“Designs in Sadness.” The next chapter of a book that remains wide open.
There can be little doubt that this is the most diverse album ever delivered by the most important progressive metal band Greece has ever given us:
From the very first listen, the listener will realize that all the distinctive characteristics that have shaped the sonic identity of every HORIZON’S END era can coexist within a unified and utterly harmonious whole. At the same time, the album’s remarkable openness to influences and musical tendencies becomes one of the defining elements of its identity.
Want the ’90s nostalgia of the early HORIZON’S END era? It’s here. Want the transcendent progressive metal of the second album? It’s here, too. Looking for the pieces of the puzzle that shaped the band’s later journey? You’ll find them. And you’ll also find the golden fifteen-year span of European progressive metal, from the ’90s through 2005, alongside a hidden power metal fairytale that somehow emerges in the company of cinema, Broadway, fusion and even Hadjidakis.
All of this, on a single album.
An album that is not afraid to embrace its darkness.
But darkness cannot exist without light.
Emotion here is not the destination of each song, but its guide, leading us through passages that explore the similarities and differences between shadows and rays of light.
“Designs in Sadness” allows its darker shades to unfold, piece by piece, weaving a soundscape rich in contrasts and constant transformation, in the fifth chapter of a journey filled with wonders. A threshold between darkness and light, a shifting passage between the fall of night and the first touch of dawn — or simply the most enigmatic and diverse album HORIZON’S END have ever created?
Having reached an era of absolute progressive metal maturity, HORIZON’S END generously offer us an album full of twists and turns, inviting us to discover it for ourselves.
Within a universe upturned, through dark nights and darker days, the broken men are searching for euphoria…
Check the discussion about the album on our forum pages.
Release date: 6-11-2026. Pre-order the album here.
