It’s rare that a band’s sophomore release is as hotly anticipated as Black Crown Initiate’s. Their 2014 album The Wreckage of Stars made bigtime waves in the progressive death metal community, following the grassroots success of their Song of the Crippled Bull EP in 2012. So: what will BCI’s next album have in store? Will they stay the course, subject to the dreaded sophomore slump, or will they dig deep and push in new directions?

We’ve heard their new album Selves We Cannot Forgive in its entirety here at the MetalSucks Mansion, and we can confidently say it’s the latter: it’s clear these Pennsylvanians worked really, really hard on this one and they aren’t content to stay put creatively. “For Red Cloud,” the album’s opening track, only hints at the sonic expansion of the album as a whole; you’ll hear plenty of standard Black Crown-isms, but also dalliances into previously unexplored ground. Really, it’s the perfect way to start an album, and the ideal way to introduce it to the public: “We’ll ease you in gently.” Just the tip, if you will. Later in the album things definitely take a turn into other realms which, in our humble opinion is a good thing, but this being the Internet in 2016 we’re positive not everyone will agree.

Check out “For Red Cloud” below. Selves We Cannot Forgive comes out on July 22nd via eOne and can be pre-ordered on physical and digital formats.