It took four years for Austrian act OUR SURVIVAL DEPENDS ON US to release another record. This brand new album is  four piece entity delivering about forty five minutes of what I call an authentic journey. The songs are long and elaborated ones. About ten minutes each so be prepared it is not the easy listening, for everyone. Not that this is that hard to appreciate at first listening, but more to say that this one is a grower and a must listen to.

"Galahad" has an intro filled with lyres-like instrument, some bone-like tingling. The ambiance is fantastic.Vocals are clean and entwined.Consisting of two voices of some viking like chants.This twelve minute song grows slowly.Some minimalistic string play can be heard.Drums are coming slowly, beating arepetitive pattern. The guitars show off with some classic metal playing, rhythm one with a lead invoking the spirit of the song.The clean Vocals are particularly a little strange something between opera and poet, bard thing. Some Simple keyboards are heard, some synth ambiance too, giving it a progressive feel. I am well surprised of this track. It could be compared to some dark, desperate AYREON track.The vocals are depressing. I love the mood though. Some organ is used around minute eight. It's a very well calculated progression through the song. The vocals remind me of some old fashioned Doom metal,and classic metal.It's quite an excellent song.

"Gold and Silver" has strange ambiance that leads to some apocalyptic slowly rendered ambiance. The guitars sound quite original. A solo above slow drumming and low tempo rhythm guitars. There are multiple layers of sound effects and raw instrumentation.The vocals are like incantations to the unknown.Some sort of a ritual that I want to attend. Some percussion is made via keyboards or electronic effect. The backing vocals are in a symbiosis with the lead ones. The singing is intense and interesting.The orchestration reaches a high level of intensity and ambiguity while being hypnotizing and impressive. It reminds me of GOJIRA and KILLING JOKE while being totally different and a darker entity.

"Song of the Lower Classes" starts with a narrative sample, and slow, doom driven beats and guitars. Melodic guitar line to make the ascension to some sort of "Epiphany." It's very cinematic and leaves the brain open for some imagination to flow. The lyrics are like some kind of evocative poetry.It's an excellent rendition of feelings and emotions through music. The lyrics are depressing but involving such high energy :"Down, down we go ,we are so very, very low". Our fate is dark, our fate is done, we are lost. I really like that song, since it give me chills. This is fatality wrapped in a poetic beautiful pack of flowers offered hand to hand, thorns first. The chant is amazing, everyone's invited to sing along the choir of eternal doom. The last three minutes are symphonic classic music with cellos, violins like until a fade out.

"Sky Burial" is the last of the four songs. It has an oriental feeling, and some weird ambiance. Strings played in a weird not standard way to keep it strange as they can. Some chanting is lightly heard and seem to be made with synths. Bongs, strings pinched hard to make that oriental feel. The guitars are playing in the background the ethereal way...light and hazy, with crows and whispers. It's very meditative and invoking something the inner self has to express.It makes me think about the uruz rune in Nordic mythology as we can hear some buffalo or auroch name it what you want, that this rune invokes and symbolizes as the strength of man and mind power over matter. Around minute seven, standard drumming and guitar are coming in.The drumming is quite ritualistic or shamanic, with some flanged guitars and synths. This song is evolving into a celebration of some sort,gathering into something higher and higher, reaching slowly to the sum, a state of wholeness,the attempt of succeeding is reached.T his is done and I need more!