“Sweden’s New Keepers of the Water Towers‘ fourth album is another amazingly psychedelic trip through the cosmos,” issues the Sludgelord of Infernal Machine. “Mixing the influences of heroes such as Pink Floyd and King Crimson along with modern day prog masters such as Opeth and Steven Wilson is not an easy trick, but NK… pull it off excellently.” Calling Infernal Machine, “their most textured and expansive work yet,” The Obelisk elaborates, “The band have been on an outward push since 2011’s The Calydonian Hunt followed their rawer 2009 debut, Chronicles, but along with aligning themselves to Listenable Records in 2013 for the release of their third LP, The Cosmic Child, the band also took a corresponding stylistic leap into progressive psychedelia, basking in Floydian contemplations and spacious heft, and Infernal Machine is very much born of that same tradition. The difference is in the amount of the cosmos that the lineup of vocalist/guitarist Rasmus Booberg, drummer/vocalist Tor Sjödén, guitarist/vocalist Victor Berg, bassist Björn Andersson and keyboardist Adam Forsgren cover over the seven-track/forty-five-minute span of Infernal Machine, and in the precise manner by which they control the linear flow between and throughout the songs. Clearly intended to be taken in its entirety, Infernal Machine has standout moments, but each one of them feeds into an overarching impression of the whole, and the band make themselves at home working in such a grand scope.” While Sea Of Tranquility notes, “Infernal Machine is a very solid album, complete with ominous, menacing passages and an overall creepy vibe…,” and recommended, “for any fan of dark prog and psychedelic space rock.”

Attempting to label New Keepers of the Water Towers feels futile. This Stockholm-based five-piece has grown at such a consistent pace since first forming in 2006 that pigeonholing their unique sound is immediately outdated with each passing album.

With their fourth full-length album, Infernal Machine, a concept album based on the classic sci-fi novel The Forever War, they’ve transformed a tale of an interstellar Galactic battle into a musical odyssey that supersedes anything you’ve heard to date. From the record’s initial onset, listeners are flung into a world where classic prog meets it’s unlikely counterparts of pure, vintage space rock, perfectly haunting harmonizing vocal lines, and just enough of the far from modest power riffs to keep you gasping for air with anticipation for the next track to begin as you move forward on your journey.

The Infernal Machine is released on Listenable Records on April 1.