Leprous arrived in the late 2000s and rewrote the progressive-metal playbook. While many of the Norwegian group’s peers embraced Meshuggah-informed djent, Leprous instead forged a darkly passionate sound that owed more to TOOL and King Crimson. With an early stint as Ihsahn’s backing band offering them a critical career boost, the members of Leprous have proudly embraced their role as artistic outliers. Beginning with their 2009 debut, Tall Poppy Syndrome, each successive release has found guitarist Tor Oddmund Suhrke and singer and keyboardist Einar Solberg blending their otherworldly harmonies and melancholic compositions with electronic music, classical instruments and even trip-hop-influenced rhythms. Landing in 2019, Pitfalls contains enough melodic richness and pop hooks to make the case that Leprous have made the transition from progressive metalheads to 21st-century art rockers.