Reports from the Underground: March 2020 prog reviewed (part 3)

An extra super-deluxe good day to you reader! That there may have never been a day as good as this before, after or shall ever be for anyone. That the heavens shall split in two over your joy that you can once again read an edition of The Progressive Subway!!! …or something like that. Since I, Sam, don’t have any album to write about this edition as my Aeternam review fell in the water due to them being too popular (immense sobbing noises), I can focus all my writing capabilities on another bullshit post intro.

So the last time I wrote about defeating your enemies, and how you need not only be smart but strong for that. Usually it’s phrased the opposite way, but let me explain. Suppose you are a smart, but small fighter, and you’re up against someone big. Let’s say your footwork is excellent and you dodge their strikes continuously. After a while you manage to get a hit in due to smart fighting. However, if your hit is WEAK it still won’t do much. Hence a need for both arises. Therefore 666 squats a week is absolutely essential. As the strongest person to ever grace anime existence (which says something) – Saitama – so expertly demonstrated in One Punch Man season 2, the strength of the booty is tremendous with proper training. The resulting battle plan is of course that first you lure in your enemy with your thicc booty, and then SMACK them off the face of the earth through a spinning move (as demonstrated by Saitama).

The question with all this though is why you have enemies in the first place? To create hostility between two people one of the two will need to be an asshole. See? There’s the ass! The booty is everywhere. Even more reason to do 666 squats a week to make it strong. If one were to extract the essence of human strength and courage, it is obvious that it resides in the butt.

Ok maybe that’s enough bullshit for now. The scores on this edition aren’t particularly high, but in terms of uniqueness of the records I’d say it’s a good edition. Among others we have Dyssidia featured who have recently seen some serious acclaim for an underground band (likely we won’t be covering their next album anymore haha). There’s also a Spotify playlist with all recommended tracks (as per usual). Finally I hope you’ll enjoy reading!

New here? Check our About page and take a look at our social media accounts (links in the sidebar). In short what we do is that we search for promising underground prog metal (and related) bands through Metal-Archives advanced search, Bandcamp and other sources, group them together by the month they were released in, and then write a review on them. Do you want your band reviewed? Send us an email at theprogressivesubway@gmail.com. Just make sure it’s from a month we haven’t covered yet and that the release is over 20 minutes long.

2112 – Nuestro mejor fracaso (Argentina)
Style: Rock Nacional/Classic Prog (clean vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Dylan

Okay so I could totally write a 15 paragraph comedy sketch on ‘’hur dur I wonder where they got the band name from?’’ 99% of the readers will think to themselves when reading the artist’s name, but I’d rather not because it’s so blatant that anything I say will just be super obvious. 

2112 are, shockingly, a band that takes a lot of influence from Rush. While it’s extremely noticeable on the guitar front most notably, their composition style is not too similar though. Their way of composing music is very much similar to most artists from ‘’rock nacional’’ (basically, the Argentinian brand of Rock music.), with a very generous amount of prog thrown into the mix. 

This mix is two things that I’m very fond of, as a Rush fan and an Argentinian, it was very hard for me to dislike this band. But even with a big bias towards these two elements, I can very much tell you that this isn’t a perfect release. At moments it all fits very nicely together, especially in the opener ‘’Los caminos del diligente’’ and ‘’El Jardin de mi Casa’’ being tight, well written tracks that stick with you. But the other tracks, while enjoyable, get a bit too random/eclectic just for the sake of p r o g. It doesn’t make them impossible to listen to, but it’s absolutely noticeable when they get a bit wank-y without anything to back it up.

Overall, this is an enjoyable, albeit flawed, release. If you’re seriously into Rush or Rock Nacional/Argentinian Prog, a couple of these tracks could find their way into your playlist. 

Recommended tracks: Los caminos del diligente, El jardin de mi casa
Recommended for fans of: Rush, Pez, Divididos
Final verdict: 7/10

Inner Odyssey – The Void (Canada)
Style: Experimental Prog (clean vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Stephen

Well, this album was interesting for sure, and I mean that in a good way. My first listen through this album, every time I thought I figured out what Inner Odyssey was doing with The Void, something changed. So if you’re diving into this album for the first time, expect the unexpected.

It’s a breath of fresh air when you find something that is both unique and quality. When I sat down for my first listen “Overhanging” made me think that I was getting into a post-rock, synthy, prog sort of album. While I still think that kind of holds up as a high-level view of the album, it’s much more than that because each song has its own atmosphere, feel, and sound. It felt like listening to an album made by a band that has an eclectic taste, and wanted to throw every genre they enjoy and the kitchen sink onto an album. The Void will go from vocoder-synth songs to djent, to a Cheeto’s Magazine-like sound, to mid-2000s Porcupine Tree, to almost drum and bass; all while somehow keeping it cohesive. Bravo. 

My favorite track off the album was “Endgame” because it was so unique and enjoyable. It reminded me of some sort of bizarre combination of Cheeto’s Magazine, Styx, and Phish. The other standout songs off the album for me were “Overhanging”, “The Reckoning”, and “The Great Collapse”. That said, if you check out those songs, you might as well check out the rest of the album because that is about half of The Void.

I can’t quite put my finger on what is keeping this album from being one of the top albums of the year for me, but there is something about The Void that is keeping it in that “really like” category instead of “love” category. The production, creativity, and musicianship are all there, and I do think that everyone reading this should go and check out the album, but it’s missing something (for me personally) that I can’t quite put my finger on.

All in all, I absolutely recommend this album. It has a lot going for it and the inspirations have to be endless on this album. I really think there is a song off this album for every prog fan out there. I’ll be keeping an eye out for Inner Odyssey’s next album.

Recommended tracks: The Reckoning, Endgame, Overhanging
Recommended for fans of: any and every sort of prog
Final verdict: 8/10

Svengahli – Nightmares of Our Own Design (US-MD) [EP]
Style: Death (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Chris

Svengahli is the new brainchild of Exist bassist Alex Weber. In his own words Weber said he had “always been interested in combining the harmonic language and the expression of the various forms of jazz, contemporary classical and improvised music into heavier and darker forms of metal.” I have to say this first offering Svengahli has provided definitely strikes a cool chord in combining these elements Weber mentioned. Nightmaresof Our Own Design is definitely a decently dense offering for a 24 minute EP. The use of darker jazz harmonies on this record are definitely what give it a really cool vibe compared to most offerings in the technical/death realm (you’ve seen me mention before how perhaps that genre peaked a while ago). 

“Writing on the Wall” serves as a really good opener for this album, immediately dropping you into a stop-and-go riff setting a pace before dropping you into some Cynic style clean chords hits layered under a slightly affected harsh vocal. I will say right here is where it may lose some people as this type of harsh vocals can turn some people off. Soon after though the clean vocals come in to provide a different flavor for everything. I thought the harsh vocals were nicer overall but the clean vocals definitely grew on me in future listens. I will say this album really will give familiar vibes to people who are really fans of Focus by Cynic (guilty). The next three songs serve as a suite, with part 2 and 3 really meshing together well. 

I must say this album probably has the best programmed drums of anything I’ve listened to this year that I knew was programmed, which makes sense since Anup Sastry was said to have helped program them. Other than that I thought the album was mixed rather well overall. This album has some great riffs throughout and cool experimentation and chord choices, though I think it will lose some people in the process as some of the choices can get a bit ear grating on a first listen if you are not prepared for some strange tonality. Despite that I found this to be pretty good to listen to for a first offering from a new tech/death sphere band and it definitely has brought some new flavor to the table.

Recommended tracks: I would recommend listening to the last 3 tracks in sequence.
Recommended for fans of: Exist, Sutrah, Cynic (esp Focus)
Final verdict: 7/10

Anubis – Homeless (Australia)
Style: Traditional (clean vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | RYM page
Review by: Tyler

I’ve talked about this before, but I’m not sure I understand the revival of 80’s style progressive music. There are absolutely zero things wrong with the style, it is, after all, the basis of everything that progressive metal sits on. But I feel the reason why I associate the sound that Anubis has on Homeless makes my point; I think we’ve said all that we needed to say with the 80’s sound. It has such a distinct sound and quality, that anything that comes out now just sounds like an homage and doesn’t add anything new to a genre that’s been explored ad nauseam.

I say it in almost every review that seems to be taking a downward spiral, and I’ll say it here too; This is not bad music. Not at all. These are all expert musicians that are playing very well. And the songs themselves are all pretty great from a writing stand point. They are short (nothing worse than a prog song that overstays its welcome for no reason), they are poignant, and the quality of the musicianship is the star for each one. Particularly the guitar work and drums caught my attention. The drums were constantly adding embellishments to emphasize the ends of phrases when necessary, like they were doing the job of keeping rhythm and as an auxiliary percussionist. The guitars, while super reminiscent of the style, used melody in a way that was often unexpected. Which was a pleasant surprise since it was some of the only aspects of the music that seemed to the genre, as opposed to just emulating.

Aside from those things though, I felt like most of the album went in one ear and out the other. The addition of synth and keyboards almost seemed in vain, they were often only there to add some thickness to the chords being established. There were a lot of really great vocal melodies and harmonies, specifically in the opening track “Reflective”, but other than that, the vocals sounded like an amalgamation of all the other bands in this style (see Dream Theater, Haken). They sounded pretty safe overall, which really describes the album overall. The band didn’t take many risks, if at all. Nothing really outside of the box that the band put themselves in. I will say the last two tracks really stood out specifically, because that’s when the band went somewhere else. “In Shadows” is incredibly quiet and vulnerable, and “Gone” uses strings to bring the album to a really great, vibrant close with a ballad.

I don’t think it’s a secret that this kind of music isn’t exactly my cup of tea. There is already a lot of great music in this style that I don’t think there really needs to be much more if it doesn’t do things or add something that makes it really unique. Haken brought in heavier, more modern aspects that I really appreciated, but now even their schtick is wearing off on me. This is Anubis’ sixth album, and full disclosure, I haven’t heard their others. But if this is the sixth album that sounds like this, as a listener, I’d maybe skip it. This album is worth at least checking out, but only maybe to relive the sounds that used to be revolutionary and go ‘oh yeah, I remember…’.

Recommended tracks: Reflective, In Shadows, Gone
Recommended for fans of: Dream Theater, Haken, Beardfish
Final verdict: 5.5/10

DeadRisen – DeadRisen (US)
Style: Power (clean vocals)
Related links: Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Matt

It’s admirable how busy Mike LePond keeps himself. Having played for upwards of twenty bands, it seems like this guy just really loves metal. To call DeadRisen a “Mike LePond band” would be selling the other members short, however, as everyone in this new project shreds.

Despite the Symphony X connection and the random orchestral intro – why do we keep doing these? – DeadRisen is a pretty straightforward band. There are tiny moments of neoclassical or prog, but the songs are just unpretentious rockers in that nebulous traditional/thrash/power vein. While the instrumentals are solid and crunchy, the vocals are EXTREEEME – Will Shaw’s range and intensity are crazy, somewhere between Tobias Sammett and Halford. I hadn’t heard of him before, but he really is what makes this album noteworthy.

Overall, I like all of these songs well enough, but I wasn’t necessarily floored besides the vocals and some bass wankery. This is definitely a step up from my usual boilerplate “it’s ok” review, though. There are some memorable thrashy riffs, and the vocal lines are good without reaching too hard for pop hooks. It has that mature feeling of experienced musicians who just want to play some rock and roll, even though they’re technically sort of above that. The compositions aren’t innovative, but traditional USPM fans should find plenty to like here.

Recommended tracks: Chains of Time, But You
Recommended for fans of: Symphony X, Vicious Rumors, Flotsam and Jetsam
Final verdict: 7/10

Open the Nile – The Meridian (US-NY)
Style: Death/Experimental (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Josh

The greatest albums have something more to them. Along with the quality of the music, there’s a masterpiece factor to them, an immutable essence that puts them in an echelon above everything else. It’s incredibly rare to find an album like this, and even rarer to find one that displays it in a stage of infancy. 

The Meridian has all the workings of a masterpiece within itself. It takes bone-crushing death metal riffs and blends them across a myriad of styles, each of which meshes perfectly into their core sound. There’s psychedelic rock here, there’s folk, there’s classical string arrangements, and above all there are some absolutely gorgeous piano sections that bring to mind comparisons to Mouse on the Keys and the soundtrack of Hollow Knight. They’re phenomenal, and I don’t think I’ve heard anything quite like them within the metalosphere before. Backing all this is a crack squad of virtuosos, all demonstrating great skill at their respective instruments. While the piano and strings appear to be programmed, the heavy riffs, beautiful basslines, and psychedelic acoustic parts sure as hell aren’t. On top of this, the band has a stronger grasp on tone than almost any other group I’ve heard. The piano sounds beautiful, the synths and organ parts are phenomenal, the bass sounds excellent when it’s loud enough to be heard, and the vocalist adeptly switches between a variety of styles without a hitch. With all this, this album’s gotta be a masterpiece, right?

Sadly, that’s not the case. The Meridian is less than the sum of its parts. How a band this individually great has such a weak grasp of songwriting and album structuring, I have no idea. Several tracks end in fadeouts without remotely reaching a conclusive point, and many tracks feel purposeless within the context of the album, feeling in there just for the sake of being in there. The sixth track, “Hawking Radiation”, is the worst offender here. It’s a good song in a vacuum, but throwing what sounds like a jam over the intro riff to The Fall of Troy’s “F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X.” into the middle of the album does it no favors. Much of the experimentation in The Meridian feels the same way: out of place, just there for the sake of being there. There are some excellent tracks in it, such as the beautiful, piano-driven “Laniakea’s Murmur”, but never do they feel like part of a cohesive whole. The closing track, “Arissara”, does serve to wrap the album up to a degree, integrating all of its various sounds into one song, but it doesn’t do enough for the coherency of the album for it to work as one unit.

Despite this, though, there’s still something here, a hint towards something great. The masterpiece factor. It hasn’t manifested here yet, but Open the Nile’s sound at its core has an insane amount of potential. They expertly weave pianos, strings, and synths into death metal in a way wholly different from bands such as Fleshgod Apocalypse, creating a mood that’s more contemplative than aggressive. One day, though, this band will release a masterpiece. I’m certain of it; this album has told me enough to know that. While it may not be that masterpiece, The Meridian offers us a hint into what that future album may be, and that’s valuable enough on its own.

Recommended tracks: Borealis, Laniakea’s Murmur, Arissara
Recommended for fans of: Obscura, Ne Obliviscaris, the Hollow Knight soundtrack
Final verdict: 6.5/10

The Third Grade – Of Fire and Ashes Pt.2 (Spain)
Style: Power (clean vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Andrew

Do you know those albums that are so aggressively mediocre even though you can’t actually pinpoint anything bad about them? The albums that—on paper—should be entirely decent, but nothing seems to click? The albums where the end result is actually less than the sum of their parts?

Enter Of Fire and Ashes (Pt. 2) by Spanish prog power quartet The Third Grade. From the very beginning, I knew it would be hard to narrow down my feelings about the album. There is nothing particularly bad about the production. The guitar tone sounds pretty great, and the riffs are good. The vocals are the first thing that stands out as subpar – it is immediately obvious they have some kind of weird effect applied to them. There is a male singer and a female singer; however, both vocalists have these odd effects. It makes me wonder if the effects are to compensate for the singers themselves, or for another purpose more related to songwriting. Either way, they are not exactly pleasant to listen to. 

There is a frequent shift between high intensity and calmness. I typically really enjoy dynamic changes like this, but The Third Grade don’t do a very good job of connecting sections of different moods. There are sections that impress me with their creativity, but these sections are drowned out by the more frequent, less creative passages. 

As we see all too often, Of Fire and Ashes (Pt. 2) unfortunately seems to be brought down by its ambitiousness. With two singers, orchestration, and longform compositions, The Third Grade has all of the things that, when combined, can make a fantastic record. They simply do not pull it off well enough for me to recommend this album. 

Recommended tracks: Exilium, The Darkest Times, A Cold Awakening
Recommended for fans of: DGM, Pagan’s Mind, Dream Theater
Final verdict: 4.5/10

Dyssidia – Costly Signals (Australia)
Style: Metalcore/Power (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Jonah

So the first time I listened to this album. I kind of hated it. As I believe I have made clear in previous reviews, anything relating to Between the Buried and Me is a pretty hard “no” from yours truly. So when I tossed on this album and heard something that sounded like symphonic BTBAM I was too busy cringing and hitting the off button to really give it an honest shot. Well, after a couple more attempts and the album catching me in the correct mood, I’m here to say that I’m an asshole and this is actually a pretty good album.

If you’ve ever wanted something that captures the chaos and eccentricity of BTBAM and the theatricality and bombast of Rhapsody of Fire (I know I have literally never wanted that), then this is the band for you. It works far better than it should, and makes for an album that I can enjoy most of the time. They occasionally dive too deep into the BTBAM nonsense and it loses me, but there’s some damn fine music here. The album also answers the age-old question: “how would BTBAM sound if they had a good clean vocalist?”

Good, they would sound good, it turns out.

I kid, of course, Thomas Giles has a perfectly serviceable voice, but the singer for Dyssidia can fucking SING. This dude has some killer pipes, and he intersperses them with some really pleasant hardcore shouts and higher, almost blackened, rasps that all fit the music quite well. The rest of the instrumentation is all varying degrees of excellent. The bass is very audible and provides a nice mix of chugging and exciting little bass lines. The guitar is all over the damn place and very impressive, and the drumming is a real highlight. The synths and symphonic elements never feel overly cheesy or unnecessary and absolutely add to the experience.

So do I love this album? No, not really. I don’t think I’ll be returning to it a ton, but I have a huge amount of respect for the talent that has gone into this. This is some incredibly well made music by some seriously talented musicians, and I’ll be severely disappointed if they don’t get some recognition in the prog community. Much like Native Construct and Others by No One, Dyssidia has done an admirable job of evolving the BTBAM sound and I hope there’s plenty more to come.

Recommended tracks: Thrive, Bloodrush, Arrival
Recommended for fans of: BTBAM, Native Construct, Rhapsody of Fire
Final verdict: 8/10

Wake – Devouring Ruin (Canada)
Style: Blackened Death/Doom (harsh vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Dylan

There’s something that happens to me very often with extreme music, and that is that I can absolutely love an album yet have very little to say about it. And with Wake, it’s no exception.

This Canadian group have outdone themselves by making an album that blends in elements of most extreme genres. While at first glance it will seem like another death/doom release, there’s layers of black metal (with frequent use of tremolo picking and blast beats that go alongside it) and even grindcore (with segments matching the sheer chaos the genre is known for).  

… and there’s really not much more I can tell you about the technical aspects. I just now that I really, REALLY like this album. It’s well thought out, has great production values, is replayable as hell, and is just overall, a banging good time. If you need a track to convince you, look no further than “Torchbeather”, a track with a tremolo riff so catchy that it’s stuck in my head like the chorus to a pop song. 

Wake have done something amazing here. Don’t sleep on it.

Recommended tracks: Kana Tevoro, Torchbearer
Recommended for fans of: Any kind of extreme music.
Final verdict: 9/10