Panopticon’s sixth album, Autumn Eternal, is finished. It will be a long wait until most people have a chance to experience it — it’s not scheduled for release until October 16, 2015. But for an album inspired by and named for Autumn, it’s only fitting that it come with the changing of the colors in the trees and the first bite of chill in the air. I can also assure you, as one among the fortunate few who have heard the album, that although the wait will be long, your patience will be richly rewarded.

All of Panopticon’s albums beginning with 2012’s Kentucky can be thought of as remembrances of time and place, functioning both as outlets for Austin Lunn’s creative impulses and also as records, or snap-shots, of particular experiences and the physical environments where they occurred. They have been inspired to a significant degree by the beauty of nature, and, as carefully constructed and richly layered as they are, you also get the sense when you hear them that they have been written and recorded with great passion.

In these ways, Autumn Eternal is like the last two albums that preceded it.  It’s bursting with emotional intensity (it may be the most intense Panopticon album so far). It’s filled with powerful, sweeping melodies. It’s multi-layered, atmospheric, immersive, and memorable. But because Panopticon’s albums are such personal works, because they are snapshots of time and place in the life of their creator, there are also differences in the music as compared to those last two albums. People change, and Panopticon’s music continues to change as well. Continue reading »