The Appleseed Cast

It's no wonder that the Appleseed Cast's latest album is titled after the Nepalese name for Mount Everest. Sagarmatha, the Lawrence-based band's latest effort, represents a journey into unfathomable heights. The opening track, "As the Little Things Go," seems in awe of a far-off mountaintop, its recurring instrumental interludes sounding as if they hailed from an angelic choir. In the album's third and fourth tracks, "The Road West" and "The Summer Before," the overall euphoric state is snapped by the entrance of oxygen-starved vocals strained in second-guessing. The pinnacle is reached, at last, in the final track, "An Army of Fireflies," with bombastic drums and guitar evoking images of conquest — the entire world lies below. The last 30 seconds, however, address another problem. As the final chords splinter, we're left with a plodding piano and the matter of getting down. To ascend Sagarmatha is to immerse in a world of instrumental storytelling at its best — a metaphysical rock opera not intended for casual listening. Except by daydreamers.