for good measure. At times, this album brings to mind OPETH and PORCUPINE TREE (good) as well as MUSE and RADIOHEAD (bad). While there were some good moments sprinkled throughout the album, I found that a lot of the material didn't sink in and by time it had finished playing, it was getting rather tedious to listen to. There just weren't enough memorable melodies and solid riffs to fill the album. A lot of the time, I had trouble paying attention to the album as it drifted almost towards background noise.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good Prog Rock album. The Perfect Element Pt. 1 by PAIN OF SALVATION is one of my favorite concept albums of all time, despite its extensive length. However, on Evolution: Creatio Ex Nihilio so much time is devoted to atmosphere and laid-back moments that the album never grabs you. There's nothing on here that I'd actively want to listen to again, despite some enjoyable sections. For the heavy sections, some growled vocals pop up, but musically, it isn't much heavier than what had preceded it.

I'm sure there's some sort of concept around this album, but I received no explanation with this promo. A rudimentary glance at the lyrics online (no lyrics are provided with this release either) yields nothing in-depth about the concept either. Maybe I've just been desensitized to many concepts because it seems like every band feels the need to release a concept album these days, but the band ROSWELL SIX released an album just recently which actually has a fascinating concept (which they were nice enough to include in the liner notes) and the music is more interesting as well, so perhaps the desensitization theory in incorrect after all.

Diehard fans of progressive rock may enjoy this, as may fans of RADIOHEAD, but overall I must say that the music is...