Reports from the Underground: March 2020 prog reviewed (part 4)

Hi. For the final time we do March reviews. That took a while. There were way too friggin many albums this month. It’s not funny. I had like 50 albums bookmarked ffs. Even then there were a lot we missed. There will be no bullshit intro this time, so sorry if you had been looking forward to that. I can’t conjure up an invasion from outer space with armed gorilla’s every edition. I’ll talk about that sometime in the future though, so stay tuned. You’ll just have to do it with our reviews this time. Speaking of which, two reviews fell off due to circumstances from our reviewers, so I’ll mention them here. First band is called Boneweaver (Bandcamp | Spotify) and the other’s called Ghost Toast (Bandcamp | Spotify). I have no idea if they’re worthwhile, but feel free to check them out. Also here’s the Spotify playlist with all recommended tracks.

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.

Shadowkiller – Dark Awakening (United States)
Style: USPM (clean vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Matt

80s metal: possibly the only thing from the 80s I’m not sick of, thanks to this world’s prolonged nostalgia bender.  Shadowkiller comes from a long line of bands trying to recapture that sound, though few have managed to cultivate the mystique of a Crimson Glory or a Savatage. Do these guys have that special something? Ehhh…

While there’s a certain purity to what they’re doing, Shadowkiller sound too simple for my tastes, in a non-clever way. The riffs are decent, but nothing really captures the imagination or stands out from other NWOTHM bands, nor do they make up for it in attitude –  the album is just mildly heavy and only occasionally picks up the tempo. The vocals are between Jon Oliva and a range-limited Hansi Kursch, getting the job done with a bit of grizzled character, albeit unspectacularly. There’s some flat notes in there, though not as many as the guitars… The soloing on this is straight up clunky. On the plus side, the rhythm section is solid and the album has a nice, loud bass tone. 

If you’re all about the trad metal revival, maybe you’ll find something here, but I didn’t like it as much as I wanted to. I agree with it in principle, but it’s all so… mediocre. From what I hear, their last one is a bit better, so maybe check that out instead.

Recommended tracks: The Darkness of War
Recommended for fans of: Savatage, Hammerfall, Iron Maiden
Final verdict: 4/10

Senescere – Alive But Somewhere Else (US-MD)
Style: Melodeath (mostly heavy vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Tyler

My favorite phrase used to compare a band’s sound that is reminiscent of another, more prominent band’s is ‘boneless -insert band name here’. It has more depth than it seems: It immediately brings the two bands in question in direct comparison. It is quick, and stings like a paper cut. Not a severe pain, more playful, but you remember what it felt like when it happened. And it lights a fire. It immediately makes the band in question, The Boneless as it were, want to prove that guy on Discord wrong, and come back with some spine. While there isn’t an exact band I would use this phrase for with Senescere, they pretty accurately fill the roll of Boneless Melo-Death.

What I mean in saying this is that Senescere really tried to make a melodic death metal album, and threw everything that should be in an album like that in. Cool riffs, shreddy solos, fast, technical drums, ‘The Quiet Part’, the one with the build up, and of course, the last song that is MUCH longer than the others. What they forgot to do, however, is to put any soul in there. These guys were so worried about checking all of the boxes, I don’t know what the band sounds like, aside from a metal band. There was nothing descriptive about their sound that could help me differentiate them from any other band in the genre.

If I had to pick anything that stuck out in any capacity, it comes in the song “Heartspace”. The guitar lead on there is honestly beautiful, and at times seems to have a back and forth with the vocals a bit, like they are doing a duet, and emphasizing each other. Stuff like that is good, do more of that. I didn’t hear any other idea like that anywhere else on the album the same way I heard it here. As for everything else, it all just melted into the background. The bass and rhythm guitar sounded like one unit the entire time, the drums felt flat aside from when things got a little more technical, and the heavy vocals were overall underwhelming. I got the impression that everyone involved was holding back for some reason. The vocals should be commanding and upfront, but it sounds as if they were recording them while trying not to wake up their parents.

All of the main ingredients are here. The song writing is great actually. All of the guitar solos are actually awesome, and that’s coming from a guy who dislikes solos pretty heavily. The surprise blast beat during “Moon and Sun” gave me some hope for what the band could do if they stepped outside of their comfort zone, and really gave it their all. Go put some bones in that meat, fellas.

Recommended tracks: Heartspace, Moon and Sun
Recommended for fans of: (old) In Flames, Rivers of Nihil I guess maybe?
Final verdict: 5/10

Imperial Child – Compass of Evil (Norway)
Style: Heavy (clean vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Josh

If you’ve ever listened to a Scandinavian heavy metal band, you’ve heard most of this album already. Mid-to-high range vocals with a slight accent, solos in almost every song, an existent but flimsy concept, and some piano thrown in for good measure. You’re getting all that here, but also a bit more, and that extra bit makes the listening experience much more worth it.

The instrumentalists were a nice surprise on this one, namely the guitarist. Dude plays guitar as well as singing and still manages to lay down some great riffs. Also, dude’s ripping off a solo on almost every track, sometimes twice per song, and he always nails ‘em. The solos are easily one of the highlights of this album. I don’t think there’s a single one that’s less than good. The bassist, too, is great. They’re mixed out of existence sometimes, but when they aren’t, they’re always a treat to listen to. As for the vocals, they’re a mixed bag at times. Generally they stick to that standard heavy metal singing style, but sometimes they step out of that boundary and it always pays off. Across the album, they dip into more aggressive shouts and Judas Priest-y highs, and every single time I wonder why they don’t do the whole album in those styles. They’re way better when they’re singing like that. Otherwise though, they’re serviceable.

None of that’s too out of the ordinary for heavy metal, though. What do these guys do differently? Every so often, they decide to throw in something way out of bounds for the genre. “A Buccaneer’s Hymn” is, of all things, a ragtime song, and it hooked me harder on the concept of the album than the rest of the tracks combined. The vocalist really flexes their chops there, going full Disney villain in a way that I could’ve never seen coming. Sadly, though, these experiments are few and far between.

Listen to Compass of Evil if you’re craving some more heavy metal, but it doesn’t do much to stand out from the rest of the genre. It’s solid for what it is, but there’s better out there.

Recommended tracks: The Imperial Child, Libertalia, The Quest for Jerusalem
Recommended for fans of: Metallica, Judas Priest, Dio
Final verdict: 6/10

Sutrah – Aletheia (Canada) [EP]
Style: Prog/Tech Death (harsh vocals, some chants)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Chris

The first thing I thought of when I started reading about Sutrah was how apprehensive I get about Tech death bands espousing how all of their songs are about spirituality and eastern philosophy. Why? Because I tend to find a lot of bands in the genre that say such things rarely get it across in the music, and instead go about playing Tech-Death as they would in any theme,  which really brings me out of the headspace I tend to want for themes like that. That said, I found Sutrah exceedingly fresh in this respect, having broken that cycle of disappointment for me. 

Aletheia opens with a very atmospheric chord heavy song in “Variation I.i – Umwelt” which serves as a sort of extended meditation on where this album will visit later as many of these textures and ideas will resurface later. Moments later “Variation I.ii – Lethe” drops in with an almost The Faceless style riff before the low growls drop and you are reminded that you indeed did put on a tech death album. The difference I find here from other modern tech death bands is even in the riffs given, the chord choices they outline and the tone decisions made on a production level do not take you out of the spiritual idea the band wants to go for. In addition, the small drops in intensity during the second track serve almost as a reflecting point on what you’ve heard so far, before bringing you to new ideas. “Variation II.i – Dwell” has you do exactly that with its spaced out guitar lines and synth melody, as you wonder what is coming next.

I find the naming of the tracks as “Variations” very apt as this album really works as a package, especially with the last song “Variation II.ii – Genèse” which takes sections from all three previous tracks and expands on them in a sprawling 16 minute track. This is where the EP really hits full stride and really hits the Eastern feelings, even having the incorporation of some Gangsa. The riff section around 7 minutes of this song may be one of my favorite moments of anything I’ve listened to this year, because I am a sucker for  these breathy chord based riffs in the heavier metal styles as opposed to generic riffing. Some of the notes of almost positivity in these riffs are really refreshing to me.

I really enjoyed the production choices on this album which lend it to a much more natural and organic sound than most of its cohorts in the genre. That said, there are a few moments where panning and volume choices felt a bit strange and it was hard to tell if it was on purpose or just a miss in the mixing. I also was a bit perplexed by the almost false end of the EP before some chanting parts really close the album out, it felt almost tacked on, but I give benefit of the doubt that there was a conceptual reason for it. The strongest parts of this album are for sure the cyclic but variation based writing which really ties the whole EP together. I’m personally kind of liking this recent trend of bands releasing extremely concise and put together EPs instead of bloated albums, though I will say I was wishing this EP was longer by the end.

Recommended tracks: It’s so connected just listen to the whole thing
Recommended for fans of: The Faceless, Gorguts, Fallujah (for the atmosphere)
Final verdict: 8/10

Of Kairos – Oscillation (Canada)
Style: Djent (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | RYM page
Review by: Jonah

This one is a bit outside of my wheelhouse but I gave it a whirl and there was some stuff I really liked, so I figured I would give it a whirl. Of Kairos plays a type of djenty prog that also draws heavy influence from older heavy prog and classic rock bands, especially in the vocal melodies. This combination of sounds doesn’t necessarily always work, but when it does it’s very interesting and I’d love to hear more of it.

The instrumental performances on this album aren’t exceptionally flashy, but they are all doing exactly what they need to be doing in service of the entire sound. The guitars chug when needed, and the leads are appropriately soaring when the chugging needs to be broken up. The bass could be a bit more audible but is present and provides a nice low end, which allows the drums to really drive the rhythm forward. The clean vocals aren’t necessarily exceptional but some of the vocal melodies are incredibly pleasant, and even reminded me of Queen or The Beatles at times. The harsh vocals are an entirely different story, as they are throaty and massive, feeling almost out of place in this style. That being said, their execution is spot on and I’m incredibly impressed by their tone. The production is crisp and clear, and with the exception of the bass being a bit lower than I’d like it, I don’t really have any complaints in that regard.

As a whole I don’t think I’m in love with this album, but there’s plenty to enjoy and a lot of incredibly interesting ideas I’d like to see taken much further in future releases. Definitely worthy of a listen, and I’m sure many of you will love it more than I did.

Recommended tracks: Nectar, Dust and Echoes, The Definition of Insanity
Recommended for fans of: Tesseract, Queen, Rush
Final verdict: 6/10

Back to R’lyeh – Chosen (Spain)
Style: Avant-Death/Thrash (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Jonah

Anyone who has spent a decent amount of time discussing music with me will eventually learn that I hold a general distaste for music that is weird for the sake of being weird, or overly-experimental at the expense of quality songwriting. I think either of those are examples of failing to create effective avant-garde music. If you set out trying to make something wacky or bizarre without a strong songwriting core you’re going to fail,, as true experimentation comes from taking the accepted principles of a style or genre and learning just which ones to break, not from never knowing them in the first place. With this in mind I would normally not be the right person to review this album, but I’ve actually known Back to R’lyeh since their debut came out in 2014 (which is a very enjoyable album that I encourage you to listen to) so I figured it was only right I review this one too.

I’m pleased to say that while this isn’t a perfect album, it does an excellent job of breaking the right music rules and leaving the correct ones alone. This album is full of experimentation, genre hopping, and generally wacky musical times, but at the core is a really solid kind of thrashy, death-metal album with hints of old school heavy metal backing it up, all behind a layer of avant-weirdness, and for the most part it works. The influences are obvious, there would clearly be no Back to R’lyeh without Mr. Bungle or any of Mike Patton’s other projects, but just as much so this band wouldn’t exist without a multitude of other bands from Candlemass to Megadeth to Iron Maiden. The influences abound here and are used in good fashion.

The music itself is full of fun riffing, sparkly keyboards, really excellent driving drums and bass, and a wide array of vocal techniques including throaty harsh roars, thrashy shouts, and a really strange falsetto that I’m still uncertain about in regards to quality. As a whole though, this is an excellently performed and excellently made album that I recommend to fans of prog and avant music alike. This is a good one, and well worth a listen.

Recommended tracks: Voormithadreth, Chosen, A Crack in the Wall
Recommended for fans of: Mr. Bungle, Megadeth, Iron Maiden
Final verdict: 8/10

Encryption – A Demon Decayed (Germany)
Style: Power/Thrash (clean vocals)
Related links: Spotify | Official Website | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Andrew

Another week, another prog power album. My experience with these underground prog power bands has been wildly inconsistent. I think I’ve said this in a previous edition but they tend to be either really great, or really mediocre. I usually go into them with subdued expectations just so I’m not repeatedly disappointed.

Fortunately, there was no disappointment this week. A Demon Decayed is the first album from German band Encryption since 2000, a whopping twenty years ago. Not knowing what their previous albums sound like, I went into A Demon Decayed completely blind (deaf?). From the start, the album surprised me with its creativity. An orchestral intro with a slow, deliberate build, carefully introducing instrument layers until the full sound is present is an extraordinarily clever way to begin an album. After a few minutes of a riff barrage, the vocals begin. They’re pretty good – nothing spectacular but nothing that makes me want to turn the song off. Between vocal passages are… you guessed it, more riffs! Encryption employs a primary guitar tone that is a delightful mix of heaviness and cleanness. Each individual note in a riff or a lead is clear and audible while still producing the intended effect when in combination with the rest of the instruments. 

The guitar solos are absolutely the highlight of the album to me. They are extended but not noodly; energetic and soulful. The lead guitar tone for the solos is also incredibly nice. However, as is all-too-common with bands of this style, the songs begin to blend together as the album progresses. There’s not enough to separate the tracks since each track shares a very similar formula. If you’re a fan of the formula, then you’ll love this album. Personally, I like the style enough to enjoy this album but not enough to sit through an hour of the same thing over and over again. Although Encryption does one thing, they do that one thing exceptionally well.

Recommended tracks: Winter Wake, Scapegod, The Great Deception
Recommended for fans of: Anubis Gate, Manticora
Final verdict: 7.5/10

Velnias – Scion of Aether  (US-CO)
Style: Post Stoner/Doom (harsh vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Dylan

In life, you’ll find albums. Albums where there’s absolutely nothing wrong with what you’re listening to. But, no matter how many times you spin it, it just won’t click. I’m afraid that Scion of Aether is that album. 

Now let me say right out of the bat that this is not some one of the thousands of mediocre “not-bad not-good” albums we review here. The blueprint of this album is quite nice. Atmosphere, heaviness, gritty vocals, smart transitions, good production, it’s all there. But I just couldn’t…. Connect with it at all. I feel bad just writing this, because you could be seeing the cover/genre and might be interested to see what’s it all about but… I’m at a genuine loss for words on this. 

I guess that I can tell you that if you like crunchy, heavy, doomy music that’s gritty, earthy, and head-bangable, please try it out, because you may just fall in love with it. I’m just… lost with this 🙁

Recommended tracks: Oblivion Horizon
Recommended for fans of: ???
Final verdict: ?/10