Perhaps the best place to start is the band's stated influences, ranging from Opeth, Meshuggah, Dimmu Borgir, and Strapping Young Lad to cinematic music and film scores. I'd probably also add Gojira to the list of similar artists. Jagged polyrhythms morph to sprawling extended riffs to straightforward grooves. The vocals are mostly in the shouted/growled range, although clean vocals do make an appearance on a couple songs. Brass and string abound, and choral voices come in on songs like album closer "The Glorious Death," although the orchestral flourishes are not completely everpresent: sometimes they come in to lend an epic sense to the music, and sometimes the band just fall back to pure guitar, bass, and drums metal.

Even when the band pares back to a straightforward sound, the cinematic scope remains. The drum production in particular stands out, with a huge movie-scale sound in places even when it's just the kit instead of being extended with orchestral percussion.

Unsurprisingly for a prog band, II has at least a loose war-related concept running through it. I can't say I've deciphered the whole thing, but I first noticed it during some sound clips referencing PTSD. And then of course it became obvious as I looked over the song titles, ranging from opener "Unite to Defy" through "The Call to Arms" and ending with "Nuclear Self Eradication," "Numbered Among The Dead," and "The Glorious Death." Combining all of that with the cinematic scope, maybe there's a soundtrack to a war or armageddon movie somewhere in here for those inclined to dig it out.