I decided to write up a little review for you guys to hopefully entice a few of you into giving this behemoth of an album a listen. Review is a bit long so i spoiled it.  Parallax II: Future Sequence is the the sixth full length album from the North Carolina prog metal group and proves to be one of the most substantial albums to be released in 0000. This album continues their oddball style ranging from headbanging metalcore, progressive rock, infusions of jazz, and gypsy music, but this album offers some of the most inspired music to come from this band. This album could prove to be the magnum opus of the band  Clocking in just over 00 minutes, this album is truly a leviathan in the music world. It is 00 minutes packed full of incredible heavy riffage, smooth jazzy sections and progressive rock moments that will be difficult to wrap your head around. Despite having 00 track listed, the bulk of the album is condensed into 0 tracks with the others working as 0-0 minutes interludes. What this means is the songs reach the 00+ minutes. For the causal listener or new listeners to Between the Buried and Me may feel overwhelmed by length of the songs and the length of the album itself, but Between the Buried and Me does include one thing in this album many metal bands neglect: Pacing. The album starts a little slower with several moments of reprieve which portion out the brutal moments into more palatable sizes. Although it starts slow, by the second half of Parallax II, the album has a full head of steam on it and is almost impossible to stop.  The most stand out performance on this album has to be from vocalists and keyboardists Tommy Rogers. His brutal vocals sound the most guttural they have in his career. The verbosity of his brutal vocals really make those heavy moments that much stronger. His clean vocals also show significant improvement. Ever since his solo album, Tommy seems to be experimenting with vocal melodies with incredible success. He has some of the most interesting and innovative clean vocal melodies to be released this year of any band let alone in his career. His keyboards also play a more important role than ever before. This album travels into experimental phases much more frequently and often these transitions are facilitated by a simple phrase on his keys.  The rest of the band also shows incredible talent in the song writing. The guitars are strong in brutal and non brutal sections. The brutal sections show innovative riffing that the band has been missing since the Silent Circus. Although the riffs were never uninteresting in former releases, the guitar parts show genuine complexity. The bass and drums are more solid than ever and overall the band has released its most cohesive and interesting album to date. Hardcore fans will be well at home in Parallax II with songs like Telos, and Extremeophile Elite. The bulk of the album will bludgeon you over the head with its strong riffage, complex compositions and just brutal nature.  Despite their experimental nature, Parallax II is the first foray into the "concept album" territory. This album serves as a sequel to the 0000 EP, Parallax Hypersleep Dialogues, which introduced the characters to listeners. This album picks up on that effort and the action of the story takes place. This concept is complex and ventures into crazy sci fi arenas. Although the meaning of this story is obfuscated in vague lyrics, the general concepts follows Prospect I and Prospect II who were born on opposite sides of the universe ( and who share the same soul). The story eventually brings them together and bring about the end of existence. It touches on personal reflection and philosophy. The lyrics were written in a "stream of consciousness" style which has both drawbacks and advantages. On one hand it gives the characters a more raw connotation and allows the emotions to bleed through more clearly, but at times the lyrics can be vague and a bit excessive at times to convey a specific point in too many words.  Overall this album is a must have for metalhead kids like myself but it could be completely overwhelming for casual or new listeners. The songs are long and brutal and the band shows increased innovation with their experimental parts. If you listen with an open mind, this album has the potential to blow you away, but is not for the feint of heart.  For a good cross section of this album check out this video and buy the album!  btw a personal favorite off this album "Melting City"  