Deathconsciousness
Being aligned with a set of other rock bands, and being uninformed about rock at the time, I was expecting that they'd sound like other typical boomer rock bands, namely jon bovi, guns n roses, an so on.
But apparently I was very wrong, I failed to realise that their debut was released in the early 2000s instead of the 80s or 90s. And unlike other bands, their songs, at least from this album, might be what some would describe as depressing, soul crushing.
It was difficult to get through the whole album but out of curiosity I stayed till the end and I can say that it covers topics that sound like depression, probably desperation, depersonalization too. You're aware about the fact that you have been abandoned, and that you will be alone, and have always been alone, and that you are nothing more significant than some mammal. At least, that is the impression I picked up.
The few tracks of the album without vocals sound just as, if not more phenomenal than the ones with, though some of them seem to convey completely different moods, or maybe I just havent listened to them more attentively, but that doesn't dismiss the depth of the lyrics. I thought they made some fine poetry.
Regarding the album cover, apparently the painting is of a historical figure once mentioned in an oversimplied video on the french revolution, 'Death of Maral', I think. If you remember the one guy stuck to his bathtub due to a skin condition and died by a stab in the chest, that's him. I thought it was really cool how they adjusted the image of the original painting to contrast the subject better. It looks really elegant and iconic.