The Reticent - 2025 - Please

(49:44; Generation Prog Records)

I generally think of myself as being quite clued up with what is going on in the prog scene, but even someone as prolific as myself cannot review everything out there. However, it is something of a surprise to come across an artist who has already released five albums in the last two decades, with this being the sixth, yet I have never heard of them. Although this may seem to be a band, it is actually mostly the work of multi-instrumentalist Chris Hathcock, who is also active as guitarist and singer in symphonic death metal act Xael, and has also drummed in Knightmare and Wehrwolfe. On this album he provides all instrumentation and vocals apart from James Nelson (lead guitar, acoustic guitar), Brian Kingsland (vocals on one track, Nile) and narrator Vienna Gloom.

This is a concept album which works through the complex terrain of mental illness, with each song shedding light on a unique psychological struggle, from the disorientation of panic attacks and the torment of sleeplessness to the crushing weight of depression and the finality of suicidal ideation. It is incredibly educational, and in some ways, I found it difficult to listen to, as the music is taking me in one direction and the lyrics and narration in another. I have personally suffered with mental illness for more than 20 years, and I never thought I would listen to an album accurately describing how I feel, or how I know I would feel if I stopped taking my medication. This is obviously a lived experience, as it is only by being in that darkness (I think of it as going down a rabbit hole) that one can summon these descriptions and emotions. 

Musically this is close to Cynic, and possibly Devin Townsend, with intense note density as the progressive metal takes us on a journey, but one can never relax too much as there are the words which bring us thumping back down to reality. At times I felt I was listening to an educational broadcast as opposed to entertainment, as there are so many facts and figures being thrown at us. This is not something light-hearted, it is deadly serious, using the medium of complex music and volume to convey a message all need to hear if they want to understand what it can mean to suffer with any form of depression or stress and what that can lead to. 

Hidden throughout the album are references to the work of clinical psychologist Kay Redfield Jamison, including nods to her books ‘Night Falls Fast’ (1999) and ‘An Unquiet Mind’ (1995), and samples of her voice can be found in “Discharge.” The cover art depicts depression as a riptide, pulling the sufferer away from shore, a theme which is also repeated in the lyrics. That state of helplessness is real, and those who have been lucky enough never to have suffered have no idea what it means to feel that way – at one time I felt so bad I was convinced I was going to be put away in a mental asylum, so being told to “cheer up” isn’t exactly the help many think it is. As for the person being interviewed who says he cannot get clinical depression as he doesn’t believe in it, words fail me. 

The music spirals, twists and turns, rising and shifting so everything is good one second and then blasting in a totally different direction the next. The few lines of “Row Row Row Your Boat” seem incongruous, yet completely right at the same time.  

I have no doubt this is one of the most important albums ever released on this complex subject, and it must have taken a great deal emotionally out of Chris, and he should be commended for putting absolutely everything out there. If you enjoy prog metal which veers into mathcore and death yet always with hard-hitting lyrics, then this is for you. 

Kev Rowland, February 2026

Links:
https://www.thereticent.net/
https://generation-prog.com/