‘Unbecoming of a Gentleman’ offers the latest preview of Alchestronomy, the forthcoming album from U.S. progressive metallers PARIUS. Premiered in partnership with The ProgSpace, the song is the record’s second single. Willowtip Records will release the album November 13 on digipak CD, limited edition longbox CD, gatefold vinyl LP and digital formats.
The follow-up to the band’s 2022 album marks a 15-year career with a suite designed to work both as a continuous piece and as seven individual songs. According to the announcement supplied by ClawHammer PR, the recording avoids modern audio editing techniques such as quantizing and pitch correction.
Its concept places two approaches to immortality in opposition. PARIUS describe the premise as: “An alchemist and an astronomer engaged in a battle of ideals. Each of them convinced they know what will ensure they live forever.”
The band call the album “a sort of musical inkblot test,” intended for progressive music fans and casual listeners alike. They describe its dual structure as an extended progressive work and seven distinct, traditionally structured songs, citing Dream Theater’s Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence and The Mars Volta’s Cassandra Gemini as reference points.
At 3:47, ‘Unbecoming of a Gentleman’ occupies the second position in the running order. The complete sequence is ‘Alchemy’ (5:49), ‘Unbecoming of a Gentleman’ (3:47), ‘Celestial Sea’ (3:45), ‘Chrysopoeia’ (3:14), ‘Equivalent Exchange’ (6:14), ‘Blind Eyed Starlight’ (6:01) and ‘Astronomy’ (7:54).
The album features Louis Thierry on vocals, Ryan Rauch on guitars, Kenny Rentz on bass and Dan Silver on drums, with special guest Diego Tejeida contributing keyboards. PARIUS handled production, while Jamie King mixed and mastered the record.
Stephen Andrade painted the artwork, and Christophe Szpajdel illustrated the PARIUS logo. Album preorders are available through Willowtip Records and the band’s Bandcamp release page.