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

Hello there. Today is the day you will remember as the day you read a post from The Progressive Subway (or not). I’d like to say it’s Monday, but many of you read these on Tuesdays so who am I to determine the date? I don’t date (though I’ve been told I’m pretty handsome, my dating skills are an absolute shitshow worse than Dream Theater lyrics circa Black Clouds). Wait I’m getting off topic. Was there a topic anyway? Not really no. I’m just here to spout some things about how we reviewed EVEN MORE albums to absolutely no one’s surprise and how they don’t suck (or they do, but that’s not nice) until I eventually dump the Spotify playlist with the recommended tracks from the editions and then disappear into the winds. These intros are absolutely pointless anyway so I’m just using them as an associative writing exercise most of the time unless there’s actually something to say regarding the blog itself. Extended thoughts of value aren’t meant for these things anyway. Since I already dumped the playlist I’ll just be off.

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, that the release is over 20 minutes long and that you don’t have more than 10k Spotify monthly listeners.

Hail the Void – Hail the Void (Canada)
Style: Stoner Doom (clean vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Matt

I’ve been hearing some grumbling from friends lately about the overabundance of Sabbath-worship stoner doom bands… On one hand, most of them are pretty derivative, but on the other, Black Sabbath is awesome, so I dunno. Hail the Void is a new band that doesn’t revolutionize the genre, but they do the formula extremely well – with nary a mention of wizards or bongs.

When it comes to the riffs, these guys definitely got their foundation solid. The songs are catchy, heavy, and the bass tone is one of the nastiest but most addictive I’ve heard. Compositionally, it’s a lot of pentatonic, but with some more melodic outside notes tastefully sprinkled in. The songcraft here is very strong, trudging forward with momentum and confidence, somehow both apathetic and exciting. The band is partial to extended laid-back jams, such as the brooding “Desert Apparition”, but they also manifest a lot of energy on more rocking tracks such as “All Hail”. Besides the usual culprits, you can hear traces of Danzig or Type O’ Negative – see vocalist Kirin Gudmunson’s Peter Steele-esque delivery. Honestly, he’s way beyond the vocal ability required for such a band, and steals the show despite their instrumental focus.

I haven’t found much to complain about on Hail the Void, but listeners are really spoiled for this kind of music – I’m not sure what a stoner doom band would have to do to stand out at this point, but you can at least rest assured that this is one of the good ones. I’ve personally avoided a burnout by only listening to lame music, so it’s pretty fresh to me at least.

Recommended tracks: Parasite, Desert Apparition/Karman Line
Recommended for fans of: Danzig, Wicked Inquisition
Final verdict: 8/10

PseudoSignal – Fractal Severance (Australia)
Style: Djent/Electronic (mostly clean vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram
Review by: Dylan

This album feels like it’s from 2014.

What does that phrase express to you? Negativity? Positivity? Nothingness? To me, it’s the latter of the 3 with a small asterisk. I really do not care at all if an album feels from another era, I may even like it more that way because it’s inspired in a musical movement that’s barely existent by now that I’m into. The asterisk is that I really dislike things that feel ‘’dated’’ because they try to replicate old, shitty production (worth noting that a lot of albums from the 60’s and 70’s had amazing production, but a lot also didn’t). So as long as you’re not bringing dated elements that existed due to technological limitations, I’m all up for something that’s not current. 

And PseudoSignal deliver an album that DOES feel 6 years old… but not in a way I can really complain about. The dated feel is mostly thanks to the very early 2010’s sounding djent. To be completely honest, it is not a genre or trend I ever dug deep into, but the more I listen to it the more I find to like. Fractal Severance is not an exception to that statement; I feel like the album’s djent elements were cohesive, well written and just overall a fun time. The vocalist has shades of Karnivool which he uses to deliver his lines in a memorable albeit cliched way. And then there’s the electronic in this which I actually really loved… but I’m not sure how other people would feel about it. In most tracks, the type of electronic changes: Off the top of my head I could recognize Dubstep and Drum’ N Bass, but I’m no electronic master so I may be missing a few more definitions. These appear either as breakdowns in a song (Dubstep Breakdown in ‘’Fissile’’) or as pure separate compositions of the genre to serve as transition pieces (Drum’ N Bass in “Sobriquet”) and they make a surprising amount of sense within the song (or even the entire album’s) flow. 

Overall, PseudoSignal is a fun lil band that have written some very serviceable Djent with some cool electronic ideas throughout. If you don’t like Djent, this won’t sell you on it, and if you’re a fan, this may be too generic for you to enjoy. But personally I find a middle-ground in this album where I can absolutely vibe to it, even accepting it’s flaws in creativity/originality.

Recommended tracks: Fissile, Apocryphal
Recommended for fans of: idk TesseracT?
Final verdict: 7/10