ALBUM REVIEW: Stygian Waves – Envy Of None

March 17, 2025 Ed Walton

The post RUSH career of Alex Lifeson continues as the supergroup that is ENVY OF NONE return with their new album, Stygian Waves, their first since 2022’s self titled debut. Now a supergroup that contains a member of the legendary band that is RUSH would normally feed you a bit of intrigue and excitement, whilst there are some good moments on this record, it largely falls a little flat as it meanders from start to finish with moments of greatness that unfortunately never get built upon.

One aspect of Stygian Waves that can be commended is that it is full to the brim with an atmospheric feeling that wouldn’t feel too amiss from a David Lynch film that warps your mind. The album itself does start off strong as it opens up on the quirky and rough around the edges sounding Not Dead Yet, offering a fun bass line that drives the song along combined with some great harmonies between members Andy Curran and Maiah Wynne. The Story follows on which employs a more pop sounding style with a hint of darkness, a fun little synthesiser makes a great melody as Lifeson joins the fray with a wailing yet restrained guitar solo that feels like it’s refraining from taking the limelight on the song.

Third track Under The Stars is where the atmosphere begins to soak up its surroundings with an almost grunge type sound that threatens to become an arena sized track with a distorted guitar noise that compliments the vocals of Maiah Wynne perfectly. Thrill Of The Chase goes hand in hand with Under The Stars as it shows off a funkier side of ENVY OF NONE mixed with a great bluesy riff that does work, making you wish that there was more of it throughout the album. Unfortunately from here on, the album itself doesn’t do anything particularly interesting as it wanders towards its finish line.

Handle With Care slows the album down and by doing so stops any momentum that Stygian Waves, sadly becoming the first of many songs left on the record that fall into the trap of sounding the same. Following on from this is the track That Was Then, which once again sees the album opt for a more grungey style of music, however it doesn’t do it justice compared the earlier effort of Under The Stars as another guitar solo by Lifeson is brought to the forefront of the song, once again feeling very toned down and making you wish he’d send you on a cosmic and trippy journey like we are so used to with his music, but then again as the song says, “that was then and this is now.” Just after the halfway mark, we do get a moment that brings the album round from its slump with the track Raindrops, a song in which lead singer Maiah Wynne does the heavy lifting with some truly excellent vocals that morph through different styles of singing expertly.

New Trip begins our journey towards albums end with a slow and ethereal track which does give you the impression that you’re floating and would maybe benefit from maybe smoking something to help give you the full experience of this song in particular. For the track Clouds, a few moments of synthesisers here and there scratch a particular itch as they give the song a few interesting moments but a moment of greatness flashes right at the end as the song continues to build and build until it reaches a critical mass of beautiful vocals and huge guitars before pulling that away from, fading into nothing. Penultimate song The End has a very similar effect and goes hand in hand with Clouds as it builds up to something great which unfortunately is too little too late for the album as you’re left kicking yourself that this album doesn’t have more moments like this throughout.

Bringing the album to a close is a track that is the albums name sake, Stygian Waves. For a band that features a member of RUSH, there are very little moments that feel over the top over indulgent, until this very last track which feels like each member of ENVY OF NONE has finally been allowed off the leash to put out a great performance, every aspect of this track works and is infuriating that once again some moments of magic on this record have once again come too little too late as it works as more of a soundtrack piece rather than a song from an album.

Stygian Waves is an incredibly frustrating listen. When reading off who all the members of ENVY OF NONE are, it makes you excited for what lies ahead, yet ultimately you’re left disappointed. For die-hards, this is an album you’ll love, but for a casual music listener, this album is an incredibly hard sell and will take several listens before you can finish it. There are moments in different songs that feel like they’ve already been on but there are glimmers of gold throughout, if this album had maybe been an EP it would be much more deserving of any plaudits it gets, however instead of being a bang, this album is much more of a whimper.

Rating: 5/10