Description
"The approach of Bordeaux, France's Mars Red Sky continues to grow richer on their fourth long-player, The Task Eternal. Also their third outing for Listenable Records, it comprises an eight-track/49-minute run that digs into many of what have become the trio's signature elements - fragile melodies, tonal heft, nod and march, etc. - while playing toward a wider atmospheric breadth than even 2016's Apex III (Praise for the Burning Soul) could offer.
As ever, the new album was led into by an EP, in this case the short self-release Collector earlier this year, and what was the title-track there shows up early here as well, following opener and longest cut (immediate points) "The Proving Grounds" on side A. Whatever patterns it has followed along the way, Mars Red Sky's progression has been steady from release to release, with perhaps the most major jump being from the sweet melodies and hooky bounce of their 2011 self-titled debut to the second album, 2014's Stranded in Arcadia, which even with a 2012 split with Year of No Light and 2013's Be My Guide EP between them was the point when the band signaled the proggier intent that their subsequent outings have allowed to flourish in their songwriting." THE OBELISK
As ever, the new album was led into by an EP, in this case the short self-release Collector earlier this year, and what was the title-track there shows up early here as well, following opener and longest cut (immediate points) "The Proving Grounds" on side A. Whatever patterns it has followed along the way, Mars Red Sky's progression has been steady from release to release, with perhaps the most major jump being from the sweet melodies and hooky bounce of their 2011 self-titled debut to the second album, 2014's Stranded in Arcadia, which even with a 2012 split with Year of No Light and 2013's Be My Guide EP between them was the point when the band signaled the proggier intent that their subsequent outings have allowed to flourish in their songwriting." THE OBELISK
