Good morning/afternoon/evening prog metal fans!
New Progressive Subway boss here. I’m Dylan! If you’ve been paying attention to reviewers’ names for the past 10 months, you may have noticed me. As you all know, Sam has decided to take a break from reviewing, and because of that, I’m now the man responsible behind the introduction, the editing, and giving the guys deadlines. However, he is still present in this edition, kind of as a farewell until he returns way after the summer.
So what can we expect from this month? Well first of all, former member of the UPM Blog Nost is back! He’ll be specializing on Doom related albums, but won’t restrict himself to that area alone. Because of such, this month has a lot of what you’ve come to expect; A couple traditional releases, a bit of doom and stoner thrown in there, a lot of Old School worship, a weird album, an album that tries to be King Diamond where it REALLY shouldn’t, and most shocking of all; two, yes that’s right, TWO prog thrash releases. I don’t know how, but we actually found them. Oh and also, a band that has probably less listeners than your high school blackened harsh noise project from when you were 15. So yea :p
As always, be sure to check out the recommended tracks playlist on Spotify , and to check out the spreadsheet for easily readable information about every album (coming a bit later after this post is released!).
Then a couple of notable changes since last edition;
- Reviews are no longer organized by release date. Instead, we tried to organize them in a way that maintains tonal consistency, thanks to the feedback given on the prog metal discord.
- This is the last edition Sam will be writing in for a couple months. So say goodbye to all kinds of cheesy power reviews, farewell ;(
- Unfortunately due unfortunate circumstances in real life, Volarus and Daniel were unable to complete their reviews. Hence we’re missing about seven albums for this edition. There was nothing any of us could do about this unfortunately. These were Ni, Evaded, Ciconia, Stone Leaders, An Isolated Mind, Obscuring Veil and Vielikan. Some of these have been moved in advance to missed albums edition though, so don’t feel left out if you wanted one of these reviewed. We’ll be getting to them later, just not now.
- And for even more unfortunate news, Daniel will no longer be writing for the blog. His schedule at the moment is much too busy to write for us.
- Hence we are looking for two new writers. Requirements are that you have enough time, and previous writing experience is a plus. If you wanna join us, make sure you have at least two hours a week to dedicate to this blog. We also value that you communicate regularly with us, both casually and practically. Taste-wise, a specialization in prog power/traditional and instrumental prog are preferred with Sam and Daniel leaving. If you want to join us, send an email to: theprogressivesubway@gmail.com.
Then lastly, for some practical information:
What is this place? We use Metal-Archives’ advanced search engine to find all progressive/post/avantgarde metal releases in a month, then we select the best/most grabbing ones and write a (small) review on them. We go chronological with the months. We take releases from outside of metal-archives too, but that is generally limited to requests and recommendations from other prog fans as the other sites’ search engines aren’t as precise nor is their database as thorough as metal-archives. You can read more about us on our About page, which also includes some history. Do you want your band reviewed? Or do you want to send us a recommendation? Send an email to theprogressivesubway@gmail.com.
With all of that said, let’s dive right in!
Sermon – Birth of the Marvellous (US-PA)
Style: Alternative (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | RYM page
Review by: nost
It should be noted that while I’m reviewing this in June, I’ve been listening to this album with pretty reasonable consistency since it dropped back in March. Why, you might ask? Well I’ll tell you as we go on with this review, but to quickly sum it up: It’s pretty damn incredible.
What we have in Sermon, is an artist that is almost a solo project. All vocal, guitar, bass, synth, and whatever else is involved duties are handled by a single, anonymous contributor, while the drumming is provided by James Stewart, also known for his work with Death Metal band Vader (who are quite good and should definitely be checked out by DM fans). There is a massive level of cohesivity between each and every element in this music, so much so that it’s really hard for me to pick out a specific moment or element of performance that stands out. The vocals are earnest, emotional, and have a wonderful, rich tone that perfectly complements the melancholy nature of the music. The guitar isn’t flashy, but over extensive listens I keep noticing more and more cool things, neat riffs, super engaging melodic leads, etcetera. The bass servers a supporting role often here, but when they bring it to the front it comes in hard, with a marvelous thick tone and just absolutely massive grooves.
All of this being said, the thing that I keep remembering about this album every time I think about it is the damn drums. Stewart is a beast behind the kit, and while his work here isn’t as fast or aggressive as it is with Vader, the level of technical intricacy to it is just wonderful. Nearly every moment in every song has some small piece of drumming that just makes me stop for a second and go “wow”. I don’t usually have a huge appreciation for drumming either, so this makes the performance on this album stand out even moreso for me. Also worth noting is that the production, mix, and mastering are all absolutely pristine.
I could blather on and on about how fantastic this album is, and how any fan of Modern Katatonia, Modern Opeth, or really any gothic-flavored Alt Prog should 100% check out this album, but honestly I think this has the potential to be enjoyed by anyone, prog fan or otherwise, metal fan or otherwise. It’s that good. Just do yourself a favor and give it a whirl, I’m almost certain you won’t regret it.
Recommended tracks: The Drift, Chasm, The Preacher
Recommended for fans of: Katatonia, Opeth, Porcupine Tree
Final verdict: 9/10
Raiju – Non Sequitur (US-CA)
Style: Rock/Mathcore (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook |
Review by: Nost
Protest the Hero was probably the first prog band I really fell in love with. Fortress specifically was the soundtrack to much of my High School life, and damn was I head over heels for that album. The songwriting, the vocals, the noodly guitar, everything was perfect for where I was in my musical development at the time. However, that was quite a few years ago now, and my tastes have evolved and developed, as they do. And while I’m still fond of PtH, I find myself grow less and less fond of bands that ape their style. And thus we find ourselves with Raiju, a band that definitely, 100% sounds like Protest the Hero. Is this a good thing? It depends how much you’re desperately craving new PtH.
From the guitar noodling to the song structure to the vocal melody and oppressively high male vocals, everything about this album sounds like it was recorded by PtH in their earlier days, but with a bit less of the insanely prodigious amount of talent those PtH boys had. Technically speaking this is a wonderfully made album, the guitar is impressively composed and played, the bass is funky and thick, the drumming really rounds out the sound and the vocals, while sometimes a tad too high, are solid enough. However, I just can’t get past the fact that the sound is something I’ve heard 100 times already, and I like what I heard in the past more than what I’m hearing now. Also Road Trip Dragon Adventure sounds like a Blink-182 song and it makes me miserable.
If you are desperate for more PtH-core give this album a spin, but otherwise try something newer and more exciting, because this just feels like more of the same.
Recommended tracks: How far we Fall, Fractured Light, Icorruptible
Recommended for fans of: Protest the Hero, Circa Survive, Red Handed Denial
Final verdict: 6/10
Ashen Horde – Fallen Cathedrals (US-CA)
Style: Black (harsh/mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Sam
You know that feeling when you’re listening to an album, you can hear its quality, it is a style that you like, but you’re just not in the mood for it? That is exactly me when I hear Ashen Horde. Had I heard this about half a year ago, I would probably praise this into the heavens hell. Now however, I’m just staring into the void with thoughts of: “This is OK”.
I can be quite short about Ashen Horde. This album is about one thing, riffs. Riffs, riffs, RIFFS, RIFFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did I mention riffs? No I don’t think I did. RIF- ok I think you get it now. Fallen Cathedrals is an onslaught of (melodic) black metal and OSDM riffs with a couple of progressive elements in their songwriting to not make it too monotonous. And taking this as their intention into account, I’d say they wholly succeeded. I wasn’t really in the mood these past few weeks up to this review, but even I found myself headbanging furiously to some of the riffs these guys churn out. Add in some neat production, effective use of clean vocals, a couple of superb guitar solos and a whole dose of fresh energy and you end up with a mesmerizing album. Oh, and they included a boogie rock section a la ZZ Top halfway in The Vanishing. Yes, boogie rock. Really it’s hard to fault Fallen Cathedrals for anything. Just a superb record all around.
I guess my only complaint with this record is that it isn’t more progressive. Some more crazy genre mashups, circus pianos and the like as the boogie rock in The Vanishing would have done wonders for my enjoyment of this. But honestly I can hardly fault them for this as it wasn’t their intention in the first place. Ashen Horde succeeded at what they set out to do, and that’s all that matters.
Recommended tracks; Parity Lost, the Vanishing, Face on the Enmity
Recommended for fans of; Inmortal, Akercocke, Enslaved, Mardaum, RIFFS!!
Final Verdict: RIFFS!!!! 8.5/10
Sacred Monster – Worship the Weird (US-IL)
Style: Stoner (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Nost
I’m not sure how much it comes through in my reviews, but I’m a vocal-fan first and foremost. I can absolutely enjoy and appreciate a great instrumental performance, but if the vocals aren’t absolutely tight then it just kills the music for me. And thus we find ourselves at Sacred Monster, a band where I love the vocals about 85% of the time and want them to go far, far away from me for the other 15%. Why, you ask? We’ll get to that.
Sacred Monster plays a style of music that I would consider something close to Blackened Stoner Doom. If that sounds weird to you, it is, but it also kind of works. The riffs are thick and fuzzy, the drumming is solid if somewhat uninspired and the bass carries a really solid low-end that drives the album along. Stoner Doom tends to fall into a bit of a rut where all the songs sound similar, and lack a certain energy to push the album along. There is no such problem with this album, as each song has a whole lot of bounce to it, much of which is provided by the vocals. Here is where we get to the part of this album that leaves me very, very torn.
The vocals in Sacred Monster primarily consist of a really, really abrasive throat-shredding shriek that I actually really enjoy. I think it adds a really aggressive feel to the album, and it fits the strange, twilight-zone sci-fi themes in the lyrics quite well. However, every so often the vocalist shifts into full-on King Diamond copycat mode and it’s…not that good. The notes aren’t technically wrong, and the performance isn’t technically bad, but I find it incredible unpleasant to listen to and it absolutely takes me out of the song, especially on Waverly Hills. Will this ruin things for anyone else? Maybe not, but it definitely makes a few songs rough for me. The production also has a few hiccups, but that’s pretty common for this style so it doesn’t bother me too much.
All in all, would I recommend Worship the Weird? Probably, yeah. I really like quite a lot of it, and as long as the harsh vocals don’t put people off I think there’s a lot to like.
Recommended tracks: High Confessor, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, Re-Animator
Recommended for fans of: The Atlas Moth, King Diamond, Hollow Leg
Final verdict: 7/10
Manifestic – Anonymous Soul (Germany)
Style: Thrash/Speed (shouting vocals/it’s thrash)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Sam
Now I have no idea why this band is labeled progressive as there’s barely anything of that, but what I do have an idea of is the quality of this band’s music. And I have to say, this kicks ass. Anonymous Soul is a great (melodic) thrash metal album. Expect some great guitar work, a livid drumming performance and an unspectacular half-shouting vocalist that at least sounds properly angry and -most importantly- doesn’t suck, which is another way of saying he’s a great thrash singer. Also expect some occasional (mostly unspectacular) attempts at prog and you have this album. That doesn’t sound very exciting now, does it? Fortunately it’s actually a very enjoyable album. I mentioned the guitar work briefly but that really undersells these guys. It’s far from original, but the riffs get you nodding properly and some of the solos are incredible (see: Time Will Collapse). The vocalist also knows how to write some proper hooks and the band is adequate enough at songwriting to keep it interesting for its 44 minutes duration. Lastly I have to mention the production is great for modern thrash.
Now before I wrap up this review, I’ll have to comment on the less good aspects of Anonymous Soul. Firstly the attempts at prog are mostly unsuccessful and the songs in the middle are a bit mediocre compared to the rest. Those are minor complaints though. This is a highly enjoyable thrash/speed metal album that’s definitely worth a couple of spins.
Recommended tracks; Anonymous Soul, Time will Collapse, Poisoned Waters
Recommended for fans of; Metallica, Megadeth, Artillery, Agent Steel
Final verdict: 7/10
Beyond the Mirror – The Broken Mirror (Brazil)
Style: Power (clean vocals)
Related links: Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Sam (It’s brazilian power, what did you expect?)
I don’t know what is in the water in Brazil, but it’s causing some seriously talented prog power artists. Most well-known is of course the legendary band Angra, but in the last two years we’ve had the Seventh Wonder and Symphony X-inspired extraordinaires at Daydream XI and the wholesome unicorn-fueled train that is Maestrick (which you might still remember from this blog’s May edition). And this year that band is Beyond the Mirror.
So knowing me, you’d expect a review praising this into the heavens. But, as you also know me, this sentence is here to tell you how Beyond the Mirror does not actually live up to those incredibly high expectations. And indeed, they do not. This album reminds me of Daydream XI and Maestrick’s debuts. Glimpses were there and potential was sky high, but they didn’t fully have their own sound yet. I’m getting the same vibes here with this band.
What’s clear from the get go is how talented these peeps are with their instruments. The soloing on this record brought a huge grin to my face I had yet to experience this year. Be it the funky bass lines that pop up every now and then or the wonderful solos this band conjures up. This band just has a great sense of fun in playing. There’s a great sense of playfulness which make this a joy to listen to. It has the same carefree feeling of watching Jordan Rudess and John PetruJesus trading off their absurdly technical solos live with seemingly zero fucks given. Furthermore their vocalist is perfectly adequate, albeit a bit unspectacular.
But the good things end about there. Though I likened this to Daydream XI and Maestrick’s debut albums, I’d say this is less original than those two. If you remember my Anvil Therapy review you might remember the term “second tier Dream Theater worship” and this band is also exactly that. While this band clearly has sky-high potential, a lot of it is wasted on plain old Dream Theater worship, both musically and lyrically. Yes that’s right, lyrically. I’m gonna talk about lyrics. Beyond the Mirror took another note out of Dream Theater’s book by writing overly literal lyrics that can make you cringe really hard from time to time. “I hate you so much, because I see myself in you”, and a couple of other gems.
So on the whole this album is definitely a good one, but a lack of originality, questionable lyrics and bloated length hold this back from truly stealing my heart. Let’s hope they’ll find a sound that is their own on the next album, as their talent is sky-high.
Recommended tracks: Beyond the Mirror, Catatonia, My Foolish Heart
Recommended for fans of: Dream Theater, Pagan’s Mind, Symphony X
Final Verdict: 7/10
Pyramid – Gold Tooth (US-NY)
Style: Traditional/Thrash?(clean vocals)
Related links: Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Sam
I am not sure what to make of this band. It isn’t really the most original thing you’ve ever heard, but it’s definitely not a copycat either. Best way to describe it would be as if Mekong Delta decided to play traditional prog metal instead and traveled thirty years in the past to hire the then-version of Ray Alder from Fates Warning as a singer. Then add some Dream Theater flourishes in the mix and you have Pyramid. Also they post Illuminati conspiracy theories and make shitposts on their Facebook. This band present us with spidering riffs in all sorts of odd-time signatures supported by equally wizardous drumming and some clearly Jordan Rudess-inspired synth leads, which (unfortunately) are barely audible in the mix. It’s all very 80s (maybe early 90s) sounding.
The musicians are technically competent, but I feel as songwriters Pyramid are lacking. I’m not gonna complain about a lack of originality here as this band has a distinct enough sound to set them apart, but mediocre songwriting is unforgivable when rating an album. The music is largely absent of hooks and hence all the songs seem to blend together in an endless technical whirlwind. It just comes across as overplayed to be honest. The drummer for example keeps on adding in fills during a solo when it’s much better to just stick to the groove. This fella should take a lesson in restraint. This band is the type that thinks making everything sound broken and complicated at every second is what makes good prog metal, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. If anything I’m dying for a simple 4/4 beat with a straightforward vocal line that’s just powerful and catchy. Speaking of the vocals, this dude just tries to sound complicated for the sake of it. I can’t recall a single vocal line even after listening five times.
But what probably sets me off most about this record is that the heights they reach just aren’t that high. Prog metal doesn’t need hooks as much as other genres, but that is justified by the peaks it achieves, be it a good solo or a crescendo, whatever. Pyramid however achieve neither of that, or only sparingly.
I hate ending reviews like this as it’s not at all constructive, but it feels like Pyramid just isn’t that good of a band. Their writing is decent-to-good, but never great. I wish they just had better ideas. I don’t think fans of modern prog metal would really enjoy this band, but fans of the early days of the genre might find some worth in this. To me it was bang average though.
Recommended tracks: Fire, Celestial, Tyranny
Recommended for fans of: Fates Warning, Watchtower, Mekong Delta, (early) Dream Theater
Final verdict: 5/10
Blackhearth – Blackhearth (Spain)
Style: Traditional (clean vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Dylan
A simple glance at this album cover and I already had an idea of what the album may be; King Diamond worship. And King Diamond worship it was, but done with a great quality standard!
Even though it is indeed, at least to me, pure blatant worship, it’s not that they rip off any riff or so. What’s King Diamond about this release is mainly the spooky-halloweenish vibe present throughout the album, and the old school production. This does not sound like it was recorded in 2019, to me, that’s an advantage, but it depends on how you like your production.
Blackhearth‘s self titled album consists of classic heavy metal, with an emphasis on this spooky atmosphere. Now you may have noticed that I didn’t really mention progressive metal…. And that’s because there’s rarely anything progressive about it :p. It’s a stupid fun release, filled with 80’s metal riffs, cool vocals, and an overall sense of catchiness to it all, but it doesn’t get proggier than the proggiest iron maiden or mercyful fate have been in their prime (releasing 10min epics, also present in this album). This feels like an ode to a time where it was once thought how to be epic and intricate while still kicking major ass in the instrumentation department. And when thought as such, Blackhearth has done a good job. Not necessarily essential, but still a damn good time.
Recommended tracks: Face the Enemy, Blackhearth
Recommended for fans of: King Diamond, Mercyful Fate, Old School Heavy Metal
Final verdict: 7/10
Diviion – Journey of the Time Shaman (UK)
Style: Thrash (werid?¿ vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Dylan
It seems like I’m never able to escape reviewing one album every month that’s just effing weird. And it’s not like I don’t like weird shit, but it’s pretty damn hard to pull off. It can lead to masterpieces sure, but it can also lead to heavy headache. I’m happy to inform, that Diviion is …. Kind of a middle ground.
First of all, I found it extremely hard to compare Diviion to any thrash. At first it’s all very frantic and kind of hard to digest, so when it’s over you’re just like “what the hell did I just listen to?”, But then, as I listened more times, the more I loved it and then it just clicked, much like how hard it is to properly enjoy classic prog thrash band Voivod. The entirety of this record shares a lot with old school Voivod, mainly the sci-fi themes, the “frantic” feel of it all, and the weird sort of raspy but not really growly vocals. However, I think Diviion gets the edge when it comes to whether it’s easier to get into it, because of one thing only; Melodic Riffing. Throughout the entire album, there’s an abundance of riffs that seems like they were written by Dan Swano, the master behind Edge of Sanity and pan.thy.monium. And as you may know, his riffs are GOOOOOD, and here, they are GOOOOOD too. It’s what elevates this album from a kind of dissonant but fun thrash record, to a memorable experience you wanna come back too.
Diviion have pulled it off here, and I believe any tech-thrash fan should at least glance over this release. There’s only one complain I have which is that the way songs are labeled feels weird, there are three two minute songs that flow one into each other, a couple two minute songs that stand on their own, a 9 minute epic which connects to another track, etc. This structure feels kinda off, so I can’t recommend listening to it as separate tracks, so yeah, all or nothing.
Recommended tracks: All or Nothing.
Recommended for fans of: Voivod, Edge of Sanity
Final verdict: 8/10
Driftglass – World of Conversation (Canada)
Style: Classic Prog (clean vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Dylan
While it is obvious that I am both a progressive and metal music fan, it seems that for the last two or three months I had drifted a bit too much into the ‘’harsher’’ aspects of metal and prog. Death, Black, Doom, you name it, but I was pretty much consuming a lot of dark, gritty, heavy music. This took a negative impact in the sense that I was getting a bit burned out on this sad/angry vibe in my music, and thanks to this beautiful lil’ blog, I found a very joyful release: Driftglass.
While we decided to label them as classic prog, it’s kinda hard to pinpoint a genre here. For starters, there is an old school feel, that’s for sure. The organs sound very much like classic prog, and the vocals remind me of these classic bands that try to sound wise when singing. There’s also plenty of alternative thrown in here, with acoustic guitars being heavily present on the album, adding another layer of identity to this album. And last but not least, there’s the metal, which I’d say is the lightest out of the three vibes you get here. All that’s metal about this record is the Dream Theater-esque solos, a bit of double bass drumming, and a couple riffs. This release stays mostly on the prog rock sphere, and it stays for good reason, because it is very good music.
Listening to this album makes me happy, as everything is so tight and clean easy to swallow. Every song’s got a great chorus with thought provoking lyrics, a solo or two that’s easy to digest, fun instrumentation, and just a sense of joy about them. Even though the opening track has a more abrasive tone, the rest of the album is just filled to the brim with so many feel good vibes, particularly on the tile track and on ‘’little by little’’, a freaking lovely and wholesome tune. The vocals are also, again, a joy to listen to.
Even though I really enjoyed this album, it’s not perfect and it’s becasue of one thing; Even though everything thrown into a song on this album works, every song is min 6 minutes. This can make for a bit of fatigue because the structure of all the songs are somewhat the same, so you could definitely get a bit lost here, specially in the middle point. However, this is a very minor setback to an otherwise fantastic prog rock release.
Recommended tracks: World of Conversation, Little by Little
Recommended for fans of: Lighter Rainbow/Dio
Final verdict: 8.5/10
Burden Rage – Cenit de la Desgracia (Argentina)
Style: tech-death (harsh vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Dylan
Whenever a Tech-Death album comes up in our list for the monthly reviews, nobody wants to take it. And it’s not because we hate tech-death or anything, but it’s just that it’s one of the genres with the biggest amount of garbage, uninspired bands out there. It’s so hard to have a technical focus on your music, while being death metal, and produce actually digestible songs that aren’t a total wank fest, and the amount of uninspired tech death bands we reviewed in bane are too many to name. With all of that said, you may have asked yourself, does Burden Rage fit this description?
Luckily, not at all! I had the absolute lowest expectations jumping into this album, but the fact that they were argentinian made me give them a shot and just go for it. And I’m glad I did. Everything about this album is supremely tight, as in, the technical aspect of the album isn’t there to show off, but rather to complement the songwriting present on this album. That fact alone puts Cenit de la Desgracia above around one thousand tech death albums. But that isn’t the only fact that’s redeemable about this release. This album is very frantic and sometimes dissonant, which adds to the horror vibe present in the album cover. Everything seems to be all over the place, but at the same time, amazingly organized. It’s also extremely heavy, expect this album to be nearing brutal death levels of heaviness rather than other tech bands such as Revocation or Archspire. What you’re getting is a barrage of riffs, fast drums, and harsh af vocals that will kind of demolish you, but you’ll still get enjoyment out of it.
Only things I’d wish for is three things: That the album was shorter, because it can be very fatigue inducing to sit through it’s very packed 42 minutes, that the record was just a tad bit less compressed, as such fatigue makes the low dynamic range very noticeable, and last but not least, that it had a bit more of it’s own identity. There are hints of personality here and there, but it seemed like what I was getting was the delicious vanilla ice cream equivalent to tech death. Sure, it’s delicious, but so many other flavours are way more characteristic and also delicious.
Recommended tracks: Crimenes de Honor, Deluminaria
Recommended for fans of: Deicide, Necrophagist
Final verdict: 7/10
Kerala – Anagenesis (Canada)
Style: Sludge (harsh vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Nost
This one took some work. Not because I dislike the album, because there’s actually a lot here I quite enjoy, but because I’m really lazy and I like to listen to things on Spotify. This album isn’t on Spotify. You know how hard it is to open Bandcamp to listen to music? Absolutely unacceptable.
All kidding aside, I’m pretty sure I’m the first person outside of the band-member’s families who has listened to this album, and I have to say there’s a good amount to enjoy here. Kerala plays something I would classify as Blackened Post/Sludge. There’s elements of each style in here, and often they mesh together quite well. The riffs are thick, fuzzy, and massive. The bass tone is lovely and chunky and drives the album along well, and the drumming drifts between fine and pretty good. The vocals are pretty abrasive, and definitely drift towards the Hardcore side of sludge vocals, so whether you enjoy them will depend on your personal tastes. I don’t love them, but I think they serve the music well. What really bothers me, and the reason the score on this album isn’t higher, is the production. Things sound really, really muddy on this album. I understand the appeal behind lo-fi music, but it rarely works for me, and this is another of those cases. I just want more clarity, I want to be able to make out the riffs when the bass guitar is playing, man.
That all being said, this is a pretty dang neat album and the band doesn’t have much of any listeners as far as I can tell, so give them a spin. There’s a lot to like here, and if they step up the production and notch on the next album, and put the damn thing on Spotify, I’ll honestly really be looking forward to it.
Recommended tracks: Just listen to the whole thing
Recommended for fans of: I don’t know
Final verdict: 6/10
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