Reports from the Underground: April 2020 prog reviewed (part 2)

Barishi – Old Smoke (US-VT)
Style: Sludge (harsh vocals)
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Review by: Sam

Sludge metal is one of those genres I’ve never explored much. In my early prog metal days I had a solid appreciation of Mastodon, and also found myself digging Dvne a lot when their album Asheran came out. In one of the first editions of this blog I then found Astrakhan, which I also loved. I was then convinced prog sludge at least was a genre I liked… until I completely forgot about the genre and stopped listening to it. This is the first prog sludge album in about two years I’m seriously delving into. I heard someone describe them as “black metal Mastodon”, which piqued my interest. Usually Jonah does these things, but I really wanted to try this record to see if it could rekindle my love for proggy sludge metal after all.

And I have to say… it didn’t. This album is basically a monotonous slab off riffs. It’s a shame, because all the elements to make a great record are there. The album sounds absolutely massive. I imagine they went to the producer and said “we want it EXTRA T H I C C.” From the riffs, to the bass tone, to the drums, to the monstrous harsh vocals, everything just sounds like an Elephant is giving you a back massage by walking on you: absolutely crushing. Seems great right? Well it would be if their songwriting was interesting. Maybe it’s to do with me being only a casual fan of the genre, but to me the songs rather seemed like a riff compilation glued together than a bunch of well-crafted songs. The elements by themselves are great, but it’s just barely memorable. Take the vocals: the tone and power is just perfect, but the vocal lines are just completely unmemorable. I listened to this five times and can still barely recall anything. Maybe if they added some good clean vocal passages and guitar solos it would stand out more with the contrast it’d provide, but now it’s just… there. The lack of good dynamics really hurt the record, and made it seem a lot longer than it actually is. Because despite being only 47 minutes long, I already felt weary after 30. 

If you’re a fan of the more monotonous type of sludge metal focused on riffs, then I absolutely recommend you hear this as this band is good at what they do. But in any other case, best look elsewhere.

Recommended tracks: The Silent Circle, Blood Aurora
Recommended for fans of: Mastodon, Inter Arma
Final verdict: 6/10

Riviẽre – Passage (France)
Style: Alternative/Post (clean vocals)
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Review by: Sam

In Jonah’s endless list of albums to bookmark, I saw this band being described as “Modern Prog Metal (or whatever Caligula’s Horse is supposed to be)”, which got me intrigued. I love me some seahorse (C Horse), and I’ve never heard anything that comes close to their sound. What I got however, was something that sounded more like a combination of later Leprous and Oceansize (RIP). 

For the longest time I didn’t know what to write about this album, but after listening to it with some friends who are more familiar with post/prog metal than I am, I finally got an idea of what to write. In short, this album is nice, but the songs blur together. Most of the elements to make a great record are there. The production and overall playing is great. There are many interesting things happening rhythmically. It’s kinda like Leprous didn’t use ghost notes on The Congregation. The guitar work is pretty solid as well, bringing in some nice post-y lead playing and pretty thicc riffs every once in a while. They sound almost like sludge metal at points with how thicc they get (see the closer “Shapeless”). I like the vocals for the most part too. His tone is pleasant, if a bit heavy with the French accent. However it’s also where the record’s problems start. His tone, intensity and vocal melodies stay pretty much the same the entire time. For example the choruses are almost always the same soaring verse repeated twice. This general sense of same-y-ness plagues the rest of the album too. The first two songs are great, but the three after really blend together, having not enough distinguishable traits to separate them. It’s not that they are bad, just not very distinctive. There’s a lot of work to be done in that regard, because it painfully exposes the album’s hour long runtime. The second half of the album is less same-y though and the songwriting gets better, more akin to the first two tracks. “Surface” and “Shapeless” were highlights in particular to me. 

Overall though, Passage is a neat effort. If you’re a fan of the whole alternative/post prog thing, I definitely recommend you give the album a listen. This album shows a band with great potential that isn’t quite there yet. For now, I’d say put a couple of tracks on your playlist. The individual pieces are there, now just the collective.

Recommended tracks: Wordless, New Ghost, Shapeless
Recommended for fans of: Leprous, Oceansize, Karnivool, The Contortionist – Clairvoyant
Final verdict: 6.5/10

Together to the Stars – As We Wither (Sweden)
Style: Post-Black (harsh vocals)
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Review by: Dylan

This is the first time in this blog that I’ve gotten the chance to review a follow up to an album I checked out previously in the blog. The review for this band’s past album An Oblivion Above can be found here.

As you can see, I was very impressed with this band’s debut. They stuck to various tropes of the genre with a clear influence on genre giants Deafheaven and Alcest, and in the end produced a very enjoyable album, even if it barely had any self-identity. As We Wither changes that.

This album is actually quite different from the debut. It gets rid of it’s heavenly atmosphere in favour of a more cold, sinister feel, making it an album that gets a lot more dramatic, sad, and emotional. The vocals are also majorly changed; while AOA had only your generic high shriek vocals, AWW goes for vocals that are very raw and powerful. They even have moments where the voice oscillates between spoken and screamed, and it just adds a layer of ‘’oompfness’’ to all of it. All of the aforementioned elements give this band a much needed identity, and I hope it’s here to stay. 

The other aspects are just what you’ve come to expect out of Post-Black, done expertly, and consistently. While I believe the debut had the band’s best track so far (‘’Apathy’’), it was inconsistent in it’s quality of writing, with it’s two 10 min track being the clear standouts, and the rest just being good filler. As We Wither offers consistent quality throughout the record, and even though they’re not as good as the aforementioned track, both the album’s hit ‘’Wither’’ and it’s follow up track ‘’Forgotten Tongue’’ give the title a run for it’s money.

All in all, Together to the Stars has proven that they’re a force to be reckoned with, delivering 2 great albums in 2 years. I hope that As We Wither is just the beginning of a band that found it’s identity, and aspires to take it to another ceiling of quality. 

Recommended tracks: Wither, Forgotten Tongue
Recommended for fans of: Alcest, Heretoir, Deafheaven
Final verdict: 8.5/10

Wight – Spank the World (Germany)
Style: Funk/Rock (clean vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Dylan

Spank the world
It deserves it
On its ass
With no mercy!

Yeah, this album is not very serious isn’t it! 

Out of all of the things that I imagined reviewing for The Progressive Subway, I never thought I would ever be forced into listening to a funk/rock/sci-fi/prog concept album. But it happened, and it went…. Pretty good! 

So as you probably realized from the lyrics segment, this is not an album that pretends you to take it seriously. And that’s honestly perfectly fine because it goes along with the album; it’s a very playful, danceable groovy album. At it’s high, it is absolutely infectious, fun, and just a blast to listen to. It’s got a nice blend of funk, lite prog, and even worships plenty of classic rock. Because of it, it feels very throwback-y in a good way.

This makes it fun and all but there’s one major flaw with the album that makes it’s pleasure way less evident; interludes and pacing. A quick look at the tracklist and you’ll see multiple 1/2 minute intros/outros/interludes and the main tracks themselves. While those snippets have the funniest lyrics of the album, they make the entire thing feel disjointed when that’s the complete opposite purpose of a transition track. The tracks in between them are everything I’ve described in the paragraph above, but as an album it’s very hard to keep up with the theme or what it’s going for.

Because of this I’d suggest you give the album a listen, take your fave tracks (will probably be “Hot”, “Motorgroove” and “Island in the sun”), throw them on your playlist, and just “meh” everything else out of your library. 

Recommended tracks: Hot, Motorgroove, Island in the Sun
Recommended for fans of: Deep Purple, Funkadelic/Parliament, Fate No More
Final verdict: 7/10

Abduction – Jehanne (France)
Style: Death/Black (mixed, French vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Andrew

Xanthochroid is a fantastic band, and one of my favorite prog black bands. Let’s get that out of the way first. 

On my first listen of Jehenne by French progressive black metal band Abduction, the first comparison that came into my mind was Xanthochroid. From the soaring clean vocals to the somber passages to the heavy-hitting black metal backbone, the only thing Abduction is missing is a folk influence. However, not once did Jehenne ever sound exactly like Xanthochroid. They maintain their own independent sound while still drawing strong comparisons. 

For readers not familiar with Xanthochroid, the best way to describe their sound is “epic black metal.” Set in a fictional world invented by the band itself, their music is grandiose and spectacular throughout each and every passage and dynamic shift. Never faltering from their chaotic roots, Xanthochroid explores boundless musical territory as they tell their tales. Before I get too sidetracked gushing over Xanthochroid, I want to say that the only reason I am going into this much detail about them is because Abduction reminds me so heavily of them – in a good way. Abduction explores similar musical territory while never straying far from their roots. Jehenne effortlessly swaps between the black metal base and their many other musical modes, adding a lovely sense of change and evolution to the album. 

Abduction forgoes a folk influence in favor of a more consistent, homogenous sound. This is not to say that adding more external influences would be to their benefit, but their sound does begin to drag after some time. Although they do a great job of being dynamic,it is easy to lose focus on the album as it progresses. If you’re good at staying laser-focused on what you’re listening to, then this album will be fantastic. However, I tend to do most of my listening while also doing other stuff so Jehenne definitely began to blend together.

Despite the overall lack of distinction, Jehenne is a fantastically solid release. Abduction has created a wonderful and unique core sound for themselves and with a bit more thought, could be the next best prog black band out there. 

Recommended tracks: Par ce coeur les lys fleurissent, Dieu en soit garde, Aux marches de Lorraine
Recommended for fans of: Xanthochroid, Cormorant, Ihsahn
Final verdict: 8.3/10

Koronus – Eye of the Monolith (US-IN)
Style: Djent (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | RYM page
Review by: Matt

Oh man, I don’t think I’m the right guy for this review… There are a lot of things about Koronus that rub me the wrong way, but I’m pretty sure this is a good album that will be a hit with modern prog fans. I’ve definitely given out some reamings here before, but in this case I’m not quite comfortable dismissing the album based on my own feelings.

To get my gripes out of the way: It’s djent. We’ve been through this before, but I can’t count the number of cool keyboard intros that have given way to some monotonous 8-string non-riff and pissed me off. It is mature here, but I don’t agree with the “fake heaviness” of the style in general, so there’s that. There are a couple solid riffs – “Monolith”, “Wrath” – but the metal component of the album isn’t that noteworthy to me. My other point of contention is the vocals, which are capable but artificial-sounding, both tuning-wise and emotionally. They have that slightly whiny, commercial strain, reminding me of somebody from nu metal who I can’t quite put my finger on. For some people, these are features rather than bugs. In my case, they’re dealbreakers, which sucks because everything else about the album is great.

Right from the intro, you can tell this is an ambitious band. The synth textures, bongos and chanting samples on “Discovery” aren’t quite like anything I’ve heard in metal. All the keyboards on the album are impressive, densely layered and original. The melodies are excellent, and the writing is just powerful sometimes. Check the somber outro on “Monolith”, or the buildup in the more ballad-esque “The Deep”, which brings in vibrant latin percussion and acoustics. Sometimes you catch a whiff of power metal epicness, like the triumphant end of “Exiled”, and other times it skews into jazz territory. This album just sounds fresh, and is composed with real skill.

Basically, I love everything here that isn’t the riffs and vocals. Those are kind of important on a _metal_ album, but I still find the overall package pretty good. Imagine what you’ll think if you actually like them!

Recommended tracks: Discovery, Monolith, The Deep
Recommended for fans of: Black Peaks, Periphery, Native Construct
Final verdict: 5-6/10 (personally), 9/10 (if you like djent and poppy vocals)