"Sigh of Relief" is a fragment of piano-led ambience. It's reminiscent of the more tuneful offerings from Arcana's old label Cold Meat Industry. It offers a respite from the giant artifices of noise on offer elsewhere, creating a sense of unease in the listener. It doesn't go anywhere, but with its brevity it doesn't need to. "Invisible Motions" sounds as big as the opening scene of Star Wars, when the Imperial Star Destroyer overtakes Princess Leia's much smaller ship. This time the female vocals take centre stage. Real words are used, rather than Gerrard-esque transcendent wailing. Arcana conjure dark images. This song alone mentions nothingness, anger, pain, wrath, loneliness, anxiousness and anger, yet there is beauty in the darkness. As I look out of my window into a grey, cloud-filled, winter sky this music makes the scene resplendent. "Outside Your World" sees a slower pace. Bjärgö's vocals return. His singing starts low in the mix, but this gives them room to soar later. This song has a dismal – but in a good way – atmosphere. Try listening to this song as you get ready in the morning, Arcana could make the opening of your fridge seem ominous.

"Parisal" explores the side of Arcana that seeks to make medieval music, or perhaps music based on the romantic images we have of the Middle Ages. Hearing traditional instruments, such as hammered dulcimer, adds another set of colours to the band's palette. This sort of music has never been my favourite side of the band, but by offering us a respite to the following darkness – in the form of "Autumnal" – it seems to become darker. Too much shade can blind the listener, so it's great that Arcana know how to pace themselves – and the listener. "Autumnal" features a mix of piano, synths and whispered female vocals for the first few minutes. Then as the song develops the higher-pitched female singing is introduced. This track is full of unrelieved tension. The sounds struggle for a release that comes only in the form of drums that sound like gunshots in the distance. This song has the mood of Fields of the Nephilim's "Requiem XIII-33 (Le Veilleur Silencieux)".

Guitars are usually few and far between in Arcana's music, so "Out of the Gray Ashes" makes a nice change, with its construction around just such an instrument. Otherwise the usual Arcana ingredients are present and correct. Though on the surface this seems to express a gloomy time when 'the last bomb has been dropped', there is some form of hope in that 'a seed will grow'. This sentiment expresses an interest in the environment, also demonstrated in the lyrics to "Abrakt". The deep male vocals and the high female vocals interweave magically. "Lost In Time" is a highlight of the album. If Arcana were a band that dealt in such things then this would be the single. It has already appeared on Kalinkaland compilation Lightwave II, which is why it sounds so familiar to me. There's a grandeur and sense of scale to this song. The song is in no hurry to get anywhere, but the hypnotic swirling synth sounds will stay in your head when the song has finished. Ethnic instruments clatter over the top making this song a beguiling mix of old and new.

"In Remembrance" is another piano-led slice of ambience, similar to "Sigh of Relief". It is also the cousin of "Reminiscence" from Arcana's The New Light album, albeit without the sound of the waves. "Circumspection" brings the album to a close. I was expecting a big finale, but it seems that "Lost In Time" was the explosion, the two songs that follow it are the aftermath. Wailing female vocals, blending with echoing chimes over the synth background we know so well. More of a whimper, than a bang perhaps, but a gentle way for the listener to return to the real world.