Redemption – Long Night’s Journey into Day (Review)

This is the seventh album from Redemption, a progressive metal band from the US.

2016’s The Art of Loss was a compelling and engaging listen, skilfully weaving together melodic metal with progressive know-how. Well, a couple of years and a change of singer later, and we have a 66 minutes of new material in the shape of Long Night’s Journey into Day.

The new singer is also the singer of Evergrey. I’ve always been a fan of his voice, and I’m pleased to say that he slots into his role in Redemption like a well-fitting glove. His delivery is perfectly-judged and powered with an emotive edge. His range is wide, and on Long Night’s Journey into Day he easily lives up to the trust and faith that the band have obviously put in him to do justice to Redemption’s ambitious sound and the album’s concept.

Redemption specialise in melodic heavy metal with expansive progressive flourishes. The songs on Long Night’s Journey into Day strike a pleasing balance between instant gratification and deeper substance; there’s enough material here to quickly get your teeth into, but there’s also hidden layers that you can sink into over time as you revisit the album over and over again.

The songs are catchy and memorable, demonstrating the type of experienced songwriting you would expect from a band of this calibre. This a concept album that helps provide a consistent narrative to music that would come across as a journey regardless. At the end of this record you really feel like you’ve been through it, and I find that this latest album provides an even richer and more immersive experience than The Art of Loss did.

The production is as professional and polished as you would want from a band like Redemption, and this only further enhances the band’s music. The drums in particular sound especially satisfying, but everything here sounds first-rate to be honest.

Despite how enjoyable the band’s previous work has been, Redemption have never sounded as good as this. Long Night’s Journey into Day is pretty much an essential listen for any fan of progressive heavy metal.