Music is a fascinating tool. It can evoke emotion, express ideas, and tell stories. This week’s album does all of that and more. Razia’s Shadow performed by Forgive Durden is an album play that tells a classic story of love, loss, and learning.

At the beginning of this story, there is a scientist named O who creates two cherubs, Ahrima and Nidria, who are the embodiment of love and hope. However, as any good story goes our protagonist, Ahrima is not content with what the scientist has planned for him. So he takes matters into his own hands by creating lamps that will illuminate the sky so he can show Nidria his love for her and to show the world how much he can achieve. However that doesn’t work so he goes down the path of darkness. For the rest of the story you will have to listen to the album yourself.

One of the cool things about this album is the collaboration it took to make it. Not only does it have the core band, but they also have many guest artists from other popular underground indie bands, and a few better known names. Panic! At the Disco’s Brendon Urie makes a guest appearance in this album play. Having multiple people play different characters allows the musical to become more believable. There are no visuals to go by so we have to trust our ears. These different musicians help to paint the beautiful imagery that comes with this story.

The music itself is very diverse. Not only do they have the expected guitar, drum set and bass combo that is expected of most modern music, but they also have pit instruments. This means they have strings, brass and woodwinds. This added layer of musical complexity makes this story seem like it comes from Tim Burton’s dreams. This is definitely a more complex listen. You have to listen to it a few times to catch all of the nuances of the music.

There is a point in which the story and the protagonists change. At this point there is “A Hundred-Year, Minute Long Intermission” in which the style changes with the shift in the story. It is at this point that Urie comes in as a singer.

This one is definitely worth a listen for someone who truly loves to delve into music and is ready for an experience that goes deeper than just the music itself.