The Ruins Of Iapetus is the debut studio album by the American progressive rock band Fossil Record, released on January 9, 2026. The band is from Burlington, Vermont and consists of Griffin DeMatteo (vocals/guitar), Emilia Winquist (bass), Alex McPhedran (piano) and Zach Santos (drums). The album was preceded by the single Cassidy The Queen Of Mustard Seed. The writing process for the album began as early as the fall of 2018. Later on the album was tracked, mixed and mastered at Big Lake Recording Company, in Burlington, Vermont. The result is an almost hour long album with most of all rather mediocre compositions. The ten tracks which are included are not too complicated and easy to digest for most listeners. In the press it was written that the album is primarily progressive rock and most of all for for fans of Caligula's Horse, Thank You Scientist and Black Country New Road. I do know the first two names but I can't hardly agree with this comparison. I hardly hear any similarity between those acts and Fossil Record. The music of Fossil Record has less influences of progressive rock compared to those mentioned acts and is also less complex in their compositions. However the band comes closer to the style of the Alternative/Indie band Black Country New Road. They also come up with a kind of musical style which is more simple compared to the more complex progressive rock style. Therefore it would have been better if they just named their musical style Indian pop, Indian Indie, Rock with a bit of progressive rock influences. Sure the ten tracks are not really boring and from time to time they entertain you all the way. Most of all the inclusion of some extra guest musicians on vocals, mandolin, keyboards, trumpet, flute, fiddle and sax gives some of the songs some extra musical variety. Highlights for me personally are the opening track Rust and closing piece Maple Street. Most of all because they feature some strong instrumental parts. Finally some words about the album artwork. This was very well done by Levi DeMatteo. The brother of the earlier mentioned Griffin DeMatteo. Don't get me wrong, The Ruins Of Iapetus is most certainly not a bad album. But to call yourself a progressive rock band you just have to offer more music wise. More instrumental passages and different time signatures should have been included to make this album get the attention of most lovers of progressive rock. Maybe there is a challenge for the follow up album to move more into the musical direction which most readers of this website would love to hear! ***- Henri Strik (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
