TEMIC is a dream come true for progressive rock fans around the world. This international supergroup brings together current and former members of bands such as Devin Townsend, Mike Portnoy’s Shattered Fortress, The Neal Morse Band, Haken, Shining and Maraton. If their debut album sparked well-deserved excitement, the band has taken a major step forward with ‘Ceiba’, a successor that is as powerful as it is magical. Like TEMIC’s first album, ‘Ceiba’ draws its inspiration from reflections on our own mortality. In Mayan culture, the tree that gives the album its title is sacred because of its connection to the earth, the sky and the underworld. Like its lush cover art, the album strikes like lightning from the very first of its many breathtaking revelations. Steeped in the weight of loss and with not a trace of hope on the horizon, “Ashes” unleashes thunderous riffs before the dark clouds part on an infectious chorus. Like a root, the theme of loss runs deep through ‘Ceiba’. “Broken” mourns the end of a codependent relationship, carried by ghostly synth layers. Whether figurative or literal, however, the album does not see loss as an end, but as one more step on the path of life. “The blood will testify / Your soul will never die,” declares “Ceased To Be”, the first single, which moves between prog’s signature technical virtuosity and divine melodies. Whatever philosophical depths it explores, TEMIC continues to branch out in every direction. Driven by mesmerizing melodic lines, majestic clean vocals and a solid groove, the ten-minute closing track, “As Long As We Last”, will stay with you long after its final epic solo. With ‘Ceiba’, the supergroup TEMIC makes a thunderous return in the form of an ode to progressive rock. For fans of DREAM THEATER, DEVIN TOWNSEND, LEPROUS.