Reports from the (progressive metal) underground: September 2019

To potato, or not to potato? That is the question…

…actually it isn’t. The real question, is whether anyone even reads these introductions. Not that I say very interesting things in these, but still, it’s a question worth posing. On this Tottenham Hotspur blog I follow called Cartilage Free Captain, there’s a running joke in the commentariat that goes by the hashtag of #NobodyReadsTheArticles. So I wonder if that applies here too (and yes I’m a Spurs fan RIP my heart). Not that it really matters anyway. Just let me know if you actually do read these lol.

Is there anything to talk about? Hmm.. Wel… I suppose so. You know of that one random-ass rant I once posted to r/progmetal about how not every prog song had to be a culinary masterpiece, and that sandwiches are totally fine too? Well this time I’m gonna pose the opposite question: What’s up with the lack of 20+ minute epics these days? Where are all the Octavariums at? It seems like no one wants to go much further than 15. Underground aside, I can only think of Arcane‘s song Learned as an example of the cool kids trying such a song in the last five years. And even then, it’s debatable whether Arcane are cool enough for the cool kids in the first place. Surely Ne Obliviscaris had Painters of the Tempest, but only 16 minutes of that are actually prog metal. The rest is violin playing. You’d have to go back all the way to 2013 where Dream Theater were up to their usual antics with Illumination Theory, but they hardly belong to the cool kids anymore. That’s dad prog, no one likes that. To find any of the actual cool kids having the balls for such a song you’d have to go to the pre-historic year of 2011 where Haken released Visions.

So what’s up with that? Maybe the cool kids just aren’t that cool. Maybe they just gotta grow some balls again and throw everything they have in the arsenal (ew) at the wall and hit us with a good long boi again. Show us how epic you are. Fuck the haterz. I want you at your most pretentious, snobbiest and ambitious mode possible. So if any of you cool kids band members are reading this, keep this in mind for yer next album. Though I must say, don’t forget about the sandwiches either! We’re still on the (Progressive) Subway after all… 😛


…wow. Seems like I had something to talk about after all. Now about the current edition. This month was pretty damn good! We have three (!!!) 10/10 albums, and a lot of other good stuff too. I don’t think any of these bands have gained any actual notoriety yet, so it’ll likely be full of surprises for you. And lastly, we have (as always) a Spotify playlist with all the recommended songs from albums featured.

Time for practical information:

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. You can find us on social media at the following accounts: on Facebook we go by @theprogressivesubway and on Instagram we’re called @progsubway.

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No One Knows What The Dead Think – No One Knows What The Dead Think (US-NJ)
Style: Grindcore (harsh vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Jonah

So I’m going to level with you guys. I’m kind of pushing it calling this album “Prog” because the average song length is about 1 and a half minutes and the album is less than 20 minutes long. But hear me out. This is a really fucking good album and I wanted to write about it. Grindcore is a bizarre genre full of intensely abrasive music, weird short songs, and often albums that are shorter than your average EP. Yet something about it is weirdly appealing to me, a person who often will turn off an album for lacking a strong melodic core, which Grindcore absolutely does. But here we are, with an album that I 100% consider to be the successor to the Gridlink masterpiece Longhena, and honestly it’s just so goddamn good.

The performances here are just absolutely masterful. The riffs are meaty, insane, and technical, with just enough brief, and I mean BRIEF, breaks for the leads to shine through. The bass is quiet but present, and the drums are going to batter your skull in. The vocals though, the vocals are a star. Jon Chang has some of the most demented, insane shrieks this side of Travis Ryan and honestly I just can’t get enough of them. This album makes my ears bleed in the best way, and I walk away wanted to bash my skull through a brick wall.

Grindcore isn’t for everybody and I fully respect that, but I don’t think there’s a better album to use as a gateway into this weird-ass genre. So give this bad boy a whirl, it’s real fucking good. Also, the album has karaoke versions of all the songs, which really just means instrumentals, but the idea of Grindcore karaoke is absolutely hilarious to me and I love it so much. Listen to this album damn it.

Recommended tracks: It’s 18 minutes long just listen to all of them
Recommended for fans of: Gridlink, Cloud Rat, Discordance Axis
Final verdict: 10/10

Sleeping Ancient – There Is No Truth but Death (US-TE)
Style: Sludge/Post/Black something (harsh vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Dylan

A glance at this band’s name and album title will probably sell out what you’re gonna listen to. Sleeping Ancient aren’t afraid of showing what they are, and delivering in what they offer.

There Is No Truth but Death has a very sinister tone to it. It’s this sludgy, heavy as fuck, Black Metal-infused adventure of an album. Matter of fact, it’s probably one of the heaviest things I’ve reviewed in this blog. This abrasive wall of heaviness is put together with a very distorted melodic guitar throughout, which keeps the album fresh even after you’re a couple tracks into it. Due to the fact that the vocals are also really harsh and distorted, this addition was much appreciated. Had this melodic element not been here, it would’ve been a tad harder to sit through this project but as it is, it’s just the right amount of melody to keep you engaged. 

And as it always happens with my reviews, by the third paragraph I’m not really sure what I can add. What describes the album has already been said in a positive matter to indicate that it’s a good album. If what you read sounds like something you’re going to like, this is something worth checking out. If it’s not, you’re not skipping on an AOTY or anything. 

Recommended tracks: A Path Emerges
Recommended for fans of: Mgla, Isis, Bell Witch
Final verdict: 7.5/10

Noekk – Waltzing in Obscurity (Germany)
Style: Rock (clean vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Matt

Waltzing in Obscurity – A lot of it’s in 3/4, and I’ve never heard of it… Title checks out. This is my first exposure to the wonderfully wacky Noekk, and I can’t recall hearing anything similar before. They play a sort of folky gothic prog rock, with retro 70s synths and a deep baritone singer in the vein of Østen Bergøy [TristaniaEd.]. There’s a playfulness that recalls classic Genesis or King Crimson, but also a constant undercurrent of melancholy. It’s strange.

This could have been a bore, with its sleepy atmosphere and loose song structures, but the writers have such a good ear for melodies, and the arrangements just have something extra that makes them harmonically interesting. The keyboards are a breath of fresh air as well, with what sounds like genuine Moog, Hammond organ, sine waves, and whatever else they could think of. It’s a light and relaxing album, but full of surprises.

For once, I don’t really have any nitpicks – Waltzing in Obscurity is exactly what it sets out to be. Excellent writing, playing and vocals, and most of all, it immediately has its own sound. It’s not the kind of music that inspires fervor, but when I think about it… Yeah, this is a great album. Worth getting if you like anything slow and ambient.

Recommended tracks: Perseus, The Giant, Mortlach
Recommended for fans of: Genesis, King Crimson, Empyrium
Final verdict: 8/10

Soul of Anubis – The Last Journey (Portugal)
Style: Sludge (harsh vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Jonah

I’d like to take a moment to talk about album composition. The order that songs are placed in makes a tremendous impact on my enjoyment of an album, and issues with frontloading and backloading can cause a tremendous amount of damage to my perception of a piece of music. Similarly, an album that flows poorly just isn’t that much fun to listen to. Why do I bring this up? Well let’s talk about The Last Journey, the new album by Progressive Sludge band Soul of Anubis.

This album opens up with an absolute motherfucker of an opening track. The drumming is tribal and glorious, the riffs are thick and juicy, and the vocals are visceral and harsh as the best of them. These continues on through the next two tracks, all of which are just absolutely incredible pieces of overly aggressive Sludge in the best possible way. This has been super positive so far, right? Where is the negative you ask? Well, if you glance at my recommended tracks real quick, and then glance at the album tracklist, you may get the gist of what’s to come.

This album is frontloaded as all hell. The absolute best tracks are the first 3 and then it immediately loses steam. The middle and back of the album just don’t have the same songwriting, they don’t have the same hooks, and they don’t have the same level of energy, and it’s just so damn disappointing because the first couple songs are so good.

That all being said, this album has some of my favorite drumming I’ve heard all year and is worth a listen for that alone. There’s some great tracks to be found here, they’re just all sadly right up front, so there’s not much to look forward to as you listen.

Recommended tracks: Beyond the Plague, Black Mountain, Shade of Oblivion
Recommended for fans of: Mastiff, Morne, Allfather
Final verdict: 6/10

Vol de Conscience – One (Italy)
Style: Black (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Youtube | Metal-Archives page
Review by: BaylorYou

Vol de Conscience is a Progressive Black Metal band who incorporated a lot of Gothic, Psychedelic, and other elements in their newest album One. I wasn’t really sure what to expect going into this one, and after about the first five minutes, still didn’t know what to expect. The album opens with about a six minute instrumental build up of ominous choirs, dissonant instruments, atmospheric bells, and other unusual tones to really build tension. Once the second track kicked in I realized I was in for some Progressive Black Metal.

Vol de Conscience was able to do some very interesting things on One. There are a lot of Progressive bands that have a switch that they flip where there are pretty major tonal changes. The switch that Vol de Conscience would flip was a switch that would change the tone from progressive black metal, to almost straight power metal. The clean vocals had a very power metal vibrato and tone, while the harsh vocals sounded very much in line with other black metal bands. Another unique aspect to the album is that there were a couple tracks on One that were almost exclusively monologues. The monologues held to tone of the album together and, while I had trouble following the story/concept of the album, the monologues were definitely a nice touch.

On to the specifics, my second favorite track was probably Sleeping Dawn – The Neverending Clash. It was probably the proggiest track on the album and also introduced a very bright synth (or clavinet?) that really worked well in the song. I was surprised that such a bright synth worked in an album that had such a dark overall tone. While Sleeping Dawn – The Neverending Clash was my second favorite track, Eleven and One was my favorite. Eleven and One opens with a very heavy riff and has some nice peaks and valleys. These two tracks are definitely worth checking out if you are into progressive black metal/progressive metal. Lastly, the final track Relieved is an absolutely beautiful acoustic guitar instrumental that almost has a folk feel to it. I’d recommend that track to really anyone… even if you hate metal. It’s really damn soothing.

Overall, One is a cool album by Vol de Conscience that has a very interesting blend of prog metal, black metal, and power metal. As I mentioned before, I had trouble following the story/concept, but the overall tone of each song is enough to make you feel like you are going on a journey. Personally, I am not a huge fan of black metal, and there was a lot of black metal on this album. So that is where the album missed the mark the most for me. That said, this album was tastefully constructed and I imagine would appeal to fans of Progressive Black Metal as I mentioned before.

Recommended tracks: Eleven and One, Sleeping Dawn – The Neverending Clash, and Relieved
Recommended for fans of: Oransi Pazuzu, Cradle of Filth, Moonspell
Final verdict: 6.5/10

Starborn – Savage Peace (UK)
Style: US Power Metal (clean vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Sam

During the album of the year 2018 list, I said that my taste could roughly be represented by two bands: Dream Theater and Opeth. This however, is false, as there is a third component to what makes the sam1oq. I have a big love for both heavy and power metal, and if I had to pick a band to best represent this I’d probably say Virgin Steele. They have both the heavy metal riffs and the power metal aesthetics. This band played a style called US Power Metal (USPM in short). It traded the blues roots of NWOBHM for some extra power and laid the groundwork for power metal as we know it today (which is also known as EUPM since that originated in Europe). There are roughly two styles of this. One was aggressive, often close to speed and/or thrash metal, and the other one was more melodic and progressive. The former style has seen a bit of a revival in recent years, but the latter is about as dead as my guinea pig. Nonetheless, I absolutely adore USPM. Hence when I found out there was this band called Starborn playing the progressive style and was actually good at it, I completely freaked out. 

And holy fuck is this band good. I know it’s a cliché, but I fell in love within the first minute. Riffs, riffs, riffs. I said this was of the melodic variety, but Savage Peace is one of the heaviest power metal you’ll ever hear, of any kind. The riffs are chunky, aggressive and just generally badass as fuck. It is like something you’d hear in thrash metal, but then without ever becoming actual thrash. It’s a twin guitar attack however, so there’s also a dude playing the leads and pretty melodies over the neck breakers and holy hell it WORKS. Starborn makes you feel like you can run through a brick wall, but at the same time you transcend into a new state of existence while rolling around with puppies. The melodies are absolutely gorgeous and the lead playing is fantastic. And sometimes they don’t even go for a regular melody, but just guitar solo their asses off despite being nowhere close to the bridge. Let alone when they unleash the shredding in the actual bridges.

This band is just really freaking tight. The songs are eventful and dynamic. It’s full of tempo shifts, AMAZING shredding and all around just highly memorable. Speaking of tempo, the drummer is FANTASTIC. He does it all. 16th note hi-hat grooves? Got it. Sick ride bell patterns? You bet. Creative use of double bass? Hell yeah. He even put in blast beats at some point, in Power Metal of all things. He’s constantly varying up his playing so it doesn’t ever get close to being boring. This band is just all around amazing at songwriting. I already mentioned the instrumental aspects being kickass, and the vocals are no less good. What we have here is a classic 80s banshee. A piercing falsetto voice with just an unmistakable power behind it. He has a very John Arch [early Fates Warning Ed.] way of going completely astray of what the rest is doing but still sounding awesome while doing so. His resulting vocal lines are weird yet super catchy. It’s a very impressive performance.

Unfortunately, I now have to give you the obligatory “Not all is good” paragraph. As indeed, not all is good about Savage Peace. Despite how amazing their riff game is, after a while you just wish there was a ballad track. I Am the Clay has a semi-ballad feel, but really it’s more of a slow epic. And what doesn’t help is that it’s easily the weakest track on the album. This screws up the album’s pacing. Riff galore is good and all, but without proper breaks it can become tiring. There’s an amazing slower section at the end of Inked in Blood, which gives of real Crimson Glory and King Diamond vibes with how wicked it sounds, but it comes too late to fix the issue. What’s more is that the opener Existence Under Oath goes on needlessly longer than it should have. The last 90 seconds or so are just unnecessary if you ask me. Finally the production on the crashes and hi-hat is a bit off, but that’s a minor inconvenience.

On the whole though, Savage Peace is an amazing record. Despite some pacing issues and one or two weaker tracks, this is absolutely one of the best things in this particular style I have heard in a looong time. Starborn cemented themselves along the top USPM crowd with this album. This is a stunning debut, and unless you’re one of those people who deems nearly every Heavy Metal act an Iron Maiden clone, chances are big you’ll like this band as much as I did. Do recommend.

Recommended tracks: Existence Under Oath, Darkness Divine, Inked in Blood, Savage Peace
Recommended for fans of: Crimson Glory, Iced Earth, Blind Guardian, Iron Maiden, early Fates Warning
Final verdict: 8.5/10

Serpent Column – Mirror in Darkness (US-??)
Style: Black (incomprehensible vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Tyler

This album is dirty as hell. I don’t know of a better way to describe it other than just dirty. It certainly is expressive and visceral, and there are a lot of cool things happening, but man do I wish I could have heard more of it. There is a pretty good coating of (I’ll call it) filth on here. Something that drenches the entire package and actually adds a pretty good amount of character to the overall sound. The only problem with that is that there is so much going on at times, you don’t get the full scope of everything that’s happening. Think of what a tornado looks like, and that’s the way that Mirror in Darkness sounds for the most part.

First off: The vocals are a moot point. I can’t tell what is going on with them at all. They sound thick and guttural, so they fit the music well, but I don’t know how much the album would lose if they were not there at all. At most, they add an extra texture in a sound that’s already plenty thick and busy. So that’s that. The other parts of the album are an interesting creature though. The first track Promising of the Polls starts the same as any other crusty Black Metal album might. Very loud and chaotic, not really able to tell what is going on that well. Something that made me sort of roll my eyes and think “Here we go again…” But, as you get to the meat of the album, it really has taken an interesting turn. Specifically songs like Detainment and Mirror in Darkness. There are a lot of very washy melodies and even some more Math-y elements that I didn’t expect, which I appreciated a lot, since this record can feel very samey, so the break in genres was a welcome change when it happened.

I feel that this album is a perfect example of why not to judge a book by its cover (or album art rather). I walked in expecting washy guitars, incomprehensible vocals, blast beats, grimey production. And I got all of those things. But, I also got elements of sludge and post metal, math rock, progressive metal, all wrapped up in this interesting pocket universe that Serpent Column has made for itself. What makes it more impressive is that it’s all one guy doing everything here. Being able to create a thick and pretty immersive sound on one’s own is a difficult thing to do, and I think it works here. Now, please let me know what you are saying.

Recommended tracks: Detainment, Mirror in Darkness
Recommended for fans of: Artificial Brain I think? This sound is all very new to me
Final verdict: 6/10

Sentire – Time and Motion (UK)
Style: Power/Symphonic (clean vocals)
Related links: Spotify | Amazon | Metal-Archives page (wtf what band doesn’t have any of Bandcamp, an official website or social media???)
Review by: Matt

Here’s a… band… from England… One “James Sanger” is allegedly in it… Ok, what the hell is Sentire? This album has a professional mix and cover art, musicians that shred, and an orchestral sheen that doesn’t come cheap, yet there’s only hearsay and mp3s to prove it exists. Currently, the top search result for “Sentire band” is Metal Archives. The second most relevant result is the guitarist’s LinkedIn page. We’re dealing with the kvltest of the kvlt.

Whoever these people are, they’ve created one of the best albums of the year. It’s power metal, I guess, but so heavy I was expecting an Arsis-style snarl to come in on the first song. Actually, what we get is a gruff tenor that reminds me a little of Mats Leven, finding the perfect ratio of flamboyancy to toughness for the pummeling music beneath. The riffs are fast and furious, vaguely neoclassical and melodeathy, with a constant massive orchestra presence that doesn’t quite take center stage. It’s easy to forget what this album is, until a stray Yngwie solo or epic choir jerks you back into Power Metal territory. Some songs, like Fall, leave me unsure if they’re any genre in particular besides “heavy and awesome.” This is the sign of a great metal album.

If I have one complaint, it’s that the songs on Time and Motion run together by the end – they’re all similarly epic and crunchy, with the same melodramatic, apocalyptic atmosphere. They’re not particularly catchy either, despite all the elements being there. Every part is interesting, but it’s like a magic trick – at the end of a track, you’ll say “hey, was there a chorus?” because the emphasis wasn’t on it. This is cool, but the lack of musical “signposts” takes some individuality away from the songs… I’m sure I’ll get over it, though.

Sentire: If you’re out there, get in touch! Or at least put up a website. It’s baffling to me how little we know about this release. This would appeal to a broad array of metal fans, if they had any way of knowing about it. Strong contender for my album of the year.

Recommended tracks: End of the World, Fall
Recommended for fans of: Fleshgod Apocalypse, Wilderun, Angra, Rhapsody, Wintersun
Final verdict: 9/10

Etrange – Etrange (France)
Style: Space LTE (instrumental duh)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Dylan

It’s Liquid Tension Experiment…. In spAAAaaaaAaace!

That’s it. There’s literally no other way I can sell this to you than with that. Imagine the very best of instrumental Progressive Metal put through a space/sci-fi machine and processed with a cinematic feel to it, and that’s what Etrange is. An absolutely STELLAR (pun intended) album with top notch performances, over the top greatness, cinematic epicness, and a marvelous sense of cohesion and loose conceptuality. The tracks are long but justified, they tie in very nicely one to the other, there’s always something interesting going on, and the synth tone is SUPERB. I can’t tell you that I’m not in love with this album, because I’d be lying.

I had already been on an instrumental phase before approaching this album, but just as it was about to end, this album sucked me back in in all of its greatness. It’s just that type of album you just can’t believe has actually been composed to such a degree of genius that you’re listening with your mouth open, anxious to know what’s about to come next, and gets you sad when it’s over. 

I KNOW. I may be totally overhyping this for some of you and you may be a bit disappointed if it’s not the album of the decade, BUT MAN, I really really REALLY loved it, and I hope you do too.

Recommended tracks: Exile, Astralis, Exoplanet (horonable mention to the lovely interlude Reloader)
Recommended for fans of: Liquid Tension Experiment, SPACE!
Final verdict: 10/10

Foscor – Els sepulcres blancs (Spain)
Style: Atmo-Black (clean, Catalan vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Dylan

I wasn’t aware of the fact that Black Metal related music could be this clean. In fact, for most of this album, I kept waiting for that classic clean to harsh transition to happen over and over again up until halfway through where I accepted this album just wasn’t gonna do that. 

Foscor‘s sound is delightfully unique. What’s black about this band is the instrumental tropes, such as tremolo picking and blast beats. But they mix it with really, REALLY clean textures, melodies, and vocals. While I’ve heard my fair share of cleaner Atmo-Black, this was so light that I had to discuss whether this album was properly tagged. 

Alongside this beautiful, heavenly landscape filled with tremolos and blast beats, are vocals in Catalan. Non English vocals can do wonders to an album, and Catalan mixes perfectly together with this unique sound Foscor presents. It’s like Alcest tried to be as little Black Metal as possible, without jumping trains to Post-Rock/Shoegaze like they once did in Shelter. And if I compare the band to Alcest, it means that it’s got something real good going for it. 

Recommended tracks: Els Color del Silenci, Secrets
Recommended for fans of: Alcest
Final verdict: 8/10

Envious Despair – Envious MOTHAFUCKIN Despair (South Africa)
Style: Death (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: SharkTRS

Just to be clear, this is an album called Envious Mothafukin Despair and there’s a song on it called Clown World. With that said, let’s get into the review.

You know that local extreme metal band that always does gigs no one goes to? Envious Despair sound like one of those bands. The riffs sound samey and end up feeling downright boring towards the end of the album, the songwriting is incredibly weak, making songs feel bloated even though none pass 5 minutes, and the harsh vocals are not the best. Sometimes they sound fine but other times… Have you seen that video of Greta Thunberg’s speech made into a death metal song? They’re a lot like that at times. Along with the juvenile lyrics, there’s not much here that makes this worth listening over other music.

There are moments here, though, of experimentation. Moments where Envious Despair step outside of being stereotypical bar metal. Every time, they attempt one of these, it almost works, but not quite. I actually laughed out loud during Clown World because when they bring the heavy riff back near the end of the song, they throw gun samples over it. Pure shock value at first, but on repeated listens it sort of works. There’s also the hard rock solo on Stemcell Rebirth that comes out of absolutely nowhere, yet is probably the best solo on the album. They also throw in odd time signatures from time to time, though nothing too crazy.

Despite showing prog tendencies, I don’t expect Envious Despair to go full-on prog any time soon, being a band that lists their interests on Facebook as ”Heavy Fuckin Riffs, Heavy Fuckin Drum Grooves, Beer, Babes and Partying.” I wouldn’t recommend this album, but if you’re like me and want to listen to it because it’s got a song on it called Clown World, go ahead.

Recommended tracks: Clown World, Sewer Creature, Frozen Fire
Recommended for fans of: Death Metal who’ve exhausted most other options
Final verdict: 3/10

Pyrah – Part of the Ghost World
Style: Alternative (mixed, female vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Dylan

You know how you’re sometimes cooking yourself a steak with a side of mashed potatoes, you burn your steak, and then the mash is so great you feel it’s wasted as a side dish? This is how Pyrah feels.

Just to be clear, in this case the steak is the instrumentals, and the mashed potatoes are the vocals. 

Let’s start talking about our side dish, because it’s worth talking about. This band is female fronted and the female vocals are fucking great. Not only does she have a ton of personality when singing cleanly, her harsh vocals are some of the best you’ll ever hear. Cold, raw, and filled to the brim with emotion, these passages are the ones that struck a chord with me the most, and I really hope she gets a new gig because…

Man everything else about this album is so bang average. They try to go for this Alternative-ish sound which I can’t really say has a lot of personality, and with shitty production on top of it. Even after multiple listens, I still struggle to remember a riff, a chorus, or even a small melody. It’s a completely uninspired instrumental work with one of the best vocal performances I’ve ever heard on top of it. Really sad. 

Recommended tracks: Locked and Loaded
Recommended for fans of: Jinjer, Lacuna Coil
Final verdict: 5/10

Pathogenic – Pathogenic (US-MA)
Style: Extreme (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Review by: SharkTRS

Most of the time, whenever I listen to a good album, I get it right away. However, when I listen to an excellent album, I often can’t properly digest it at first, and only on repeat listens do I realize how good it is.

Pathogenic is, absolutely, one of those albums. On first listen, I dismissed it as “Slugdge but bad”. Looking back on that now, I have absolutely no idea why I thought that as, not only does this album have many stylistic differences from Slugdge, it’s also arguably better than Esoteric Malacology.

Pathogenic have the uncanny ability to slide into any style of music and completely nail it. They use this to its full extent, switching tracks up more than The Dillinger Escape Plan. When listening to a song on this album, I’m never entirely sure where it’s going to go. The first song alone goes from acoustic stuff to major key death metal into slap bass just within the first few minutes. Later on, Pathogenic pack in everything from Jazz sections to Deathcore breakdowns to full choirs. It’s absolutely insane, and it shouldn’t work nearly as well as it does.

The reason they can pull all of this and make it work is because every single member of the band is incredibly skilled. The vocalist consistently nails every style of screaming I can think of short of pig squeals, and his cleans are nothing to scoff at either. The dude could easily be a singer in everything from a prog rock band to an emo one and make it work, even without the screams. He’s easily one of the most skilled vocalists I’ve heard all year.

The rest of the band brings skill to match. I’d like to take a minute here to praise the guitarists for their incredible work throughout the entire album. Every acoustic section sounds incredible and serves perfectly to lead into the next part of the song, and many of the solos sound straight out of a Sithu Aye song. However, the real standouts are the riffs and the breakdowns. This is the hardest shit I’ve heard all year, and the riffs are what get it there. These guys throw out new riffs as often as every thirty seconds sometimes, and each one makes me feel like hunting down and killing a gorilla with my bare hands. And the breakdowns, oh my god. The breakdown at the end of We Weep Only for Ourselves causes tsunamis in Japan. It needs to be heard to be understood. If there’s one song you listen to from this album, make it that one. You won’t regret it.

Of course, though, I can’t talk about the riffs and the breakdowns without mentioning the bassist and drummer. The riffs simply wouldn’t feel as full without the bass running along with them, and his use of slap bass adds a unique feel to this album. The drummer, meanwhile, is the one really running the show. That dude can take one riff and make it sound like six different riffs by switching up his playing. If I took a shot every time he switched to a new drum pattern, I’d be dead five minutes into the first track. In a year of incredible drumming, he remains a standout.

The only thing I can really dock them points for is occasionally retreading the same ground, but I can forgive them for that given that the first song throws out more ideas than most bands do in entire albums. Pathogenic is not a band to miss. This album’s gotta be heard.

Recommended tracks: Testimony, We Weep Only For Ourselves, The Stories We Choose to Tell / The Danger in Well Crafted Words / Suicide Itch (it’s one big song)
Recommended for fans of: Between the Buried and Me, Slugdge, Infant Annihilator
Final verdict: 9/10

Mother Turtle – Three Sides to Every Story (Greece)
Style: Instrumental
Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | RYM page
Review by: BaylorYou

Three Sides to Every Story is a short three track release from the greek band Mother Turtle. Before I go too deep into this review, I can tell that I would like these guys from the little bit of humor sprinkled in this album. I wanted to add this album to my review list because one of Mother Turtle’s genre tags is Avant-Garde, and I love me some Avant-Garde. As far as Avant-Garde goes, this is pretty tame and accessible. 

Since there are only three tracks I’ll discuss each track a little bit. This is an instrumental release, but it isn’t exactly entirely instrumental because track one, Zigu-Zigu, ends with a funny monologue where one of the band members breaks the third wall stating that he congratulates listeners for finishing the song, and asks listeners if the album would still be instrumental album since he is talking. He then wonders if listeners will understand the story because there are no words, or if no one will understand. It’s pretty hilarious in my opinion. Track two is the title track Three Sides to Every Story, and has some cool moments including some melismatic vocals with an eastern feel to them. There was some nice riffs, bass, and drums, but not much more than nice noodling. The title track had a couple cool moments, but overall was fairly lack-luster for me personally. The third and final track is A Christmas Postcard from Kim” and this track has my favorite moment of the album within it. Around the nine minute mark they have these weird modulated chants that overlap with almost… rapping. This segment ends with some ambient female vocals over what sounds like a wrist watch alarm. When it comes to Avant-Garde that is the kind of stuff I live for. That part was so awesome. A Christmas Postcard from Kim was definitely the best and most interesting track on the album to me.

Overall, I’m going to keep an eye out for these guys, but this album didn’t keep me engaged upon multiple listens. That said, there were flashes from Mother Turtle that shows me these guys are talented and can release something truly incredible. Unfortunately, I don’t think Three Sides to Every Story was that album. 

Recommended tracks: A Christmas Postcard from Kim
Recommended for fans of: Weirdness and no vocals
Final verdict: 6/10

Ágona – Antropo (Brazil)
Style: Thrash/Post-Hardcore (harsh vocals)
Related links: Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Tyler

I was ready to write this album off the first time I heard it. There are some not-so-great things on this album. The very first song prepared me for the worst with a terrible drum tone and I was getting my 2/10 hands ready. But things get better as they say, and this album actually surprised me more than I was expecting it to. I don’t want to say it was low expectations, but everything here is just mediocre enough where, when everything came together, it actually didn’t sound terrible. I swear I said to myself, “They actually pulled this off.”

All things considered, this is a thrash-core album. It’s not going to be much more than that. The songs are about what you’d expect. Big, burly riffs, driving drums, and angry vocals. Not much to write home about. The drum tone as I said earlier, is pretty bad when it’s on its own, almost an instant turn off. The guitars are better, but still not super clear or as punctual. There a some ok riffs and ideas happening in the guitars, my favorite being the wonky solo at the end of Involução. It was unexpected, especially when it could have been just a shred fest, I appreciate that it went differently than I expected. The real stand out performance here are the vocals. If they were not as done as well as they were, this whole thing would have come in a few levels lower than it did. They brought legitimacy to an album that was in great need of it. They are done very well, sound great, and it’s what brought the entire album together as one cohesive idea.

I have to talk a little bit about the last song, 0º, for a hot minute. I don’t know where this was throughout the rest of the album but, guys, do more of that. The first minute sounds like an odd 90’s Prog Metal intro washed in a chorus effect, but then there are a lot of interesting ideas with complex timing rhythms. It seems like a totally different band in terms of actual songwriting. Sure the tone is still lacking on all fronts, but I was always interested in what was coming next. If mixed with the killer vocals, they would have an actual winner on their hands.

This album surprised me a little more than I thought it would. It was unfair of me to be so quick to judge based on the first thing I heard, even if I think they are valid criticisms. It deserves at least one listen I think. If nothing more than the song that’s just a minute of zombie noise. I won’t tell you which one!

Recommended tracks: 0º, V
Recommended for fans of: Vektor, folks trying their best
Final verdict: 5/10

Pangaea – Vespr (US-WI)
Style: Metalcore/Extreme (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | RYM page
Review by: Tyler

I have to start this review with a disclaimer: I am going into this album with a personal bias. I hate to do it, but it can’t be ignored. I have known about Pangaea for a very long time. My band has played with them, we are from the same area in Wisconsin. Heck, their bassist, Spencer, mixed and mastered our album (phenomenally, by the way) [The World Is Quiet Here – Prologue Ed.]. They are friends. Musicians I look up to. I am personally invested in Pangaea. And you should all be too. What they are doing is otherworldly. All of these guys are trained, professional musicians who managed to take a sterile genre that, in all honesty, was becoming oversaturated with “How heavy and angry can we make this?” and turn it into something forward thinking, wonderfully written, and often beautiful.  

Every aspect of the songwriting and composition is eye catching and memorable. Blending styles from all across heavy music. Michael Dionne’s vocals are versatile from the very beginning of Survivor’s Guilt, opening with a style that is reminiscent of a more Hardcore setting, and being able to go to masterful lows and screams. Guitars handled by Trae and Evan are inspired, complimenting each other non stop. Whether it be in the form of a dueled guitar lead ala mid 2000’s Metalcore, or small classical guitar interludes, because yes of course they are exemplary in that as well. Spencer’s bass playing on A Gateway to Nothing makes me want to quit altogether. And Michael DeMarco’s drumming on the entire album is perfection.

There are so many layers and things at play on VESPR, that it could be seen as almost too busy. There are a lot of complex things happening all at once, to where I often felt like I had sensory overload in the best possible way. Some good examples are in Survivors Guilt and Black Tower. Those songs have so much to express in them, they don’t linger on ideas for too long, it feels like you are being forced to have your head whipped back and forth, but everywhere you look is the next killer riff or vocal/guitar hook that’s going to be stuck in your head all day long. It’s a curse that sits well with me, but for some, it could come off as hyperactive.

This review is biased. Sorry. I promise though, this would have blown me away just as much if it was the first time stumbling across Pangaea. They borrow a lot from their contemporaries, but blend it in all in ways that I’ve never heard before. Every element works together. Everything sounds fantastic. This is one of those albums that you remember where you were the first time you heard it. And I’m so proud that it was made by people that I’ve respected for so long. Hats off, fellas. Don’t forget about us little guys on your way to the top.

Recommended tracks: Survivor’s Guilt, Black Tower, The VESPR Sessions
Recommended for fans of: Between the Buried and Me, The Contortionist, The World Is Quiet Here
Final verdict: 10/10

Ghost on Mars – Lost Signals (Italy)
Style: Traditional (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Review by: SharkTRS

One of the largest problems plaguing Prog is excess. Bands will write a 15-minute-long song where five whole minutes could be cut without anything being lost. As such, it’s refreshing to find a band that keeps everything short and to the point. The songwriting here is concise, with each track around the five minute mark and never going a second too long. On top of this, each song is distinct enough that they never retread ground. While it’s clearly the same band for each one, every track brings something new to the table. During my listens, I found myself mentally labelling each one. There’s the happy song, the moody song, the heavy song, and so on. For a short release like this one, this works quite well.

But what about the music itself? I’ll begin with the vocalist. His cleans are quite good. Dude’s voice is straight-up hypnotic when he’s not getting too loud, but they lose some of that during the more energetic moments. His harshes, though, leave a lot to be desired. It’s painfully obvious that he’s new to screaming. His tone is flat and a lot of times when he’s growling, he can’t sustain the growl and dips into raspy singing instead. Thankfully, though, he doesn’t scream on every track and he never does so for long.

The instrumentals are solid, but nothing to write home about. Drums are generally serviceable with a few neat fills from time to time, and the bass, while audible, never does much of note. The guitarists, then, are the clear standouts out of the instrumentalists here. The riffs on the album traverse a variety of genres, sounding like Stoner Rock in one song, Djent in another, and Linkin Park the next. Due to this, they never really get boring. With the exception of the one in The Time I Saw The Moon, the solos are quite nice, too. The best part about the instrumentals on this album, though, is that they’re consistent. There are rarely any bad moments with them, and the few that exist barely detract from the songs they’re in.

While not outstanding, Lost Signals is quite a solid debut, and if you can spare 25 minutes, give it a listen.


also PS: for some ungodly reason this album is tagged as Black Metal on bandcamp and I can’t for the life of me figure out why. Ghost on Mars, if you’re reading this, I need an explanation here.

Recommended tracks: can’t go wrong with any of ‘em
Recommended for fans of: Tool, Pain of Salvation, Haken, Deadly Circus Fire
Final verdict: 6.5/10

Ark Ascent – Downfall (UK)
Style: Power (clean vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Matt

Yup, that there is a cool album cover. Ark Ascent is a UK band led by guitarist Jack Kirby, and their debut album is already pulling out all the stops as far as presentation goes. Featuring bass work by Andrea Arcangeli (DGM) and a shiny production by Rich Hinks (Aeon Zen, Annihilator), so there’s some prestige here you don’t normally get with a first album.

Downfall is a throwback to the 2000s, somewhere between Pagan’s Mind and early Dream Theater. However, Ark Ascent don’t entirely commit to the atmosphere or technicality of those bands, just using them when they see fit. There’s a hint of the jazzy chords and Egyptian sounds that made Pagan’s Mind great, but just as often, it’s basic Power Metal. The guitars rarely outright shred, though Kirby’s solo composition and phrasing are pretty excellent. The riffs are utilitarian, not totally neutered, but somewhat generic. The singer is solid, but also gets kind of whiny sometimes. Basically, it feels like a watered down version of its predecessors, but the songwriting is good enough to form something quality nonetheless.

If it sounds like I’m down on the album, I did enjoy it – just some parts more than others. I was fully on board until the chorus of track 2 (Point of No Return), which brought things to a grinding halt. These guys are fans of the “just because” time change – adding and removing beats in a way that’s confusing, but not interesting. Contrast this chorus with the organ part of the last song – that’s awesome, but this just feels like wankery. Mostly, the overt “prog parts” serve to mess with you rather than add intrigue. More importantly, a lot of the parts that aren’t main ideas just aren’t that memorable. The exception is The End of Time, the traditional epic closer that feels like it got more attention in writing. This song has that extra fire the rest are sometimes lacking.

As an aside, I noticed parts throughout the album that sounded suspiciously like other songs… I could point out Enigmatic Mission, The Odyssey, Follow the Hollow, and most conspicuously, the main intro/outro theme is straight out of Octavarium. Intentional homage? Subconscious accident? I dunno.

Overall, Downfall is a competent 2000s prog album, but I don’t see it entering my permanent rotation. I don’t demand that every band be unique, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’ve heard it done better before. Maybe the next one will expand on the handful of inspired parts here.

Recommended tracks: The Aftermath, The End of Time
Recommended for fans of: Pagan’s Mind, Dream Theater
Final verdict: 6/10

Dreamarcher – The Bond (Norway)
Style: Post-Hardcore (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | RYM page
Review by: Jonah

I discovered Post-Hardcore relatively late in my musical journey compared to other genres of heavy music. I scoffed at the style in my younger years, as much of my exposure to it was the pop-metal side of things, and thus I assumed all PHC was of that variety. Then in recent years I discovered Dance Gavin Dance and Black Peaks and learned that it was not all, in fact, poppy garbage. Thus was I excited when I saw a band tagged in the genre up for grabs in our review list and eagerly hopped aboard. So, is Dreamarcher worth all that excitement?

Absolutely not. I’m so tremendously underwhelmed by this album. Is it bad? Not really, but damn if it’s not good either. As far as the album performances are concerned, the instrumentals are all serviceable without being impressive. The bass is present but not technical, the riffs are fine but relatively bland, and the drumming is probably the best portion of the album, and the vocals vary between emotionless harshes and really, really flat cleans. I just can’t find much of anything to love here. Not a damn thing is explicitly bad here, but no element of this music convinces me to return to it at all. The chorus of Black Water is kind of cool I guess. Also the album is only 34 minutes long, which is a blessing.

So do I hate this album? Not necessarily, but I’m incredibly ambivalent to it and it really just makes me want to listen to better Post Hardcore in this vein, like Black Peaks. Black Peaks is really good.

Recommended tracks: Black Water
Recommended for fans of: Black Peaks, Night Verses, Arcane Roots
Final verdict: 4/10

IATT – Nomenclature (US-PN)
Style: Black (harsh vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Sam

IATT, previously known as I Am the Trireme, is a band that apparently used to play Metalcore so poor Angry Metal Guy gave it a 1/10. And despite their general skepticism and overt negativity, 1/10 (or 0.5/5) scores are rare for even them. Four years later however, they completely turned themselves around musically and decided they wanted to play Progressive Black Metal instead. AMG decided it 4/5 worthy, which is very high praise considering (again) their usual skepticism, so here they are for a review.

If it wasn’t for the AMG review, I’d have never believed this band would have Metalcore roots, for those elements are completely absent in this album. It’s very extreme music. IATT generally take no prisoners and go for the Black/Death Metal assault. There are softer parts, but never do they go without a sensation of lurking extremity around the corner. Even when they go full acoustic you never feel fully safe for the inevitable burst. 

Yet despite this, Nomenclature is a very melodic album. There are lots of Heavy Metal-inspired leads going on, and the Death Metal parts have a very Opeth-y feeling to them. These more melodic bits are generally a highlight in their songs. I found them very tasteful. Weirdly enough the music is also very groovy often. I’d like to thank their drummer for this. He lays down some very cool rhythms and keeps things a lot more varied than most drummers in this style tend to do. His playing is the biggest highlight of the album for me.

This band’s songwriting is a bit weird. Like I mentioned earlier, sometimes they break from the extremity for softer sections, but it never feels like they’re fully committed to them. It’s as if they wanted to do Opeth, but weren’t entirely sure of how to naturally incorporate it into the music. For example at one point in Blade of Trepanation they bring in the Hammond organ in a way that makes you think there’ll be a solo, but then suddenly they just drop it and go on like nothing happened. It’s very confusing songwriting, which I ultimately feel is the leading theme here. The highs are incredible, but songs are needlessly padded and tend to feel aimless. Hence the album becomes same-y after a while.

I should also mention something about the vocals. I tagged this as “harsh vocals”, but the truth is that there is also some singing. The reason for this is that the singing is used in the exact same way the harsh vocals are, and they barely vary in pitch. It took me three listens to notice there was even singing to begin with lol. It’s not bad per se, just completely unmemorable. I wish they did some more singing in the softer passages. That’d help in making them feel less random. The harsh vocals on the other hand are a lot better. They sound very beefy and are surprisingly intelligible. Some of the vocal lines are even, dare I say it, catchy. 

So we come to the conclusion. Nomenclature took me a good while to fully absorb, but now I can fully say IATT still have some work to do. The peaks are very high, but generally confused and bloated songwriting harm the record a lot. This is the sound of a band that is very talented, but just hasn’t figured out what it is exactly they wish to do yet. If you’re in for something extreme that’s also proggy, give this a listen. Otherwise though, I wouldn’t recommend this just yet.

Recommended tracks: Realm of Dysthymia, Yersenia Pestis, Arsenic Ways
Recommended for fans of: Dissection, Opeth, Warforged
Final verdict: 6.5/10

Odd Logic – Last Watch of the Nightingale (US-WA)
Style: Traditional (clean vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: BaylorYou

Wouldn’t you know it? Another album I had the pleasure of going into completely blind with no expectations whatsoever, and what a pleasant surprise Last Watch of the Nightingale by Odd Logic was. After the first track ended, I thought I was in for a progressive metal instrumental, but was very pleasantly surprised when the vocals kicked in on track two, “Garden of Thorns.” Whew boy, the vocalist has a nice set of pipes… I really enjoyed the vocal work on this album.

There is a lot going on in this album. There are moments where the album gets djenty, but I would not say this is a djent album. It is more of a unique progressive metal album with some djent added to it. The closest band I can compare to Odd Logic (on this album anyways) is probably Caligula’s Horse, but Odd Logic very much has their own thing going on in Last Watch of the Nightingale. When I was listening through the album for the first time just about every song made me change my mind on who to compare Odd Logic to. Throughout the album I made mental comparisons to Spock’s Beard, Caligula’s Horse, Tesseract, Wildrun, A.C.T., Haken, Dream Theater and other bands I can’t recall at the moment. As different as all of those bands are to one another, this album flowed extremely well and came together as one coherent sound. 

The pros for this album? Well, just about everything I’ve already said so far. This is probably my favorite album that I have reviewed for the site so far that I had not previously listened to going into the month’s review. The album is well produced, and doesn’t suffer from any mixing/sound design issues (for the most part). The biggest con I have with the album is the 23 minute album closer, Boundary Division. Is it bad? Hell no. The issue that I find with 20+ minute tracks sometimes (I know, not very prog of me), is that they can feel like they drag at times if you aren’t in love with each part of the song. There are very cool parts to the song, but there are also some parts that drag a bit. That said, around the seven minute mark of Boundary Division the song delivers, and really picks up the interest again (for me at least).

Final thoughts, really enjoyed it, I will be checking more out from Odd Logic (this is their 8th album!). Last Watch of the Nightingale will definitely go on the list of albums I’d recommend checking out from 2019.

Recommended tracks: Garden of Thorns, Chance of Gods, Of the Nightingale
Recommended for fans of: Caligula’s Horse, Dream Theater, Haken
Final verdict: 7.5/10

Vokonis – Grasping Time (Sweden)
Style: Sludge/Stoner (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Jonah

Apparently this is just the edition of this blog where I complain about album composition. Grasping Time is the new album from Prog Stoner/Sludge group Vokonis, and for any fans of Mastodon and Baroness this is right up your alley. It’s full of psychedelic moments, fuzzy guitars, shouty vocals and some absolutely killer drum fills.

Just about all of the performances on this album are fantastic. Both vocalists fit the style perfectly, the guitars are bright and engaging, the bass is thick and very present and the drumming is almost worthy of Brann Dailor himself. “But why did you give this album a 6 then?” you might ask. Well, if you listen, you may notice that for some strange reason there’s a couple weird, out of place instrumental tracks smack in the middle of the album for more or less no reason. I’m not the biggest fan of instrumental music, but even if I was I don’t think I’d find these tracks particularly necessary. They feel like they just take up space, they don’t add anything new to the album, and honestly they really kill the momentum. This is a real shame too, because one of the best tracks to be found here is at the very end.

So, is this a bad album? No, there’s some amazing songs here and I think a good chunk of this album really fits that bill that Baroness and Mastodon have been pushing as of late. Unfortunately the weird song order choices prevent this from being any better scored, but I absolutely still recommend you give it a listen. When it’s good it’s REALLY good.

Recommended tracks: Antlerqueen, Sunless Hymnal, Fading Lights
Recommended for fans of: Mastodon, Baroness, Sleep
Final verdict: 6/10