Reports from the Underground: May 2020 prog reviewed (part 1)

Cryptic Shift – Visitations from Enceladus (UK)
Style: Tech Thrash/Death (harsh vocals)
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Review by: Dylan

We all know how rare quality technical thrash is. Even though it seemed like the future of metal when Metallica released AJFA, the genre seems to be DEEP in the underground since the mid 90s. Thanks to Vektor this genre saw a somewhat decently sized resurgence, with bands like Vexovoid and Black Fast taking notes of the modern tech-thrash blueprint and releasing even more quality music of the same style. 

Cryptic Shift is in a similar vein to this, but with one glaring factor; they went ahead and did a 25 minute tech/thrash song. I know, kinda nutty right? Well nutty is the right word for this album. It’s just about what we’ve come to expect from 2010’s tech/thrash; a presence of sci-fi, some blackened undertones, plenty of speed, fun and head-bangability. 

It’s 4 song structure resembles classic prog strangely enough, with ‘’Moonbelt Immolator’’ being the band’s “Close to the Edge” or “The Gates of Delirium”, and the rest of the tracks being their “And You and I” or “Soundchaser”. And much like the afore-mentioned albums, I believe that it hurts in it’s song order. The 25 minute epic is so detailed, grand, and just, overwhelmingly awesome that everything else that can be presented to you just pales in comparison. That being said… if one of the few things I can complain about is how a track is too good for it’s own album, you know this is something you should check out.

I made a playlist of how I recommend you listen to this album; track 2, then 3, then 4, then 1. You can find it here. If you respect the artist’s placement that’s also okay. Any way you listen to this album, you’re bound to love if you’re into what these guys do, and I sure was. 

Recommended tracks: Moonbelt Immolator
Recommended for fans of: Vektor, Voivod, Mekong Delta
Final verdict: 8/10

Yriel – In Retrospect (Estonia)
Style: Thrash/Power (mixed vocals)
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Review by: Andrew

This was a bit of an interesting one. Estonian band Yriel simultaneously have an incredibly unique and yet at the same time incredibly derivative sound. If you’re not sure what I mean, that’s good. Because I am also not quite sure what I mean. No really, I cannot put my finger on this album. Yriel is so clearly influenced by many bands across the metal spectrum, from Mastodon to System of a Down to Nevermore, just to name a few. They’re thrashy, heavy, but still have a unique flair that makes their sound different in a way I can’t figure out. 

At a brief 25 minutes, In Retrospect is the debut EP from Yriel — but in those 25 minutes, they pack quite a punch. Despite the near constant onslaught of thrashy, powerful riffs, Yriel instills a strong sense of melody throughout that is backed up by the strong vocal lines. Singer Kris Kirs has a gravelly, deep voice typical of the style but he sure can belt when the song calls for it. Kirs’s vibrato is immense and provides a sense of grandeur whenever it appears. Furthermore, Kirs’s harsh vocals are sparse but wonderfully powerful. 

I mentioned Nevermore as one of Yriel’s strongest influences — this influence comes out most evidently on “The Final Crescendo,” which would not be out of place on a power metal album. Yriel clearly has a core sound that permeates the EP but the style wavers as it progresses in a way that leaves you wondering how that next riff will sound or when the next solo will appear. I really like this slight variance in style throughout — it provides variety while not detracting from In Retrospect’s cohesion as a whole piece of music. Their influences are on clear display but it is still hard for me to pinpoint exactly what style of music this is. Given my tastes and listening history, the less I am able to tell what kind of music something is, the more I enjoy it. In Retrospect is no exception — I thoroughly enjoyed each song. My only criticisms would be of the song structures. Each song roughly follows a traditional song structure which makes individual tracks feel predictable. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this in most cases, but I feel like when bands deviate even slightly from convention it contributes massively to their uniqueness. 

At several points throughout In Retrospect, I found myself subconsciously nodding my head to the beat. This release is groovy, heavy, and powerful. For a debut EP, it shows strong potential from a fledgling band and I am excited to see what Yriel does from here.

Recommended tracks: Pagan Bishop, The Final Crescendo, Sated
Recommended for fans of: Mastodon, Nevermore, Theocracy
Final verdict: 8/10

Forming the Void – Reverie (US-LA)
Style: Stoner/Doom (clean vocals)
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Review by: Jonah

I always have a moment of trepidation whenever I’m asked to review a band I had previously covered for the blog. Part of me is always excited but there’s always a bit of my brain asking “but what if this new album is WORSE than the one you reviewed last.” I don’t think any reviewer wants to be the one to tell a band that their quality has regressed since a previous release but sometimes it does happen. Thankfully, with Forming the Void’s new album this is not the case.

Reverie is the same level of stonery, sludgey quality doom with some psychedelic influences I’ve come to expect from this band. The riffs are heavy and driving but there’s always some fun and trippy lead work going on in the background to add more atmosphere and throw off the potheads. The drumming is consistently enjoyable, with some really fun fills being thrown in when needed and keeping a reliable rhythm while the guitars and bass chug along. Vocally this is pretty standard stoner doom, mid-range cleans without a ton of variation but a pleasant tone, with the occasional shouting section thrown in.

I’m especially impressed by the production of this album. Quite a lot of indie stoner doom tends to sound like absolute garbage, either due to an over-pursuit of fuzz or a lack of attention, and this album carefully avoids that trap. While the production isn’t perfect (I’d like to hear the bass a bit more) it’s quite crisp and clear, even with an acceptable level of fuzz included.

I don’t necessarily think that Forming the Void have changed much at all since the last time I reviewed them, except perhaps a shift towards more driving riffs and a bit less atmosphere, but all in all this is the same band I remember, and their sound is enjoyable and damn consistent. For any fans of the style this is definitely a recommended listen, and for anyone looking to dabble in the style this is certainly more accessible than a 60 minute Sleep song.

Recommended tracks: Sage, Electric Hive, Ancient Satellite
Recommended for fans of: Sleep, Pallbearer, Electric Wizard
Final verdict: 7/10

Kardashev – The Baring of Shadows (US-AZ)
Style: Deathgaze/Prog Death (mixed vocals)
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Review by: Chris

It’s not often that an album feels exactly like what a band tells you it is supposed to be about. It’s even rarer still that you get that feeling without having read or been told what to expect. The Baring of Shadows by Kardashev is one of those rare true expressions of a feeling, in this case pain, and it is a wonderful expansion of that feeling. To be completely candid, Kardashev’s last release The Almanac is in my top 10 all time played albums. As such I was greatly anticipating this release.

For those who may have already been a bit familiar with this band, The Baring of Shadows definitely leans even more into the -gaze elements that began permeating a lot in The Almanac. “A Frame. A Light” opens the album with a very soft reverb-laden guitar part with a very spaced out drum beat, before dropping you into the heaviness backed by higher tremolo guitars. Moments later their vocalist Mark Garrett finally lets loose his absolutely angelic voice married with his own dark growls in accompaniment. His voice stays as a true highlight of this EP and this band, and he has continued to back my personal claim that he is one of the most versatile vocalists in the genre right now with his range of low deathcore growls to absolutely beautiful cleans. Moments after this first vocal eruption, we are led back down toa laid-back slow pace. This EP very much lives on a cyclical feeling of returning to a place of rest in this way throughout. Personally I found this to be partly due to a particular drum beat I noticed crops up multiple times in the more laid-back parts. 

The addition of the bassist from Holy Fawn into the mix the slight influence creep definitely shows up in a few of the slower heavy moments and really helps lend more to the deathgaze pattern of the EP. However, soon into the second track “Snow-Sleep” you are reminded of their progressive deathcore roots with a couple passages that probably could have felt decently at home on Exoplanet by The Contortionist. The key though to this EP is the cycle, the ups and downs between the posty lows and heavy death-tinged highs. “Snow-Sleep” really takes this to heart and consistently guides you between the two. Though even in the heaviness there is a distinct atmosphere continuing to permeate, and in the atmospheric light parts there is always a sense of heaviness either lurking on the horizon or begging to be let out from underneath. While admittedly a sucker for the heavy atmosphere parts, in this release I most enjoyed the more laidback moments where the drums and vocals seemed to be the real guiding voices instead of the guitars and bass. A good example of this is 2 minutes or so into “Torchpassing” where the drums are just blasting away over completely washed post-rock guitars and a soft warm vocal line. 

My only real critiques of this release are the heavy tone still being a bit grating to my ears sometimes (at this point I would accept it’s a personal taste choice that just isn’t always my favorite) and that there are moments that felt like more highs were being teased or needed to resolve tensions and none came. These are small critiques though and Kardashev have really provided something nice and unique here and I can’t wait for the next one.

Recommended tracks: Listen to the whole thing you nerd
Recommended for fans of: Holy Fawn, Fallujah (for the atmospheric heaviness), Deafheaven (for the -gaze)
Final verdict: 9/10

Lascar – Distant Imaginary Oceans (Chile)
Style: Atmo-black (harsh vocals)
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Review by: Chris

Remember that time in the mid/late ‘00s when if the back of a book said “a coming of age young adult novel” you knew it was going to be a John Green ripoff? I’m really starting to feel that way about atmo-black bands at the moment, because I feel like so many bands in the genre popping up really feel like a rehash of ideas that have already been heard. And I get it, being in a genre known most for creating a sound based off of washiness and obscured vocals can make it hard to differentiate yourself. Unfortunately Lascar did not do as much as could have been done on Distant Imaginary Oceans to carve a spot out of their own. 

This album has everything you come to atmo-black to look for: the unrelenting mood, the barely distinguishable screaming, the wall of guitars, and the blasting drums. The most enjoyable parts for me though were probably the moments that felt like the interludes Sunbather had where the album takes a break from the black metal. Some nice guitar melodies play along with novel instrumentation. In fact, “Novelization” probably has my favorite part halfway through when the wall of sound subsides and is replaced with a happier soft guitar riff backed by electronica style drums. While speaking of drums, even for black style mixing it was annoying how kick on this record was really hard to distinguish on some types of speakers. Similarly the guitars at a few points switch to slightly more riffy heavy parts and keep the black style tone, which is a bit grating to the ear.

I really do wish I had a lot to say about this album but what would I say that hasn’t been said about a bunch of other similar albums in the vein of this one. Is it worth listening to? Yeah if atmo-black is your thing you will most likely enjoy this album, and I like it as some background noise for doing things. I just don’t know when I see myself revisiting it again. It definitely is competent and has good ideas, just nothing especially novel or compelling in the end.

Recommended tracks: Novelization, Destined to Saturn, Ode to the Sea
Recommended for fans of: Deafheaven, Wolves in the Throne Room, Unreqvited
Final verdict: 6.5/10

Temnein – Tales: Of Humanity and Greed (France)
Style: Melodeath (harsh vocals)
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Review by: Andrew

Countless metal albums and songs have been built around stories or history or folklore. They often serve as a fantastic thematic base to build up lyrics and instrumentation around. You can take a story and compose thematically to match the theme which not only provides a strong sense of cohesion between the lyrics and instrumentation, but is also really fun to listen to. When you can follow along with a story, it tends to make the music immensely more engaging. A big caveat to this, however, is the story must be presented in a way that’s at least somewhat easy to follow. A grand, convoluted tale will garner as much personal interest as a superficially told story with verbose lyrics. 

French melodic death metal band Temnein is back with their third album, Tales: Of Humanity and Greed. As the album title implies, each track is themed around a tale or fable from history, folklore, and even popular culture. Each of the ten tracks is centered on a unique story — these stories appear to be the centerpiece of the album. 

After several listens to Tales, I couldn’t tell you what any of the songs are about. Even reading the lyrics failed to elucidate the greater meaning of any of the tracks. Despite the vocals being exclusively growled, I could still make out a majority of the words. Even while being able to understand the lyrics, I still could not follow any sort of story. For an album entitled Tales, this is a problem.

Putting that aside, the instrumentation is decent. While repetitive, the guitar riffs are interesting and there’s a pretty good amount of variety. My biggest complaint instrumentation-wise is the lack of tempo changes. Basically every song is in the same tempo throughout which makes the album begin to drag fairly significantly as it progresses. Of course, there are several solo sections or calmer, clean sections but those dissolve back into the same tempo riffage as every other part of the album. Temnein also employs fade-outs in many of the songs, which is something of a personal pet-peeve of mine. I know not everyone dislikes fade-outs but to me, it seems like the band just didn’t know how to end the song properly. 

Tales: Of Humanity and Greed is a pleasant listen for what it is, but I feel like Temnein set out to do something much grander and fell short. Nothing had me reaching for the pause button but at the same time, nothing had me reaching for the repeat button either. 

Recommended tracks: Rise of the Sontarans, Dirge for Termina, Scums of Hamelin
Recommended for fans of: Aeternam, The Black Dahlia Murder, Deathwhite
Final verdict: 5.5/10