“Sorority girls, frat bros, rednecks, and cowboys all fight for survival during an infestation of giant flesh-eating cicadas.” When you get the project press back you will find this as a preface for the music theme of this stunning project. First, you should know that this is a soundtrack album for the one-hour audio drama which tells the story of “a sleepy West Virginia backwater, where human-induced environmental degradation has forced oblivious Roadtrippers, hick hunters, and frat bros to contend with giant mutant cicadas and their insatiable appetite for human flesh.” – Sam Fishman explained.

In my opinion, Sam’s music characterized by its well-made implementation, FYI, he took a whole year of preparation for this project. The soundtracks are instrumentals and songs with a rock opera theme, the opening instrumental, as well as the Frat Party, are delivering a unique atmosphere, and for tracks like ‘Your Greatest Fear’ and ‘Emergence’ I loved the beauty of the emotive vocals, tight rhythm, and Emergence solo is iconic especially when you feel the orchestral background!

Getting harder with raw hard-rock riffs in Launch Intro Madness and it’s a magical merge between 70s rock sound with early 2000’s vocals. Can you believe it? Extraordinary! Cicada Madness!’s concept as Fishman stated ” acknowledging your own fears, embracing your own insanities, and killer cicadas seeking to annihilate the human race from planet earth! (Mainly because humans have been destroying the planet).” and presented by the fictional rock band “Scorching Mantis.”

 The album has been recorded by professional musicians and they are Alex Goldenthal (guitar and bass), Ryan Acquaotta (vocals), Sam Fishman (drums and vocals), Chandler Mogel (vocals on “Launch into Madness”), Mara Lisenko (background vocals on VR Song and Cicada Madness!). Music has been recorded and mixed by Shane Stanton at Architekt Music studios in Butler, NJ. Feel the fear here.

The album takes you in a memorable journey by a stand-out collection of progressive rock intertwined with mythical storytelling of 15 track. While listening to it you will be find most of the tracks are storytelling about; “some heavy topics in this recording. – Accepting dicult feelings. – Finding inner peace and strength – Mass incarceration/wrongful imprisonment – Texting while driving (music video is on youtube. This could be an interesting and impactful way to market/make a difference for the better).” – Sam explained.

Literary, there’s no single track that I didn’t like. All of them are simply great! The music elements are perfectly chosen and melodies are in great shape. I love the riffs and the soloing style. “If you are texting while driving, you might as well be pulling the trigger of a gun. Does intention matter?” This is the main concept of the marvelous track “The End of Time“. The music video delivered the message pretty well. Samantha’s powerful voice took the whole track to a new level of perfection.

It’s been a while since you listen to clear instruments in a record these days, and Sam wasn’t only influenced by that, but implemented it perfectly as well. “The first album I ever heard was Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. This opened my mind to the possibilities of sound and has always inspired me. – As the years have gone by, I’ve felt disappointed with the output of modern rock. I believe that you can be accessible and still maintain a level of experimentation. Let’s not be afraid to challenge listeners and take them on a ride! Let’s throw some twists and turns into rock and roll.” – Sam Fishman

End of Time is one of my favorite album this year indeed.