Are you one of those that wondered whatevered happened to The Protagonist? After the much acclaimed debut A Rebours from 1998, fans of meticulously crafted music at the intersection where dark ambient meets neo-classical have waited in vain for a new album. However, this shouldn't be mistaken for seven years of idleness on the part of Magnus Sundström. Rather the focus shifted to his other musical endeavour, the evil twin des Esseintes, as well as the launching of his own imprint, the much productive Fin de Siècle Media label. But after this summer's strong comeback, the Interim EP, the time has finally come for a new album. Just like A Rebours, the title Songs of Experience betrays the literary impact on the music. And just like the poems of William Blake, these compositions strive to forge a perfect marriage between romanticism and darkness, with most emphasis on the latter this time around. Of the eight tracks, some are reworked versions of rare compilation tracks and some are completely new. Taken together they show the steady evolution of The Protagonist in the 21st century, of an artist that treasure an impeccable end-product over fast turnarounds and proliferation. Beautiful digipak designed by Richard Grant. Featuring the spooken word of Jonathan Grieve/Contrastate and Tomas Pettersson/Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio.