The album title is appropriate: this album makes you feel like a cosmic explorer as you approach the edges of our universe. Contemplating taking a leap into a potentially dangerous new universe, you admire the celestial sights but also go through significant introspection to determine whether such an adventure will be worth it. Masterclass ambient progressive metal for the sci-fi/space nerds out there!

Significantly heavier and proggier than Outside the Universe, this album also lives up to its name. In general, Widek is a very cosmic-themed project but this album really hits with those space vibes. The atmosphere is so celestial and beautiful, even among the heaviness, but it also makes you feel like you're swimming in a limitless expanse. If you are burned out on life, listen to this album and it'll take you on a serene, solitary Journey to the Stars!

This album really roots itself in modern prog metal, especially in the way the guitar work is treated. It's not fully a djent album but has some very djenty songs throughout, mixed with post-rock elements. It also happens to have some of the most gorgeous ambient moments I've ever heard in my life, evidenced by beautiful tracks like "Solstice". Another stellar knockout by Widek!

One of the tracks on this album is titled "Adventurer" and I think that's a fantastic representation of what this release is all about. It has an ethereal, dream-like quality to it as though it's the product of letting one's mind wander in a dream. As such, there's a more upbeat, joyful quality to this release that deserves plenty of attention and thought. Probably the best Widek release to relax to, though it's still full of plenty of epic and cinematic moments!

This album is Widek's most introspective, mature release so far. While Hidden Dimensions remains my favorite of his releases, this album showcases a fantastic development of skill and songwriting across the board. As though you've entered a celestial Garden of Eden, you enter a place of rest and beauty. This music is truly sublime and the sense of melody here is completely gorgeous!

A Place for Serenity must be one of the most thoroughly enjoyable ambient prog/djent albums I've ever listened to. Djent is one of those genres that can be a bit hit or miss to me but this album suffers no such flaws. Situated somewhere between Periphery and TesseracT minus the vocals, this album is an absurdly underappreciated and truly beautiful gem that I will be recommending everywhere I go.

A masterwork of instrumental post-rock, this album is a beautiful and emotional journey. Why this man's work isn't a household name among the post-rock community is beyond me because this album is just incredible and "The Abyss Gaze" may be one of the greatest songs I've ever heard in this genre. This is an album that is both relaxing yet emotionally intense and it is utterly enjoyable throughout.

This is just straight-up beautiful post-rock. This song has a certain immaculate and uplifting tone to it that is just particularly gorgeous. It's a fantastic opening track and it reminds me of why I love this genre the way I do.

A somewhat droning piece, "Solar" does exactly what its name implies: it makes you feel like you're floating in space, feeling the heat of a star's rays warming you among the deep chill of the void. For what it aims to do, it does it well but this comes at a mild price: the song doesn't really go far, it stays within relatively similar territory the entire way. Still, a serene track great for relaxation!

This is a rather pleasant song. Its piano-driven approach, for whatever reason, makes me imagine coming home after a long day of honest work as you sit down, sip a nice glass of iced tea and relax, knowing that you earned some rest. I definitely recommend it!

This song has a really appropriate title. The post-rock textures and the ambient droning makes me feel like I just reached the summit of a mountain. Looking out over the sweeping vista, my perseverance is rewarded by a beautiful view. My muscles may ache but the journey was entirely worth it. Talk about an experience, definitely grab this one!

There's something very divine about this track. By that, I mean that I feel almost like it helps me make a bit of a connection with God. Despite being titled "Tides", it feels very celestial and larger than life, yet intimate at the same time. Definitely a very pretty track.

All of Altrucent's music is fantastic but this album is probably his most emotional release. Where the first two albums were more focused on creating epic songs (not a bad thing), this one certainly tries to tap into emotions a lot more and take the listener on a gorgeous journey. A nice blend of post-rock, drone and general ambient music, Adrift is absolutely worth buying for the sheer value of the relaxation that you can enjoy while listening to this album.

Vertikal was one of the first albums I heard when I first started listening to post-metal, and it's still my favorite Cult of Luna album to date. It's rich with texture, philosophical lyrics and a bittersweet, bleak atmosphere. With this release, we also get its very solid sequel EP (which I hadn't heard before) and some bonus tracks. It's a fantastic celebration of arguably their greatest release and a paragon of this incredible genre!

On par with Matt's greatest epics like "Twist of Fate", "Mirror of Souls", "I AM" and "Easter", "And the Rest is Mystery" is a masterpiece of epic prog-power metal and on top of that, it contains some of the greatest vocal talents out there, including the legendary Daniel Heiman who is best known for his performance on Lost Horizon's "Highlander (The One)" (WOAH-OH-OH-AH-AH-AH-AAAA-HA-AH-AH-AH).

Unless you're already a fan of ambient doom metal, The End of Words will take a little time to get used to. Once you do, though, it becomes an enjoyably bleak release full of tracks that, appropriately, encourage one to think of the deeper, more philosophical side of life.

Where later Vials of Wrath albums are a lot more in the vein of atmospheric black metal, Let There Be Light is more like death metal with some ambient subtleties. This is most noticable in the vocal approach: Mills almost exclusively uses traditional death growls on this album, as opposed to his fantastic, wild shrieks on later albums. The theological lyrics were very present even then, however. Not as good as his later works but still very much worth a listen!

Where the signature sound of Vials of Wrath began, Seeking Refuge is fantastic atmospheric black metal with deep, theological lyrics. Stuck somewhere between well-produced black metal and the ambient tendencies of post-metal, if you enjoy either genre, you need to give this album/EP a listen. Its artistic vibes, layers of ambiance and relentless intensity (both the heavy and calm varieties) make it a thoroughly enjoyable listen.

Autumnal atmospheric black metal with theologically deep lyrics and absolutely ferocious black metal shrieks. If you're like me and can't get into most black metal due to poor production value and overuse of blast beats, definitely check this album out because it's just a straight up masterpiece that defies a lot of genre conventions and creates something really special.

A rock solid EP containing more of the brilliance that marked Days Without Names: atmospheric black metal with fantastic song structuring, excellent production, theological lyrics and an utterly killer vocal performance. I highly recommend grabbing it because, for that price, you really can't go wrong, especially if you enjoyed Seeking Refuge and Days Without Names.