After wrestling through the new Transatlantic album most of last week with two “versions,” 32 songs, and 2 hours and 34 minutes of music, my brain was happy to just listen to a solid, concise album. Even though it was released a week earlier, I only now got around to giving it a listen, and I’m glad I waited. I found Soen’s latest, Imperial, to be a perfect pallet-cleansing 8 songs and 42 minutes.

It was hard choosing the highlight songs from this album, as there isn’t a bad song on it! Great flow and so well put together from start to finish. When it was over I couldn’t wait to listen to it again. I will, however, give a special call out to track 4, Illusion, as it almost felt like part two to the brilliant song Lotus from their previous release by the same name. No matter how many times I would listen to Lotus (and it’s been A LOT), I never got tired of it and it always seemed to end too soon, so I was extremely happy to have Illusion pick up on this album where Lotus left off. Someone could do a very nice mashup with these two gems.

If your head needs a rest from the complexities of Transatlantic’s release last week’s, then “fire up your guns” and check out Imperial! 4.5 Stars.