Review: Thought Chamber – Myst of Lyriad

Style: progressive metal, progressive rock, heavy prog (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Threshold, Dream Theater, Spock’s Beard, Fates Warning
Country: United States
Release date: 22 August 2025

I like nurturing my hyper macho persona of being the dissodeath and weird black metal guy here, far divorced from the effete prog of my past (and of my peers). But deep down, I’m a prog guy at heart; just ask Sam or Sabrina—I message ‘em five times a week with some random 90s prog metal album nobody has ever heard of that I’ve found from the depths of the underground. Thought Chamber aren’t completely unremembered like some of the subterranean 90s gems I find¹, but they’d fallen by the wayside, and most current prog metal fans certainly haven’t heard of them unless they’d gone deep down the rabbithole of searching for bands that sound like Dream Theater (that’s how I found Thought Chamber years ago). Heck, I’d even been considering writing a Lost in Time piece on their 2007 debut Angular Perceptions for years at this point but just haven’t gotten around to it. 

So color me surprised when twelve years after the release of Psykerion and beginning with a continuation of that record’s storyline, Thought Chamber are back in action with Myst of Lyriad, a record which had essentially no promotion at all. Made up largely of members of unsung early prog metal legends Enchant, that Myst of Lyriad is a relic of the past is unsurprising—especially since composer Michael Harris is sixty-five years old. And this old dog and his troupe haven’t learned any new tricks, with the only real difference sonically between Myst of Lyriad and 2013’s Psykerion being the notable absence of Ted Leonard’s (Enchant, Spock’s Beard) distinctive tenor helming the band. In his steed is the formidable (on paper) trio of Travis Wills (Crimson Glory), John Jaycee Cuijpers (Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Arjen Luccasen’s Supersonic Revolution), and Devon Graves (Psychotic Waltz). Together the three of them have more than enough pedigree in older prog metal bands to fit Thought Chamber’s retro aesthetic—although none deliver particularly stunning performances here, singing mostly simple, mid-range vocal lines—yet one familiar with the group can’t help but miss Leonard and his unique style of 90s prog metal crooning.

Sonically blurring the line between prog metal, prog rock, and the amorphous “heavy prog” of late 90s acts like Enchant, Magellan, and Ice Age, Thought Chamber are in the business of making Prog™. Across the ten tracks on Myst of Lyriad, the band tries to invoke every emotion possible: those being shreddy, melodic, and ballad (y’know, the three great modes of human emotion). They succeed at hitting those “emotional” notes but not much else at all. Melodically, Myst of Lyriad is full of hooks, yet none take; it’s that frustrating feeling when you accidentally try and set the hook too early while fishing and the fish takes your bait and gets away. Listening to tracks like “New Dawn Sun Ride” or “Here Upon This Earth,” (the latter of which is the highlight of the album with its modestly orchestrated buildup and flamenco), I can sense my brain nearly grasping onto a vocal line or riff, yet frustratingly nothing is memorable immediately after the instant gratification of “ooh saccharine melody.”  The main problem here is that the three vocalists are bland as hell—no freaky falsetto notes, no charisma.

The requisite ballad—it is a 90s-style heavy prog album after all—is thankfully relegated to just the penultimate track, “Nyctophobia.” It’s fine but, like so many ballads, feels superfluous, an extra six minutes that should have been trimmed for a leaner album. The most interesting asset of Thought Chamber’s sound is their instrumental prowess. In any pause from singing, no matter how brief, the instrumental quartet goes off, particularly Michael Harris on guitar and Jeff Plant on bass, though Bill Jenkis’ key-playing leads to some dramatic instrumental duels with the stringed instruments. Mike Hald holds down the fort perfectly with his drum playing by staying out of the way beyond inserting tasteful grooves and fills. The instrumentalists are in frequent conversation with each other, taking turns with phrasal call and responses, alternating who leads and follows. Perhaps the best example is the first track where, for lots of a largely jam-oriented ten minutes, Thought Chamber play alternating, little flurrying micro solos. It’s fun and enjoyable while listening, but it doesn’t make for memorable songwriting in this case.

After Thought Chamber returned from the dead with only their longtime singer as a casualty, I had low expectations for Myst of Lyriad, and unfortunately I was right. On top of bland performances from a band that clearly wishes it were the 90s still, the production also hasn’t updated itself from a bygone time, feeling oddly hollow with some really retro keyboard sounds—but this isn’t an authentic artifact of the time and feels inexcusable. Myst of Lyriad is a style of music I’m deeply nostalgic for and love, but it’s increasingly rare to find a band that still does it right in 2025. I could always write that Angular Perceptions Lost in Time, I suppose…

Recommended tracks: Myst of Lyriad, Shine Again, Here Upon This Earth
You may also like: Enchant, Shadow Gallery, Magellan, Ice Age, Redemption, Psychotic Waltz, Hourglass
Final verdict: 5/10

Related links: Facebook | Metal-Archives

Label: Lion Music – Facebook | Official Website

Thought Chamber is:
– Michael Harris – guitars, keyboards, vocals
– Mike Haid – drums
– Jeff Plant – bass
– Bill Jenkins – keyboards
– Travis Wills – lead vocals
– Devon Graves – lead vocals
– Jaycee Cuijpers – lead vocals

1. Some highlights of the past couple weeks include: The Last Things, Zeitgeist, and Koyaanisqatsi. There are dozens more I’d love to write about in the future. ↩︎