A complex and sophisticated effort, Reprieve: The Auspicious Occurrences of Dr. Chen’s Past Lives (Maybe Mars), the latest release from Chengdu heavy psychedelic quartet Proximity Butterfly, is a 58-minute odyssey through a fictionalized account of the very real Wenchuan Earthquake that sent shockwaves throughout China in 2008.

Beginning with the Sichuan-opera influenced “The Thousand Faces,” Reprieve travels from one sonic landscape to the next, crafting a fine line between beauty and violence to tell the sobering tale of a man stuck beneath the rubble, hallucinating and fantasizing while helping victims of the natural disaster.

Mixed and mastered by Proximity Butterfly frontman Joshua C. Love, the album, the band’s fifth studio release and first since 2008’s The Antikythera Mechanism, is a definite victory for a band that’s been at the forefront of the Chengdu rock scene for the better part of a decade, a complete concept piece that strikes listeners with its aural maturity, crafty songwriting and skillful studio production.

Of note are the industrial tinged “Aggress,” eerie funk rocker “Tiptoes of Shiva” and jazzy space-jam “Vanity,” songs that exemplify Proximity Butterfly’s mix of hard and progressive rock and use of time signature changes and tempo shifts.

While Reprieve sees Proximity Butterfly further carving their niche as China’s top flag-bearers of psychedelia, the band, at times, too closely references their influences, best heard on the ethereal acoustic-driven “Sacrifice,” which has a striking resemblance to The Mars Volta’s “Televators.”

Proximity Butterfly arrive at Shanghai’s Yuyintang this Friday, July 1st to release Reprieve.

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