An end-of-year report: our 2019 underground progressive metal albums of the year!

Tier 0: The albums of the year

Well, here it is. The culmination of this reviewing year. This is what you all have been waiting for (I hope).We debated to do a Tier 0.5 this year with all the extremely weird, memeable or (in our experience) awful albums, calling it “Purgatory” or something as a joke, but decided against that since that’d be disrespectful to the artists (though please someone tell Dylan that Dronte doesn’t suck smh). With that said, no more jokes now. I think the name of this category speaks for itself. These albums are all incredibly good and blew our minds over and over again. Of course these placements are entirely subjective, but to us, these were absolutely the greatest things we heard this year. I hope you’ll enjoy these albums as much as we do, because we were blown away. And, as promised in the last tier, we have a Spotify playlist with all our top songs from Tier 1 and Tier 0 which you can use to sample these albums. Now I’m not gonna keep you waiting any longer, so let’s indulge!

Dimhav – The Boreal Flame (Sweden)
Style: Power (clean vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Original review: November
Pick by: Matt

It was almost a foregone conclusion that this would be my album of the year when I read the band’s bio – Daniel Heiman singing over prog metal inspired by Wintersun. Of course this is awesome! They could’ve been far less ambitious and still succeeded, but it’s the incredible, over-the-top epic songwriting that makes Dimhav basically the winner of the power-prog genre. To be fair, people have complained that the choruses didn’t strike them, but I was in the same boat and grew to love them once I was able to process the million other things happening. I’ve listened to The Boreal Flame to the point of burnout, and besides the initial shock of how huge and dense it is, there’s also a purpose and craftsmanship to it that demands respect. Listen to Dimhav, you jerk.

Recommended tracks: The Flame Transcendent, Star and Crescent, Realms of a Vagrant King
Recommended for fans of: Lost Horizon, Wintersun, Seventh Wonder, Symphony X

Freighter – The Den (US-CA)
Style: Math Metal (mostly harsh vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Original review: July
Pick by: Tyler

No album this year grabbed me harder than The Den did. This thing was a blind jump into a dark ocean, which is to say I didn’t know what to expect at all. But how can you expect an album that is everything all at once? The vocal style switches up constantly; the members include elements of jazz, hardcore, and deathcore throughout. They know exactly how asinine those ideas are, so they don’t take themselves too seriously (just look at the lyrics to any of these songs, it’s totally out there). It’s not often you see a band of this caliber that knows how good they are, and poke fun at all of the crazy and out there things they are trying. Not to mention the masterful performance and ultra crisp production that set the whole thing off. I could go on and on about this. It’s the best thing I’ve heard all year, reviewed or not. The Den is uncomfortable. The Den is home. The Den is love. The Den is a drug trip. The Den is where you should hang your hat, and never leave.

Recommended tracks: all of them
Recommended for fans of: Converge, Mutoid Man, The Manx

The Offering – Home (US-MA)
Style: Nu Metal/Metalcore/Heavy/Power (mixed vocals)
Related links: Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Metal-Archive page
Original review: August
Pick by: Jonah

I never expected to hear something like Home, to be honest. I always expect innovation and ingenuity from music, even in eras when it is rare, but to find a band that not only successfully eschews genre convention altogether in favor of an enormously broad sonic palate, and then manages to write creative, complex, AND hooky music alongside that is just mind blowing. Yet, in the year of 2019 The Offering managed to do just that, and the music world was better for it. Their music manages to be intensely heavy and wonderfully melodic at the same time, and while the riffs and roars will crush your bones the melodies will restore them, just in time for the next round of auditory pummeling. I love this album so much, and I really think you should too. I think that reviews that say “well it has a little something for everyone” are generally absolute bullshit, but this is the closest I’ve ever seen to an album that might ring true for.

Recommended tracks: Ultraviolence, Failure, Home
Recommended for fans of: Slipknot, King Diamond, White Chapel

Pathogenic – Pathogenic (US-MA)
Style: Extreme/Deathcore (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Original review: September
Pick by: Josh

Pathogenic’s self-titled debut is unquestionably the heaviest album of 2019. It exemplifies the extreme in extreme metal, drawing on a variety of styles to create something that both awes the listener and pounds them into submission. The members of Pathogenic are some of the most skilled in the genre. The vocalist switches between haunting, elegant clean vocals and every type of scream known to man, nailing it every time, and the guitarists bring brutal riffs and some of the best solos in the genre. The drummer perfectly complements them both, possessing an uncanny ability to switch up a riff to make it sound like a completely different one, and the bassist grounds the rest of the band’s chaotic style switches and steps into the spotlight during quieter moments. This all coalesces into one beautiful, crushing whole. Pathogenic should be required listening for extreme metal fans, up there with the likes of Ne Obliviscaris and Meshuggah. Do not miss this one.

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

Red Scalp – The Great Chase in the Sky (Poland)
Style: Stoner/Psychedelic (clean vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | BigCartel | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Original review: December
Pick by: Stephen

I will try to sell you on this album in one sentence. The Great Chase in the Sky is a Western themed psych/stoner album that includes synths and sax. This album is no gimmick either. It is a shorter album that runs just over 40 minutes, and every track is incredible. Speaking of incredible, the most incredible aspect of this album is that Red Scalp was able to combine all these elements together in an amazing way. On paper a western themed psych-stoner album with synths and sax shouldn’t work, but not only does it work, it transcends. The Great Chase in the Sky came out of nowhere for me, and has become an album I have returned to many times. Even if you don’t like the stoner subgenre, give this album a listen. It completely blew me away.

Recommended tracks: All
Recommended for fans of: Sex

Step in Fluid – Back in Business (France)
Style: Jazz/Fusion (instrumental)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Original review: May
Pick by: Dylan

It seems that any review site ever is allergic to the idea of being blown away by instrumental prog albums. On one hand I kind of get it, usually it doesn’t only take amazing musicians to write a good album, they also need to be strong songwriters. The sheer wank and strange songwriting decisions in progressive music can often be hidden with a good vocalist who gives you a catchy chorus that justifies what you’ve just heard, but with an instrumental act, the songwriting skills are fully exposed. There seems to be a general dismissiveness towards them, because ‘’they’re never going to top bands with actual vocals’’. This is why Step in Fluid’s Back in Business is my album of the year. Because I believe that these french lads truly came up with something really special.

And how is it special you say? Well, to start things off let me tell you that this album is very short, not a minute longer than 30. This would allow a band to go all in on their ideas and not focus too much on pacing, much like Archspire usually does, but Step in Fluid chose not to. Back in Business is a playful, fun, charming, catchy, funky, jazzy, djenty, and technically proficient album. It has a ton of musical virtuosity, with plenty of technical passages, but it never forgets to include a sense of infectiousness that’s very hard to find in other instrumental albums. You can divide the album in two sets of tracks, the playful heavy tracks such as ‘’Booty Shake’’ or ‘’The Funk Bot Dance’’ (you can tell they don’t take themselves that serious by the names huh) and the atmospheric, more chilled out but still amazing tracks such as ‘’Wetside Step’’ and ‘’Sex in an Elevator’’. Keys, guitar, bass and drums are what’s present in every track, but most tracks feature another ‘’guest’’ instrument, such as a flute, a sax, or an actual piano (as in, not an electronic keyboard). 

All of the mentioned elements make Back in Business a MUST listen, no matter whatever branch of prog you like, or even if you’re not all that into prog. This album can be thoroughly enjoyed by prog fans, funk fans, jazz fans, and normal casual music listeners can even get a good kick out of it. It’s just THAT accessibly good, without having to sacrifice a single drop of genius.       

Recommended tracks: All
Recommended for fans of: Snarky Puppy, (late) Plini

The Tea Club – If/When (US-PN)
Style: Heavy Prog (clean vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | RYM page
Original review: Missed albums – second edition
Pick by: Andrew

The Tea Club kind of came out of nowhere for me this year – I’d heard of them but never chose to listen to any of their albums. When If/When released, I finally decided to check them out and holy hell did they not disappoint. The front half of this album is a bunch of shorter tracks that each stand out on their own and have their own flair. They each have different moods, but still maintain a cohesive feel that ties them together. The back half of the album, however, is a single 27-minute track – “Creature”. This song is absolutely one of my top songs of 2019; it is a behemoth of a track and has so much contained within its runtime. The folky, proggy goodness in If/When shoots it near the top of my 2019 AOTY list, and for good reason. There’s so much replay value, so many details waiting to be discovered. The Tea Club has a winner on their hands. 

Recommended tracks: Say Yes, Riverman, Creature
Recommended for fans of: Bent Knee, Big Big Train, Not Otherwise Specified