Making "Prismer I," BLACKSHAPE's new record, pushed the band to their breaking point. Created under intense personal and creative pressure, they channeled their challenges into the music, refracting them into something beautiful, harrowing, and cathartic. The title reflects this, blending "prism" and "prisoner" to capture both the confinement of a single way of thought and the liberation in breaking it apart. Just as a prism bends and disperses light, every experience can shift perspective and reveal countless paths, some daunting and others full of possibility. Escaping the prison of one perspective means choosing to see the full spectrum—beautiful, ugly, terrifying, and freeing.

The album has five songs, and "It's Easier to Disappear" is first. It has comforting tones, which seem to go against the theme. Yet, at the same time, the message is drowned in sadness. Sometimes, it is just easier to disappear. "Break Me" more accurately reflects the messages of the album. It's pure power from weighted riffs, striking drums, and thick bass notes. A heavy groove develops, and it gives you a dose of energy, or a kick in the ass if you will. Yet, there are melodic passages so grand and charming, they make your heart ache for more. Their musicianship is excellent, and they hit every turn, pivot, and change with accuracy.

Seguing into "Like the Fourth Wall," the heavy, weighted sound continues, but with a lot of melody in tow. It tells a different story from there, "lost in a sadness we can't sleep off, exhausted from waking up in the same pain." It drips with emotions…of pain, loss, and perhaps regret. "Falling" is another song thick with weight…punishing riffs, pounding drums, and thick bass notes. Yet again, melody manages to outweigh even the darkest of skies, and the bleakest of moments. Sometimes, the storm breaks and sunshine peeks through, warming you from the ground up. The madness finally subsides with "Feels Like Flying," and that's the kind of unfettered feeling you get out of this song. Everything around you is floating, and not static, and the music hits hard, yet is so gentle.

The title track is the final song, and it's a short song to remind you of the album's themes of escaping your prison and striking out on your own. There are mountains out there…valleys…lush forests, and more colors than you through possible. Although the album points out these possibilities with power, weight, melody, and musicianship, it also leaves you to make your own decisions. You know the saying…you can lead a horse to water…