For 17 years now, Built to Spill has produced album after album of twisting and turning, multi-layered, experimental rock music for an ever-growing fan base. There Is No Enemy is a high note for the band, whose current sound continues previous records’ trajectory and features a more matured and cultivated style.

The highlight of the album is frontman Doug Martsch’s mastery in composition. Contrasting and complementing guitar and bass lines weave in and out of one another pristinely, almost coaxed by Martsch’s chant of “fade out, fade out” during “Things Fall Apart.” Guitar solos flow tastefully through the music, never disrupting the general mood or direction of the song. There Is No Enemy is an intricate five-man symphony, able to captivate an audience and take them on a journey that traverses genre and produces a unique variety of music.

While the album may be more enigmatically subtle and, as a result, less catchy upon first listen than past albums, after careful inspection the album yields unprecedented depth. As long as listeners are willing to hunt for it, There Is No Enemy truly has something for everyone, sometimes even within the same track. “Hindsight” has more of a country feel to it, while “Pat” exhibits more of an upbeat pop-rock style. “Done” switches gracefully from a slow-paced ballad to a tense divergence of guitar parts all resolved by a perfectly placed guitar riff to satisfy listeners. The one unifying feature amongst the album’s eclecticism is Martsch’s recognizable high-pitched wail that has come to define the band’s sound.

Amidst rumors that this album may be Built to Spill’s last, old fans and new will celebrate There Is No Enemy as a potentially climactic culmination — the completed refinement of the band’s sound.