Reports from the (progressive metal) underground: June 2019

Blablabla Hello readers! Blablabla introduction blablabla something cohesive blablabla let’s get to it…

OK just kidding. Welcome to another edition of The Progressive Subway! And hence, another month full of progressive metal albums so far below the surface you don’t have to worry about tectonics anymore (just magma, you’ll be fine). Now June already passed nearly three months ago, but we settled on being behind.

As you might have noticed in the first paragraph, I do not have much to say at the moment and am kinda running low on inspiration. So something something June was solid blablabla. But seriously, it is quite solid. It’s not as consistently amazeballs as April or May, but on the flipside we do finally have our first 10/10 review of the year (so now be happy you)! There is one band that’s a bit more high profile in Howling Sycamore, but the rest is proper, ultra obscure stuff you likely had no idea it existed up til this point.

Actually I do have something to say, and that’s the fact that we just got a new reviewer: SharkTRS. We already had enough reviewers, but since Volarus went MIA we had to get a new one. SharkTRS I think has applied for almost every application we put out so far, so now we finally wanted to reward his efforts.


So now time for practical information. As always we have a Spotify playlist with all the recommended tracks you can check out and this sentence is structured like I should have a second thing to say but I don’t. Actually I would have, had I made a spreadsheet with all the albums, but honestly I’m too lazy for that, so you’ll have to do with the Spotify playlist.

What is this place? We use Metal-Archives’ advanced search engine to find all progressive/post/avantgarde metal (and some weird stoner as well if there’s any) releases in a month, then we select the best/most grabbing ones and write a (small) review on them. We go chronological through 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, send a PM to me (/u/genderlessperson) on Reddit or hit me up on Discord (sam1oq/genderlessperson). Just make sure it’s from this year for a month we haven’t covered yet.

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Degrees of Truth – Time Travel Artifact (Italy)
Style: Symphonic/Traditional (clean, female vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Sam

HAHA! You thought you were done with me after my ramble, but contrary to your expectations I am back to lambast you with even more nonsense – just kidding. What we have here is actually pretty nice symphonic prog metal from Italy. Now Italians are really freaking good at Prog, and often have a style which is up my alley and the premise of this album seemed nice enough, so I thought: Why not write a review? This can’t hurt, right?

Well actually, it did, but not much. On the contrary even, it’s actually a very promising album, despite some minor flaws and cheesy moments. What we have here is a very cinematic Symphonic Progressive Metal album with some major Dream Theater and world music influences. And I’m not kidding about the cinematic part. A lot of this wouldn’t be out of place as a movie soundtrack.

So this album starts a bit misleading with male vocals in the opener. It is a nice piano-driven intro, that builds nicely with an increasing amount of orchestration, after which it shrinks and swells a couple of times. After a minute or so the female singer Claudio Pezotta joins in the fray to make it a duet, and the song ends up being surprisingly dynamic for a prelude. Second song The Remedy continues the dual male/female vocal dynamics, but after that it’s 90% Claudia taking the reins, which a shame really if you ask me. I really liked the way their voices worked in conjunction. Not to say her singing isn’t good, but it tends to be a bit same-y. Whereas someone like Simone Simons from Epica also has that very sexy, more in-your-face type of singing, Claudia only goes for that operatic register. 

Now let’s talk about the songwriting. Hint: it is good. If the dynamic prelude wasn’t already great, some of the next tracks blow it out of the water. The first real song The Remedy is very much Dream Theater-styled with a nice punchy riff, a good chorus and a fantastic keyboard solo in the bridge. It’s a very solid, powerful song that sets the tone in terms of quality. The next song gives a nice change of pace with a more laid back, serene approach. The chorus is a bit weaker, but a killer guitar solo and the cool narration at the end make up for it.

We then get to the four-part Dream suite. This is where the band clicks into another gear. It starts with some lovely flamenco-influenced guitar playing and Middle-Eastern instrumentation, the latter of which ending up all over the suite (in a good way). The entire thing is a very dynamic, dreamy affair. There are some truly impeccable moments on it like the bridge of Dream II and basically the entirety of Dream III, which is without a doubt the highlight of the album (despite being a bit too long). However on the whole it does tend to be a bit uneven in terms of songwriting and the transition between the tracks could have been better. Then the rest of the album does not peak as high, but it makes up for it by being more consistent and it finishes with three really solid tunes.

Now there a couple of qualms I still need to discuss, but they’re relatively minor. First off the production. Now don’t get me wrong, cinematic elements and vocals sound fantastic, but a good portion of the time there is this ultra annoying, headache-inducing high keyboard tone, and the cymbals do not sound good. The songwriting also tends to be a bit too close to Dream Theater at times, and like before Claudia’s vocals really get monotonous at times.

So there you have it. On one hand this is a gorgeous, dreamy, cinematic album, but on the other hand it suffers from a bit uneven songwriting and some production issues. This band has a very high ceiling, but they haven’t reached it just yet.

Recommended tracks: Ark, The Remedy, Dream II, Dream III
Recommended for fans of: Epica, Dream Theater, Nightwish, Symphony X
Final verdict: 7/10

Misanthropic Rage – Towards the Greyscale Aphorysm (Poland)
Style: Avant Black (mixed(?) vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Tyler

I don’t have the biggest authority on Black Metal anything. I’m pretty green to that whole area, I don’t know a lot of the rules or what counts as Progressive within it. I’ve listened to a fair amount of Panopticon if that counts for anything. This one definitely sounds a lot more ‘Metal’ than ‘Progressive’, but this could be the The Court of the Crimson King of Black Metal for all I know, and I don’t! I’m just supposed to say if I think it’s any good or not and it’s actually pretty rad, guys.

Something that hooked me in songs two and three were the use of these yowling vocals drenched that sound something pretty Mastodonian, which (with my limited knowledge of black metal scene) was pretty unexpected. There was a great sense of turmoil and disparity that they conveyed that really set the mood for the whole album, as they are pretty consistent throughout. The album as a whole sounds like one complete unit, not just a collection of songs. I definitely felt like I was being led on a journey down to somewhere that I didn’t want to be, which I think is the feeling I would want while listening to the genre.

I’m usually a pretty big stickler about production, but from what I can tell, this is actually pretty on par with a lot of Misanthropic’s contemporaries in Black Metal. A lot of big, washy guitars and drums layered with layers of reverb that really take up every ounce of space that you can hear. There is actually a lot of depth here with all of the different guitar parts laid on top of each other, with drums, with atmospherics, WITH vocals. It’s pretty great to hear that in a style that from the outside seems really DIY and “let’s make this as slimy AND chunky as we can get it!” that there is a lot of finesse in finding that sliminess. Whoever did that here knew just what they were doing, and they did it very well.

If I had to fault this one for anything, it would be that this album feels longer than it is. There are definitely moments on here that drag out and overstay their welcome (lookin’ at you The Traveller…). This album could stand to trim 5ish minutes off of the run time, and I think it would actually make a bit of a stronger impact because of it. An album that comes in and gives me a creepy and crushing 35 minutes seems a little more appealing than 41 minutes that feel like 51.

Like I said before, Black Metal as a whole generally gets a big ol’ shrug from me. I can definitely appreciate the appeal, but my tastes usually lie elsewhere. But boy howdy I gotta give let the Misanthropes their credit. I had a good time with each listen here. There was a lot that I didn’t expect due to my ignorance to the genre, but I was generally really impressed. I still don’t think I’ll visit this side of heavy too often, but I’d gladly drop in from time to time. As long as they promise a little less of the ‘Minnesota Goodbye’.

Recommended tracks: The Noise of a New Dawn, Nothing but Rage
Recommended for fans of: Panopticon and other black metal bands that you know and I don’t.
Final verdict: 7/10

Rainer Landfermann – Mein Wort in deiner Dunkelheit (Germany)
Style: Avant Black (harsh vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Sam

What the fuck. I mean, seriously. What the fuck. I should not be as surprised as I am about this. It’s Avantgarde after all. I thought I’d be immune to Avantgarde shenanigans after the… experience that was Pensées Nocturnes’ album earlier this year in February, but I couldn’t be more wrong.

First of all, the singer sounds like a tortured pig. And not in the guttural intelligible pig squeal way, but in the ear-piercing shrieking way. This makes the music next to unlistenable, even for me. Second of all, what the fuck. These songs certainly aren’t anything spectacular, but how I am supposed to judge it beats me. It’s either spastic black metal or he’s going for a bit of somber, but chill lounge vibe with a cello and some chill bass grooves. The latter is the most prevalent part of the album. However the calmness is ruined by his vocals, which I guess is the point. One can never feel quite at ease while listening to this record, which is pretty much the only thing constant. Oh, and maybe abrupt song endings too.

There’s probably more to say about this record, but I’m really at a loss for words here. You should check this album out for yourself if you really wanna know what’s going on here. I don’t think anyone will be blown away by this, but it’s an interesting thing to hear at least once in your life if Avantgarde interests you. Proceed at your own risk.

Recommended tracks: Langsam, hinters Licht; Schneller als Sehnsucht, Größer als Eins; Intuition
Recommended for fans of: idk, Sigh maybe? Solefald?
Final verdict: ?????

Howling Sycamore – Seven Pathways to Annihilation (US-CA)
Style: Extreme/Traditional/??? (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: SharkTRS

Howling Sycamore is a group composed entirely of excellent musicians. Everything on this album is played incredibly well, and thanks to Jamie King on production it all sounds crystal clear. The drums especially are a highlight. Despite this year being so stacked with incredible drumming albums, such as Schlagenheim and Fear Inoculum, this one still places quite high. Listening to a track like Raw Bones, it’s incredible to hear him constantly shaking up what he’s playing yet always serving the song above all else. I guess that’s to be expected, though, from someone that’s both ex-Necrophagist and ex-Obscura.

Seven Pathways to Annihilation also has an absolutely stacked guest list, with all of them delivering outstanding performances. Marty Friedman’s solo on Second Sight is a must-hear. Even the lesser known guests are top-tier. Fabian Vestod nails the drumming on Second Sight, and Bruce LaMont does things on Sorcerer that I would’ve previously thought impossible for baritone sax.

All of this culminates in an incredible, consistent atmosphere throughout the entire album. Putting on this album makes me feel like I’m the guy in the album cover. For Shakespeare fans, this would be the perfect music for when Lear is cast out into the rain by his daughters.

However, this band does have flaws, namely in their songwriting. Throughout this album, they make lots of weird decisions that really detract from my overall enjoyment of it. They’re especially great at buildup, but my God do they not know how to end a song. Sorcerer, while the best song on the album, is also the worst example of this. The track builds, and builds, and builds, for seven minutes straight, and the entire time I’m prepared for some face-melting peak, some powerful end to the album. But nope! It just fades out into an acoustic outro, losing all of that tension it created. The first track is also guilty of this. Great song… for the first five minutes. Then it goes back into the first verse… for two minutes straight. I actually got bored the first time I heard it. If they’d called it a minute earlier than it actually ended, I’d love it, but they didn’t. Also, it ends with another fadeout. Now, I don’t have anything against fadeouts when done right. Hell, Sundowning by Sleep Token is about to be my AOTY and it uses fadeouts all the time. The crucial difference between how Sleep Token does them versus how Howling Sycamore does them, though, is that Sleep Token leads into them, whereas Howling Sycamore just goes, “hey, this track’s gone for long enough, how about we just slap a fadeout on the end here?” And they do this for half the songs on the album! It’s frustrating.

They also have a problem with a lot of the songs sounding samey. I’d probably rate this album a full point higher if it was 40 minutes long, because there’s a lot that could be cut, but isn’t. Tempest’s Chant, for example, feels like just more of the same. I like it, but it could be removed from the track list without changing much in terms of album experience.

Overall, this is a good record, but not one without flaws. Individual tracks are definitely worth putting on on their own merits, but I don’t see myself putting on the full album often.

Recommended tracks: Second Sight, Raw Bones, Sorcerer
Recommended for fans of: Slugdge, Prog Thrash maybe?
Final verdict: 7/10

Lunar Shadow – The Smokeless Fires (Germany)
Style: Heavy/Power (clean vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Matt

Genre-bending metal bands always come in two flavors – subtle or 100% gimmicky (e.g. Unexpect). Lunar Shadow is so subtle, I read their bio after listening to the album and was astounded by their claims. “Black Metal? Nah man…” But the more I think about it, the more the ingredients were there after all – maybe enough to make a legitimate case. The Smokeless Fires sounds like just another slightly ambitious Heavy Metal album, but it’s a testament to the band’s writing skill that their influences are woven in so smoothly.

Guitars are the order of the day, with Max Birbaum employing the always-effective “leads over everything” technique. These songs are packed with melody, sitting atop a Thrash-infused Power Metal base comparable to bands like Persuader. The riffs hit the exact sweet spot of classic versus creative, the sort that make you use words like “triumphant” and “glorious” unironically. While the energy level is high, they still find time for some clean breaks and piano parts. It’s that special kind of album that aims to do everything, and actually succeeds for the most part.

The vocal duties have changed hands(?) since the first album, which might be a relief to some fans who didn’t like that guy’s bizarre Beatles-esque tone. However, it’s sort of a sidegrade – Robert Röttig sounds like a legitimate Metal singer, but he’s consistently just flat enough to be bothersome. He’s not exactly bad, but I wouldn’t say the performance is good either. His harsher stuff is okay, but the ballad Pretend doesn’t work at all. The nadir is probably on Red Nails – that ending ain’t pretty. They really should’ve just bitten the bullet and tuned the guy, but I’m guessing stubborn traditionalism prevented it. Your mileage may vary… I think a permanent studio recording deserves, if not perfection, at least something closer to it. Instead of enhancing the music, I’m just thankful that the vocals don’t ruin it.

The production is solid, with an organic mix that’s soaked in reverb, and a hint of slop maintaining the lo-fi thread from the debut without actually sounding bad. Amusingly, it sounds like they time traveled directly from the 70s to the 80s. Maybe the next one will have a Grunge tone.

While I’ve reviewed albums recently that sounded more professional, this one still has me more enthusiastic on account of the writing. Ultimately, that’s what really matters… If the window dressing is a little ragged, at least the foundation is rock solid.

Recommended tracks: Catch Fire, Roses
Recommended for fans of: Dark Forest, Haunt, Dissection(…?)
Final verdict: 8/10

Deemtee – Flawed Synchronization with Reality (Spain)
Style: Avant Black (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Tyler

I want to cut to the chase on this album because introductions to these things are the hardest part and I’d rather talk about the music. If I had to sum Flawed Synchronization with Reality up with one word, it would be this: Ambitious.

There is a lot to unpack here. From what I can gather about this thing, is that it took a long time to put together, something that I can more than empathize with. And from some of the compositional choices here, I can see why. The band is trying to do a lot with the time that they have. Elements of Black, Progressive and even Doom Metal are abundant, and the band does their best to try to blend them. And it works pretty alright, but there are definitely moments that jump back and forth a bit too much that left me with whiplash. The best example of that is Multiverse Recoil. The constantly changing styles felt like the band wrote a lot of great sounding parts, but didn’t want to leave things out. So instead of putting the best and most cohesive parts in, they put everything in, which I think ended up diminishing my experience overall. Instead of getting on solid album, I got two good sounding albums slammed together in a not-always-so-cohesive way.

I hate that I talk about production in literally every one of my reviews. It’s such an easy thing to critique and write about, and often the part of the album the band has least to do with. But it is an important part of my listening experience. If it wasn’t made well, I tend to not have a good time with the album. With that being said, holy moley this album’s production is noooooooooot good. The guitars don’t have a lot of clarity much at all. They all sounded fuzzy and there is no way that it was meant to sound that way. The drums feel really flat with no power, I had to dig to find the snare through most of the album. Everything about the album just feels like a demo rather than a finished product.

Ironically, the best sounding part of the album were the parts with no music. What I mean by that is that there are spoken word interludes all over the place on this album. One of them is longer than most of the songs. I don’t know what their relevance to the overall message is (which is just my ignorance of not speaking the language that they are in), but they actually sound really good. A lot of atmospheric and soundscape-y effects underneath what conversations and monologues. It almost gave me flashbacks of Slice the Cake. I just wish the same care was put into the actual music part of the album.

I’m sorry if this review feels disjointed. It’s a lot like the album is, never quite getting it’s footing. It seems that every time they take a step forward to something great, there are two steps back with odd choices or production. Interesting songwriting and ideas are pulled down by conflicting genre hopping one right after another. Choosing to put so much focus into the interludes between the songs other than the songs themselves, and an album that just sounds like it’s not finished. What worked really worked, the band is onto something cool and fresh. They just need to buckle down and keep dreaming.

Recommended tracks: Birds, Glowing Serpents Everywhere
Recommended for fans of: parts of Slice the Cake, Devin Townsend maybe?
Final verdict: 5.5/10

Ascend the Hollow – Echoes of Existence (Ireland)
Style: Death/Avantgarde (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | RYM page
Review by: SharkTRS

Ascend the Hollow really went in on this one. This isn’t a traditional Death Metal album in any sense. It’s got the harsh vocals, heavy riffs, and blast beat drumming, but with those additional Metalcore, Electronica, and even Pop influences.

Now, hearing that, you might assume that this isn’t a very heavy album, and you’d be wrong. While it does have influences of lighter music, with some choruses being arguably Pop Metal, Ascend the Hollow refuses to compromise, expanding beyond the generic Death Metal sound while not compromising and sometimes even doubling down on the heaviness. The riff in Vessels would fit just fine in a slam metal song, and after the intro, Prisoners of the Storm absolutely beats the shit out of the listener. They also utilize breakdowns quite well, adding more heaviness to some songs. Some of them do use chugs, but they always find ways to mix them up, such as the background violin on the aforementioned Prisoners of the Storm.

The electronic elements bring with them a unique touch to the songs they’re in. Sometimes they function as an additional rhythm instrument, a nice complement to the heavy guitar leads, but they’re also used in more subtle ways. For example, Polaris Calling opens with a short piano melody that recurs throughout the rest of the song. Halfway through, though, it switches from being played on a piano over to being played on a synth. It’s a really nice mood shift that matches the progression of the song thus far. Subtle touches like these take Echoes of Existence a cut above the rest.

The singer, M-Noise, is a breath of fresh air. Outside of Symphonic Metal, woman singers are super rare in metal. Hell, half the reason that Jinjer‘s so big is because of that. Back to M-Noise, she’s got great harshes that remind me of a fuller-voiced Chuck Schuldiner. However, that’s not all she can do. The track This Dark Rage showcases her versatility well, having her go from aggressive screams to a catchy chorus melody (seriously, how did they get away with fitting that into a death metal song? Sure as hell not complaining, though). She’s got skill, that’s for sure.

The only complaints I have are minor. The drums sound odd at times, especially the cymbals. While Ascend the Hollow do pride themselves on their integration of electronic elements to their songs, they’d be better suited with a real drummer than a programmed one, I think. Into the Black Eye is also a strange inclusion on the album. It feels like one of those lead-in tracks that meld into the start of the next song, and it does that well, but it isn’t one of those songs. It’s the only track that I’d consider skipping on this album. Neither of these hurt the album much at all, though.

Echoes of Existence is a great listen for death metal fans, and its versatility expands its appeal beyond just existing fans of the genre. Metalcore lovers will also love this album. Check it out.

Recommended tracks: Prisoners of the Storm, Mother of Morality
Recommended for fans of: I don’t know death metal too well, so if the review sounded interesting, go for it.
Final verdict: 7.5/10

Catacombe – Scintilla (Portugal)
Style: Post Metal (instrumental)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Tyler

There aren’t a lot of general truths that I subscribe to, especially with music. I like to think everything is pretty subjective at the end of the day, and it’s all whatever you feel about it, dude. But one thing I’ve always thought, and I think always will, is that Post Rock by nature is just a gorgeous form of music. No matter how good or bad it is, there is something haunting about music with little to no vocals that focuses on how the songs progress and show that music can be great and evoke emotion. Catacombe makes good sounding music, but I didn’t feel much walking out of it.

What I mean by that is that the arrangements are great and expressive and incredibly moody, but during my many listens of Scintilla, I couldn’t help but get a little absent minded. I didn’t get sucked into the music the way that I usually do with this style. The song writing is really quite solid. Lots of things you would expect. Repeated guitar patterns, lots of reverb, huge cord breaks under haunting but simple leads, almost overly busy drums. All things that the band does really well and sound really good, but all of those things seemed like they were included not because that’s what the song called for, but because that’s what you do in Post Rock. To me, this album felt and sounded as if any Post Rock band could have written it and no one would have thought twice.

I actually liked the production quite a bit. A little dirty at times, not super polished which lends well to the album’s overall sound. The guitar and bass tones are really lush and light when they need to be. But they are mixed with what could very well be the driest drums on planet Earth. It seems that there was nothing done to them at all, which is usually what you want, but with how wet the rest of the instrumentals are, the two feel a bit like sand and whipped cream in your ears. The drummer is a monster though, holy geez can he play. Not to discredit any of the other members, but his performance was definitely the standout, especially on the end of Arruda.

This thing feels that any Post Rock band could have made it, and it really is too bad. Post rock is really pushed forward by the bands that find their own ways to stand out from the crowd, and in that sense there wasn’t much to pick out. Maybe the auxiliary percussion in the drums? But that is not a lot to hold on to. There are definitely cool moments of songwriting and melodies, but those could have been any band’s moments, they just happened to be Catacombe’s.

Recommended tracks: Arruda
Recommended for fans of: Post Rock
Final verdict: 5/10

Embrace of Disharmony – De Rervm Natvra (Italy)
Style: symphonic/modern prog (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Nostrebor68

So if you’re like me and you like to glance at the FFO section in reviews before reading the full thing, you might be just a tad confused. Well let me tell you, I was just as confused the first time I turned this album on. Within the first song or two I had been bombarded with Nightwish style Symphonic Power Metal, full-on Black Metal riffing and shrieks, and the weird-time riffing and singing that is signature to bands like Native Construct and Haken. This all happened within the span of about 3 minutes, leaving 7 minutes of song left in the first track alone. Now, the issue when a band does this many things at once becomes, “do they do it all well?” and let me tell you, Embrace of Disharmony blows it all out of the water.

Instrumentally this album is an adventure. The guitars shift seamlessly from technical Prog riffing to tremolo picking to soaring Symphonic Metal leads and it all just flows together effortlessly, showcasing a real gift for composition in the band. The drumming is often more a backdrop, but is incredibly technically sound, as is the bass. The vocals will likely be a bit more contentious for some, as the band has both a male and female vocalist and both are just a little odd. The female vocals are very traditionally operatic, but the tone is closer to something like Diablo Swing Orchestra than Nightwish or similar bands. The male cleans are again similar to Nightwish’s backing male vocals in their functionality and lack of flashiness, however whenever he breaks out his harsh vocals I’m really surprised by how much I enjoy the blackened shrieks and rasps, a style that I usually don’t care for. However, in the context of this music I find it quite effective. The orchestra elements, of which there are quite a few, all work excellently throughout the album and I’d like to pay special attention to the piano-playing, which is just ethereal and gorgeous every time it becomes a focus in a song.

The production on this album is incredibly tight, and you can really hear every element in every song with complete ease. While I would normally be a bit put-off by the nearly hour long run time, I can’t pick out a single moment on this album I would want to remove. Even the narration (which is in Italian and better for it) feels quite fitting when it occurs.

This is definitely not an album for everyone, and hell it shouldn’t even really be an album for me, but something about it is incredibly interesting, and keeps roping me back for another listen. I highly recommend it to any Prog fan, and anyone with an open enough mind to enjoy something that’s just a bit weirder than they might be used to.

Recommended tracks: De Primordiis Rervm, De Infinitate Orbivm, De Pavore Mortis
Recommended for fans of: Haken, Native Construct, Ne Obliviscaris, Diablo Swing Orchestra
Final verdict: 10/10

Atlas Entity – Beneath the Cosmic Silence (US-FL)
Style: what do you expect, it’s from Florida (aka Prog Death, mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Nostrebor68

So as I have mentioned in a review previously, I live in Florida. It’s fucking terrible. It’s hot, it’s damp, I get eaten by an alligator at least once a week and the state is entirely populated by meth labs and Disney World. From this motley cocktail of misery, however, comes quite a lot of really exceptional Death Metal. Whether this is due to the garbage living conditions that we all must endure, or something else entirely, is up for debate, but regardless my state has churned out some amazing Death Metal. Thus we find ourselves listening to Atlas Entity, a 1(ish)-man Death Metal project from Tampa, Florida, and honestly some of the better Prog Death I’ve heard in quite a while.

Now it should be stated that I’m not necessarily a connoisseur of Death Metal. I’ve enjoyed quite a few bands in the past, often of the Melodeath variety, but most of the time there’s a lack of melodic hooks in other types of Death Metal that I just can’t get very into. Thankfully, in the case of this album, there are melodic hooks aplenty, interspersed just sparsely enough not to detract from the Death Metal, but still definitely pleasant enough to make this more engaging than your average Tech Death album.

The guitar-work on this album is quite fantastic. The tone is thick and rich and the riffs are both creative and really exciting to listen to. The leads vary between Iron Maiden and a more traditional death metal style, and both work wonderfully. The moments when the album really pops are when it shifts from this to a more atmospheric, acoustic feel. This doesn’t happen often, but it really adds an emotional punch to the songs. The drumming is also used very tastefully, blast-beating when needed but avoiding it in favor of more technical drumming more often than not, which I found both surprising and very pleasant. The vocals are mixed, with the harshes being very traditionally throaty but not overly harsh, and the cleans equally enjoyable, if not particularly technically interesting. The bass isn’t enormously present, but is often quite audible and helps fill out the low-end of the album nicely. Also the final song has a guest solo from Rafael Trujillo of Obscura and that’s pretty fucking dope.

All in all, is this album something incredibly new and exciting? I don’t think so, although my lack of genre knowledge could be proven wrong here. What I do know is that I had a blast listening to the album, and I think plenty of Death Metal fans who don’t mind a little more Prog and melody in their music will have a great time with it.

(Editor’s note: Samus Paulicelli (aka YouTuber 66Samus) plays drums on this album. He also performed on Devin Townsend – Empath and will be heading on tour with him soon.)

Recommended tracks: In the Shadow of the Mountain Part 1 & 2, Celestial Noise
Recommended for fans of: Rivers of Nihil, Be’Lakor, Eneferens
Final verdict: 8/10

Sidë Effects – Expedition (Greece)
Style: Heavy/Power (clean vocals)
Related links: YouTube | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Matt

I’m very disappointed by this debut from Sidë Effects – I wanted to make a joke about mild discomfort or vomiting, but actually it’s quite good. I just have one question: Is the umlaut ironic?

After their entry in the grand tradition of skippable album intros, the band gets right down to business with guitar harmonies. This is a classic 80s-style album, through and through, and proud of it. Despite highbrow artwork and a Homeric concept, Expedition really just sticks to the fundamental anthemic rockers. Even the two epic-length tracks have a casual I Want Out vibe, though For Love and Land at least mixes things up with a folky bouzouki part. The album is nothing new, but the band’s attitude and sense of melody are strong. I usually prefer something more outlandish, but can’t fault them when the formula is basically done to perfection.

Vocalist Tasos Lazaris really sells the album. He sounds somewhere between Tobias Sammet and Bruce Dickinson (so, 90% Bruce Dickinson.) The resemblance is uncanny on the high stuff. If this is a comparison he gets tired of hearing, well… It’s not the worst problem to have. He seems capable of doing basically anything, sometimes adding tons of grit, but always refined and under control. World class.

As a package, the album feels kind of strange due to its sequencing – there’s effectively only six “real” songs, and at the end they chuck in two short instrumentals in a row, followed by a non-conceptual closer. It seems rushed, even though it’s all good. Ithaca reminds me of when In Flames used to do acoustic interludes, and is actually one of the more interesting pieces.

While not as musically adventurous as I thought it would be, Expedition is definitely a good album. I’d compare it to the first Bloodbound, a sort of modern genre pastiche with a great singer. If you’re a traditional Maiden-and-Priest sort of person, this should hit the spot.

Recommended tracks: Into the Sea, For Love and Land
Recommended for fans of: Iron Maiden, Bloodbound, Helloween, Scanner
Final verdict: 7/10

Hammerhands – Model Citizen (Canada)
Style: Atmo Sludge (harsh vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Nostrebor68

I’m going to be 100% honest and say that I chose to review this album purely because there was a song named Dad Sludge. Like, come on, that’s a great song name. Then I saw that the band had tagged the album as a mixture of Atmo-Sludge, Stoner Metal, and Noise Rock I was just a little worried. Of the genres involved there I enjoy Sludge minus the Atmo, and I like Stoner, but Noise genres tend to lose me really quickly. I just haven’t been able to get into that particular style, with the focus on droning and harsh tones and a lack of melodic focus. Thus did I approach this Hammerhands album with quite a bit of trepidation. Lo and behold, however, this album is actually pretty damn neat. Is it perfect? No. Is it always good? No. But damn if it isn’t pretty neat.

So let’s start with the good. The riffs on this album are fucking massive. They’re fuzzy, they’re very clear in the mix, and they provide a consistent driving force that keeps the music constantly engaging, even when it dips into slower atmospheric territory. The lead guitar is also surprisingly melodic and clean, often providing a real emotional core to songs that definitely don’t get it from the vocals (we’ll get to that in a second). The songwriting is also very tight, never meandering too far from the core sound or stagnating on one idea for too long. There is a very nice balance of ideas throughout every song that keeps them interesting and cohesive at the same time. The drumming as well is quite effective, perhaps not the most technically impressive but definitely integral to the sound. I’m pretty sure the bass is good, but it’s distorted so heavily that it’s a little hard to tell.

Now the vocals. This is where a lot of people are going to immediately turn off the album, I think. I wouldn’t really call the vocals on the majority of this album singing. I also wouldn’t call it screaming, or shrieking, or roaring, or growling, or just about any other word one might use to describe harsh vocals. They are, for the most part, more or less just someone talking out of their throat. It’s very gargly, it’s very slow, and it’s very confusing. Confusing, I say, because I don’t hate it, but I also don’t really know if it adds anything to the music. Occasionally two other vocalists appear to join in, one with a more midrange harsh scream and the other with an unimpressive but decently sludgey clean tone. Both of these are more enjoyable than the weird throat-talking, but sadly they are not the majority of what’s going on in this album. This all being said, I don’t hate the vocals, and I keep finding myself listening to this again and again, so obviously it’s doing something right.

I don’t really think Hammerhands has done a lot to experiment when the genres they use, but what they’ve done is generally quite effective. There are a few songs on this album that I think are legitimately great, and the rest are all pretty good. Would I recommend this? Maybe to fans of Sludge and Noise genres, but definitely come in expecting the vocals to be just a tad odd. But who knows, maybe you’ll give it a listen and find yourself a fan of Dad Sludge just like me.

Recommended tracks: Do it Right, Dad Sludge, That Awful Sound
Recommended for fans of: Melvins, Down, Mike Patton
Final verdict: 7/10

Starbynary – Divina Commedia – Purgatorio (Italy)
Style: Neoclassical/Symphonic (clean vocals)
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Review by: Matt

Have you ever seen those clickbait articles that people repost all the time, about foreign words that have no local equivalent? For instance, the German “waldeinsamkeit” – the feeling of connectedness to nature when alone in the woods – has no English equivalent. Well, what I really need is an English word for “I should like this, all the elements are good, but none of the parts stick, oh man, 70 minutes? Damn it all!!”

This really is the hardest kind of album to review, where nothing is wrong with it, but you listen three times and it still goes in one ear and out the other. Starbynary play a baroque style of “dark” Progressive Metal, sort of like Adagio used to, but with less intrigue. They’re good players, and I fully support this style of music, but the particular ideas here just don’t come together into something all that memorable. There’s some high points – the sinister choir chants, the piano parts and keyboards in general, some forays into aggression and blast beats – but for the most part, the songs blend together into mid tempo symphonic mush. In particular, the vocal lines ramble and only rarely land on a decent hook.

Singer Joe Caggianelli is capable enough, sounding like, well… various other Italian prog tenors I’ve heard (Madsword, Icycore, etc,) but there’s kind of an unpleasant strained quality to his voice, as though he’s not comfortable. He’s outshined by the female guest singer and the brief harsh vocals in Underneath the Stones – a surprising wake-up call. I wish this band were a Dimmu Borgir sort of thing, as they’d be writing more to their strengths.

I’m not sure what else to say – “choose different notes” isn’t exactly constructive criticism. I’m pondering why it is that Black Sabbath can accidentally record an undisputed classic in an afternoon, while Starbynary presumably spend years layering strings, choirs and bells, only for me to sit here and go “eh…” But I guess you don’t always get back what you put in. I am intrigued enough to give their earlier albums a try, at least, as there may be something hidden in this soggy Prog slog.

A quick word before the mandatory rating: For me, 5/10 will always be strictly average, even if we’ve come to expect a 7. More degrees of goodness and whatnot. That said, I’ll cautiously give this a 6, as it’s ambitious and may prove to be a grower.

Recommended tracks: Underneath the Stones, Walking into Fire
Recommended for fans of: Adagio, Symphony X
Final verdict: 6/10

Glare of the Sun – Theia (Austria)
Style: Post/Doom (mixed vocals)
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Review by: Dylan

I have a routine that consists of around 3hs of traveling from home to college and the other way around. That time is where I usually listen to most of the music I’m tasked with reviewing here, since there’s really not much more I can do on a train/bus. Thing is, my routine starts at 6 am, so I can’t really listen to something too harsh while being half asleep. So I remember that I’ve got a lovely Post/Doom album waiting for me, nice! Post is usually beautiful, and even though it’s got Doom in the mix it can’t get too heavy, right?

Fuck no. Only two minutes in I get some very VERY heavy growls and riffs and realized, maybe this is more of an afternoon listen. Holy fuck this album is heavy. It’s near the heaviness of funeral doom, with the pace of a standard Doom album, but overall, really tuff shit.

Glare of the Sun’s sound is pretty damn similar to well known act Swallow the Sun, particularly their earlier works. Atmospheric, melancholic, but also gritty and brutal Doom Metal. Their balance of harsh/clean vox ratio is also pretty similar, but GotS’ harsh vocals are more guttural oriented ala Dan Swanö rather than StS’ shriek-y harshs. The instrumentals range from acoustic clean passages to heavy down tuned guitars that just hammer you in the head constantly. Gotta give major props to the singer who’s constantly adapting between both styles, and pulling off various melodies and non melodies that are very emotional and tied to whatever the song’s got going instrumentally.

But of course, like 99% of albums, it’s not a perfect or, in my opinion, even a great release. That small paragraph I’ve written to describe Glare of the Sun is pretty much all I can write about them without feeling repetitive. With the album clocking at over an hour, I was expecting a couple more curve balls that would add staying power to the album, but I was not lucky to find such. Because of that, after around 8 tracks, the quality doesn’t dip, but it seriously starts to drag on. If you’re looking for heavy, atmospheric Doom Metal that sticks to its guns, this is one you should look for. As for myself, it probably won’t get a lot of playtime.

Recommended tracks: II, X, XII
Recommended for fans of: Swallow the Sun
Final verdict: 7/10

Omega District – The Machine Destiny (US-WA)
Style: Metalcore/Extreme/BTBAM (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | RYM page
Review by: Dylan

Well, this is the first time (I think) that I’ve been tasked with reviewing an album sent by a band member, so this is exciting!

Omega District is a project done entirely by one guy named Miles Weber, responsible for everything you’re listening to on the album. The Machine Destiny is a dystopian themed concept album about, uhm, hyper intelligent AI or something? I swear to god even after reading each track description I’m still confused as hell. But, the important thing is that, the dystopian vibe really makes this album shine (musically at least). Even on the introduction track there’s this huge dystopian, AI is perfection atmosphere.

This is also represented in how the music is mixed, with most of it sounding like a more Industrial take on the Between the Buried and Me genre. You can tell that they were a big influence on this album, but that doesn’t mean that it’s a creatively bankrupt release that mindlessly copies whatever BTBAM trope the artist likes. Instead, he takes what’s been done with the Extreme Progressive Metal/Metalcore genre, and build upon it with his own feel. Aside from the dystopian vibe there’s also the concept of being more selective on clean vocals/passages and sticking to a mostly heavy/harsh instrumentation. Do I feel like this decision makes the album better? Not necessarily, but mainly because of how good the clean vocals are! I just want more!

The instrumentation is top notch, with heavily textured riffing, tight drumming, and bass playing (if I told you it was loud on the mix I’d be lying to you bc it isn’t, but it’s the eyebrows of the album) and I could keep praising this left and right with descriptions that wouldn’t make sense, but I’ll stop here and just say this: If you are merely into the BTBAM formula and want an unique, heavier take, absolutely check out The Machine Destiny.

Recommended tracks: Digital Prison, The Garden of Light, The Machine Destiny
Recommended for fans of: Between the Buried and Me, The Human Abstract, The World is Quiet Here (hi Tyler!)
Final verdict: 8.5/10

Peace Pig Astronomy – Earth will not Miss U if U Partake in Poisoning it and US (US-CO)
Style: Outsider (instrumental)
Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook (this band is so obscure it doesn’t even have a RYM page)
Review by: SharkTRS

This album opens with a funky Hip Hop beat into a record scratch, then some Jazzy guitar licks over that. They then kick on the distortion pedal for another lick, go into a synth solo, pause it, run some breakbeats, then go into a solo from some Asian-sounding stringed instrument, over said breakbeats. And then the track abruptly fades out.

This isn’t a Prog Metal album in a traditional sense, or any sense, really. I get the sense that the experimentation here comes not from a willingness to defy genre, but a lack of awareness of genre. That clues me in to say that this is outsider music, and after looking at the album cover the song names, and hell, even the names of the band members, (Timothy WrathBliss? DeVon TraVoltage?) I don’t think there’s any way I’m wrong here.

Yeah, yeah, it’s weird, but is it worth listening to?

I’d say yes. It’s only 17 minutes long, for one, so it goes by quick. It sure as hell doesn’t feel like it though, and that isn’t necessarily bad. The constant style and genre shifts give each track a sense of length beyond their actual length. There’s also something about it that’s reminiscent of video game OSTs, somehow. If you looped the tracks, they could totally work as soundtrack material for some weird indie game.

As an album, though, it’s lacking. It’s essentially a series of wacky jams. If you’re into that, then go ahead, but anyone looking for a real album experience may want to avoid this. The production is not the best, either. They made the whole thing in Garage Band, (Garyage Bandelli, as they call it) so don’t go in expecting something polished. If you can get past that, though, then it’s for sure worth checking out.

I can’t in good faith call this a quality album, but it’s sure as hell a fun one.

Recommended tracks: Adventures of the Twilight Groove Patrol, Seeking Friendship With Aliens Beyond Earth
Recommended for fans of: Mr. Bungle, Secret Chiefs 3, video game OSTs
Final verdict: 6/10