We’re excited to be able to premiere the first single from Fungi’s upcoming album, Into the Void. The song, entitled “Third Eye,” is the opening track on the record, and it gets the album off to a pounding start.

The album has touches of progressive metal with a particularly fresh spin. There are elements of hard rock and metal, reminiscent of bands like Chevelle or Tool. At just under forty minutes, the album flies by leaving the listener wanting more.

Into the Void has a youthful energy that reminds me of the early days of Dream Theater, particularly in the quieter moments, such as on the second track, “Passengers III.” It doesn’t necessarily sound like Dream Theater, but it has that sincerity and intensity. Fungi allow their sound to develop and shift over the course of the songs. For instance, part of the third track, “Parallels,” has a Genesis vibe, with an acoustic guitar and light flute in the background. The song opens with a heavier riff but alternates between quieter and heavier passages. The ten-minute long final track, “Genesis,” takes on some symphonic elements while maintaining the heavy guitars, pounding drums, and soaring vocals.

Regarding the album’s concept, the band tells Progarchy:

Into the void is a progressive rock album that talks about the transition process we go through when you get to a point in your life where you need to step up or upgrade to your new version/Self. The main idea is the a part of you has to die in order for other to be born, and that process, that tends to be tough and confusing, is only clear and understood, once you get to the other side, meanwhile you can feel altered, lost, confused, seeking help, angry, but then at some point you kind of get that feeling of familiarity, reconnection with something very deep, you feel as if you were back to your true self (your inner kid, your creative self, your spiritual self); after feeling that strong reconnection strong feeling of glory, power and freedom is reached. And so you can now start your new journey as your new self, walking towards your future next transformation process, which will be wearing another undistinguishable disguise. We go through these processes a lot of times in our life but somehow we fail to recognize when we are going through the process. Maybe by hearing this album, people can identify more clearly and easily when they are going through these processes.

Everything is written from a point of view of a made up story of a man mysteriously walking through a highway, who gets tired, walks down a path that gets him to a river with trees and shadows, so he lays to drink water and find something to eat.. the only thing he sees are a bunch of mushrooms, which he then eats and lays to rest, as he starts having visions, and hearing voices, represented in the verses of the songs. Choruses are mostly him thinking to himself, reflecting on what he heard from the voices, making his own conclusions. The music emulates the trip of a mushroom starting with Intense euphoria, rapid changes in mood, reflexion, followed by an afterglow and a sense of liberation.