Knowing these guys used to be responsible for Empyrium, it's hard for me to judge _The Grimalkin_ purely for what it is. Granted, the music is so outrageously different from Empyrium that only in the back of my mind do I get this annoying feeling that a few years back I enjoyed their musical output so immeasurably more. Indeed I also happen to prefer the latest album by Schwadorf's other current band, The Vision Bleak. These aren't fair comparisons though, as the genres involved and the very direction of the music is entirely different in all cases. For what it's worth, _The Grimalkin_ is a reasonably interesting prog album with enough unusual elements to make it worth a few listens; however a number of weaker sections in its lengthy compositions, as well as a general inability to fully capture my interest or avoid just sounding convoluted, mean it is unlikely I will be going back to it very often in the future.