CYRAX are a progressive metal band from Milan, Italy. Formed in 2012 they have a lot of experience under their belts as a band, especially from a recording perspective with this being their third full length studio album coming off the back of "Reflections" in 2013 and "Pictures" which came two years later in 2015, after five years with no new releases the band released their new album "Experiences" under WormHoleDeath Records in December to end off 2020.

This album has eleven tracks for progressive metal fans to enjoy, with incredible guitar playing from Martin V. Chiona and Gianluca Fraschini with metal sounding guitar riffs but also having more of a classical side to their sound makes for a unique combination, heavy and melodic sounding drumming from Lorenzo Beltrami which are all blended well by the bass playing of Marco Corazza while the other Marco in the band Marco Cantoni brought his incredible vocal style to the table with both dark and growling sounding vocals as well as powerful ballad style vocals showing of his dynamic vocal range and ability.

The opening track "Ut Queant Laxis" caught me off guard n the first listen as it started off almost sounding like something that you'd hear in a church and then build up through a nice classical style acoustic guitar instrumental and into the riff that ties it with the following track the seven minute powerhouse track that is "Notes From The Underground" and it also caught me off guard with the way the initial track ended, it played into the second track really well but when listening to "Ut Queant Laxis" without following it up with "Notes From The Underground" you'll notice that the track just stops dead in the middle of a build up which I wasn't the biggest fan of.

This album definitely blends a lot of different musical styles into one which makes it a unique sounding and leaves fans wondering where they're going next, whether it's choir harmonies or acoustic guitars or even a piano, the band can transition away from your typical metal sound and back into in many different ways which makes for a well structured album.

The next track I want to look at is the sixth track on the album and it is titled "Óró (Sé Do Bheatha 'Bhaile)" and one of the main reasons this track stood out to me when I read it's title was there is an old traditional Irish song with the same name and I instantly recognised it and I wanted to find out if it was a cover of the Irish song or not, and it in fact is in parts, there are parts that have been changed but others are still the same which I liked, it was an interesting almost church choir sort of sound to it which I thought was very unique and different.

As a whole, this album has a lot of interesting aspects, from the traditional metal side of things to the addition of various instruments and sounds you wouldn't normally hear in a metal album such as piano's and acoustic guitars among others, I really enjoyed the album and definitely think it is one for progressive metal fans to enjoy.