From Bandcamp, "Passion Of Depression" is a cinematic concept album that portrays the pain, pleasure, joy and sorrow that encompass one's life journey...razor sharp, methodical riffs drive complex, serpentine compositions supported by a myriad of keyboards, and other classical instrumentation. The music on the album is supported by various guest musicians, who add a sense of mysticism to an already otherworldly journey." The album contains seven songs.

"Prodigal" is the first. Opening melodies lead to a darker and heavier sound, thick with guitar, bass, and harsh vocals. The melodies return together with beautiful piano notes, clean vocals, and clean guitars. The transitions are a bit jagged, however. It segues into "Anew," with those clean and melancholy tones. The powerful riff breaks through soon thereafter, followed by more harsh vocals. What follows is a push and pull of big moments of aggressiveness with moments of melody. They aren't quite there as much as I would like, however. The piano notes and clean vocals return at the end.

"Shiver" is a longer offering. This time, melodies are intermixed with the heavier elements to make a more cohesive sound. The harmonized vocals ae quite nice. The key changes though seem a bit disconnected to me. Listen to the lead guitar passage as more evidence of this. Another nice segue leads to "Sombre." The opening sequence is solemn, yet strangely charming at the same time. A heavier sound follows. It's closer to the Technical Death Metal side than anything else, with tight passages where the band's armor provides a tight shield from the outside. There is another sharp transition to the clean sound. "Ire" is a shorter offering with blast-beat drums and sharp rhythm and bass guitar sections. They play with the meter a bit here like a mad scientist experimenting in his lab. There are just a few melodic elements in this song.

"Obeisance" is another shorter song where the band puts together a cohesive song with equal parts aggressiveness and beauty. Listen to those keys in the chorus...they travel straight to your heart. The lengthy "Nurture" closes the album; a 15-minute opus. All of the competing elements are on full display, with each one taking their turn. Again, it's another where the melodies are mixed in with the deep and dark sound, capturing the band at its peak of songwriting. The clean vocals in this song speak to some of the more pleasurable moments in one's life, while the harsher passages fulfill your resolve through the harder times. Heavy, punishing bass notes come near the end in a commanding sound, leading the song to a crescendo.

This album is very well put together, and so close to the ideal picture and ideal sounds of the genre. The purely melodic moments are catchy, though solemn, and paint a different picture than the aggressive sounds. They are so close to mixing them well, but it's sort of like a seasoned stew that was served just prior to the ingredients all coming together. By themselves, each different element of the album is written well, and performed well, and the band has a lot of confidence in themselves, and rightly so. If the transitions were just a little less abrupt and they let the melodies ride out a little more, this could go from an excellent album to a perfect one in under a second. This is definitely a band I will follow from now on however, to see if they can make that final small leap.