On June 26, 2020, SUMPTUS IGNIS released "Curtain Calls," their second full-length album. SUMPTUS IGNIS is a Floridian musical project begun by Joshua Wojtaszek and Bryn Schurman. Together, they released their debut album "Ambition" back in 2018. "Ambition" was well-received here on Metal Temple. On "Curtain Calls," the pair is joined by Jessy Sparks.

The band describes their music as progressive with elements of death/doom, thrash, and power metal.
Though that may seem excessive, the actual result is quite harmonious. Over the duration of a track, fast thrash sections lead seamlessly to slow doom sections and vice versa. The "thrash" sections aren't particularly innovative, but they serve the important purpose of adding a bit of energy to what would otherwise be an overwhelmingly subdued album. The doom influence comes through with the slower instrumental passages and somber clean vocals. The unique guitar riffs soar melodiously throughout. Keys add a layer of atmosphere and melody as needed, to fill a void that the other instruments cannot. My least favorite parts of the album are the vocals. The mix of clean and dirty vocals isn't bad. In fact, the clean and dirty vocals suit their respective parts of the tracks well. Unfortunately, the dirty vocals and clean male vocals are muffled and buried in the mix, and the clean female vocals are almost always strained.

The opening track "Red Dawn Retribution" is a melodic track with guitar melodies, mixed vocals, and a gloomy keyboard solo. Andrew Bosko is a guest bassist and Joshua Williams is a guest guitarist that contributes a guitar solo to the track. "Awakening The Wolf" is an almost 11 minute epic progressive track. With repeated listens, I find more and more that I like, especially the guitar and vocal melodies. Nick Chappel is another guest guitarist and plays a guitar solo on this track. "Onward" is my favorite cut off the record for the synths in the background, the acoustic guitar, and guitar melodies. The closing track "December's End (Redux)," is another solid song. The guitar solo leading to the death/doom passage is a great show of the band's songwriting abilities.

Overall, I recommend this album for fans of progressive metal, though fans of IN FLAMES and SWALLOW THE SUN may also find elements they like. The melodic guitar hooks remind me of IN FLAMES, while the heavy doom passages remind me of death/doom in the style of SWALLOW THE SUN. The vocals and production of "Curtain Calls" could certainly be improved upon. Thankfully, the musical ideas presented here make up for it.