The global shutdown unfortunately meant that many musicians were deprived of the chance to be on stages around the world and do what they love most! This meant that many had no choice but to retreat to their home studios and write new material in order to satisfy their creative needs. Even if it's a silver lining, I'm glad because it meant that many amazing solo passion projects emerged, such as INVERNO MCMXCII, with sole writer and creative genius "Maurizio Piras" at the helm. Let's get straight into it!

The album get's off to a flying start with "Petrichor". A slow ominous guitar arpeggio opens up, a nice mellow feel. Then the rhythm section hits you like a ton of bricks! Everything sounds so polished and carefully crafted. Nice work!. Some of the solo guitar work is beautiful too. I listen to it and I'm expecting a vocalist to fill the rest of the track with some gnarly growls and roars, but then remember that it's an instrumental work. I really like the subtle use of synths in the background. In fact, there's probably a lot more in the background that are just about audible to be noticed but not salient enough to detract from the principle instruments. For me, this extra detail makes the difference between average and really impressive albums. Excellent production!

If the synths were subtle in the previous, they're much more prominent in "Absentia", creating for a very interesting atmospheric effect. We also hear some chugging style riffs, with the guitars, bass, and drums locking in to create some tight rhythms. This contrasts nicely with the intermittent guitar leads, which come through beautifully in the mix. The tone really is gorgeous too! We see more impressive rhythm work in the next track "In Extremis". On occasions, the double kick pedals are played at near supersonic speeds, and assault the skins of the kick drum with a vengeance. It seems like they're slightly higher in the mix now, which is fantastic call, again hinting at some skillful production.

Some impressive instrumentation and musicianship is also on display in "Transcendence". Sadly, this where I have to be critical. Whilst Maurizio is clearly a talented producer and musician, I fear that the songs seem to lack a coherent structure and the album seems to blend into one longer song rather than a collection of four with distinct identities. I would like to see some of those musical ideas and passages be used more sparingly and distributed more cautiously across the EP. After all, sometimes more is certainly less, especially when it comes to song writing. I'd love to hear what the music sounds like with a vocalist over the top. But then again, that's like going to a vegan restaurant and expecting a beef burger! This is an instrumental melodic death metal album, and one that's been produced and mastered to a very high standard. It was a short blast but an enjoyable listen.