A band in its infancy is one of its most exciting periods in its life cycle. Upon my discovering of Blueshift, thanks to the excellent YouTube channel Dreambound that showcases the best in unknown post-hardcore, I found that their Facebook page has less than a thousand likes and they only have a handful of songs to their name. From what I’ve heard already, I was invested and knowing the album would drop shortly, I reached out and was instantly given the album for review.

What reeled me in to Blueshift, from their “Voyager” single, is the feeling of being in space, furthered by the mesmerizing album art. The ethereal experience is created with a distant guitar run that spans both the left and right headphones, with soft keyboard notes and drums that aren’t overbearing. This is a case of excellent mixing to set the song’s tone before it kicks into high gear, and gets me excited for a full album listen.

“Voyager” opens up with “Embark,” once again creating a mindscape into the great beyond with a well-layered, inquisitive mood being established. The heaviness comes about during “Saudade,” instantly showcasing that the unclean vocals are just as satisfying as the high-reaching cleans. The next song, “Eternia,” was the first released for the album. The band threw in some meme videos featuring the track in the download, which displays more ambiance underneath masterful riffs giving me nostalgia of old ERRA and Northlane.

“Undertow” reels the listener in with yet another deliberate, methodical intro; the echo effect added to the unclean vocals add to the desperation of the lyrics “All I wanted was to feel the soft breeze on my skin, the gentle breeze to take me far away.” The waves crashing in the outro are also a nice bit of detail. “Terra” maintains a faster pace than previous songs, and continues the trend of layering the vocals perfectly while the instruments assist in conveying the emotion in the singer’s words.

It was at the point of the album of “Jamais Tu” that I found myself completely lost in the music. I like to write reviews while concurrently listening to the album, but I was too sucked into Blueshift’s sound to tear myself away from it. This is the sign of a truly impactful artist. “Cloak and Dagger” is the second single off “Voyager,” and helms the lyrical theme of drifting apart, on top of the more eclectic riffs on the album.

The next track, “Zenith,” utilizes the same echo-ey effect on the uncleans during a quieter section to enhance the passion, this time with the lyrics “I never thought I’d see the day when everything just fades away.” “Voyager” closes out with “Vertigo,” once again making use of the listener’s left/right ears. This song finishes off the album strong with a stellar guitar solo leading into the fade-out outro, something I usually do not like, but works well as it is tastefully employed here.

Blueshift’s “Voyager” is one of the rare, sought-after instances of a band coming out of the woodworks and dropping what sounds like an extremely-refined record. There is no doubt in my mind that “Voyager” will enter my regular rotation this Friday, and any fan of Erra, TesseracT, or Sithu Aye would do well to give this band the time of day. I look forward to Blueshift’s musical career and I expect great things from the act in no time at all!

A Pre-release copy of “Voyager” was provided by Blueshift for this Review

Phenixx Gaming is everywhere you are. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.