There is truly no end to the creativity that flows in the world of music. A punt on a release by Raphael Weinroth-Browne that dropped in my in-box two weeks ago, but which I only just managed to get around to playing, left me once again ruing my tardiness.
Raphael Weinroth-Browne – Lifeblood
Release Date: 3 October 2025
Words: Paul Hutchings
Some of you will probably be looking at the name Raphael Weinroth-Browne and wondering why I had not grasped this immediately. Well, although I have admiration of Leprous, they still have not quite hit the mark with me, although I still have more time to give.
I mention Leprous purely because for the past seven years, Weinroth-Browne has been part of that fine band, and further exploration reveals much more to the Canadian cellist. His website lists a vast body of work that displays his versatility and creative qualities, but it is in listening to Lifeblood that you get a sense of the inspiration and desire of this musician, described as a Progressive Metal soul trapped in a classical body.
Eight compositions that span an hour of time, Lifeblood is well worth the investment, for the performance is one that is enhanced by a deep focus and concentration. Citing music as his lifeblood and therefore providing him with the inspiration for the album title, it is a release that ebbs and flows, gentle elements standing toe to toe with more visceral and powerful passages.
Compositions are not short, with four songs topping nine minutes plus. But there is a cinematic score here, a sprawling yet coiled and magical soundscape that combines modern form with older styles, drawing on Arabic maqams alongside classical focus and that Progressive Metal infusion that provides the heartbeat here.
Clinically precise, there is emotion that floods each piece. The dreamlike state that is induced during the penultimate Winterlight contrasts with some of the more angular, industrial work that heads up this album. What cannot be emphasised enough is the intense effort and passion that has been forged in the crafting of Lifeblood.
“The cello has become not just my instrument but an extension of my compositional identity,” he says, and it is evident with even the first listen that this music does not come easy but is carved with precision and focus.
From the title track that opens the album through the sonically charged centrepiece Labyrinthine and the magical conclusion via The Glimmering, this is a journey that needs to be taken.
“This album is a reflection on myself as an artist and the journey that has led me to where I am now,” says Raphael. “The title Lifeblood refers to music itself; music has been there for me in all the seasons of my life and has given me everything I have, and in turn, I have devoted myself fully to it.”
Raphael Weinroth-Browne releases Lifeblood today. For more details, visit Bandcamp.
