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

Eyes Fly – Eyes Fly (UK)
Style: Stoner Doom (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Jonah

The doom output this year has finally started to look pretty dang good, and it has left me a real happy camper. There have been a few doom albums in recent months that have absolutely knocked my socks off in the best, slowest way. Now I find myself listening to the self-titled album by Eyes Fly and wondering if they’ll successfully do the same.

For the most part, yes they do. This album is chock full of delicious riffs, very traditionally stoner styled clean vocals and some really nice snarled harshes. Add to this very audible and chunky bass grooves, and some drumming that feels like it came from a slightly less technical Brann Dailor and you’ve got a real spicy doom album on your hands. Each song has a lot of movements and it feels like a journey as you listen through the album.

The overall sound is really pleasant, not oppressively heavy but also not too light, there is a sonic middle-ground that is hit quite well here. The production is good enough, although the vocals sometime feel pushed very far back in the mix and I want the bass tone to be just a bit thicker. This is nitpicking though, and honestly I heartily enjoyed this release. I think by the end of its 51 minute runtime the sound gets a tad homogenous, but honestly I will absolutely continue listening to this one.

So is this the most original release of the year? Absolutely not, Eyes Fly wear their influences on their sleeves and do so proudly. But they do the bands that originated, and have been improving upon, this style quite proud with this album. If you’re looking for an abundance of riffs, some fun lead work, killer drumming, and really enjoyable bass and vocal performances this is the album for you, and I heartily recommend it.

Recommended tracks: Supernova Building, The Long Return, Coerce Control
Recommended for fans of: Khemmis, Mastodon, Spirit Adrift
Final verdict: 8/10

Behold the Void – Disintegration (Russia)
Style: Blackened Deathcore/Djent (harsh vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | RYM page
Review by: Dylan

It seems that I just cannot escape Russian bands when it comes to reviews in this blog, and I gotta say it’s mostly ‘cause of me. Thanks to the many great bands from the Russian scene I’ve come across so far I want to take whatever’s Russian on our ‘’to-do list’’. And thanks to that I find myself having to review Disintegration, an album described as ‘’Blackened Djent-core’’ by our wonderful album scout Jonah…. Just how do they mix in those 3 genres? And does it work?

Behold the Void have no filter when it comes to leaving out heaviness. The album’s longest track is just shy of 4 minutes, and the total runtime is 30 minutes. This leaves for quite the ‘’get in, get out, no bullshit’’ feel. And for this album, which is filled to the brim with brutality, low tones, and fantastic harshes, it’s length works like a charm for what they were going for. And ‘’works like a charm’’ can be applied to just about anything on this album. 

It’s use of staple ‘’low growl and high shriek’’ death-core vocals, combined with creative uses of the lowest tones a guitar can produce, a drum-kit that’s just pounding out to whatever the band feels like doing perfectly, and this ‘’grimness’’ in the atmosphere that adds the blackened undertones, makes for a greatly executed album. It’s surprisingly memorable after only a few listens, and it continues to deliver even when binging through it. If you consider yourself a fan of any type of extreme music, or if you’re merely curious for how fucked up a band can sound while still having great songwriting, Disintegration is an album you should check out.

Recommended tracks: The Light, Blindfold, Agonia
Recommended for fans of: Lorna Shore, ???
Final verdict: 9/10

Al Joseph – Labyrinth (US-CA)
Style: Shred (instrumental)
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Review by: Andrew

I don’t typically review (or listen to) instrumental albums. Beyond fusion and avant-garde stuff, instrumental prog usually never catches my ear. Going against convention, I decided to give Labyrinth a shot for this week’s edition. I’ve been surprised before so you never know what stands out. 

Al Joseph, a Berklee College graduate, was a member of the band The Great Gamble and has a couple solo albums out already. Labyrinth is his newest offering, continuing with the instrumental prog metal style of his previous two albums. 

Joseph is a fantastic musician, there’s no doubt about that. However, nothing from the album really stuck with me. I don’t even know if I can describe why this style of music does nothing for me but it’s basically a 51-minute long guitar solo. Sure, there are rhythmic variations and changes in tempo and feel, but at its core this album is a guitar solo. It felt like there was something missing throughout the entire thing. To keep this as short as it needs to be, I won’t go into any more specifics about why exactly it didn’t click with me. Certain albums or bands have objective qualities that detract from their enjoyment but in this case, it’s purely subjective. From a songwriting or a production or a virtuosity standpoint, Labyrinth is absolutely fantastic. But enjoyment of music is far more involved than just checking off a checklist.

Because my issue is more with the instrumental prog/shred genre overall than with this specific release, I don’t think it’s fair for me to assign a numerical rating. If you really like shredding, listen to Labyrinth and you’ll probably love it. It’s not for me though. 

Recommended tracks: Inner Rage, Labyrinth, Theater of Dreams
Recommended for fans of: Marco Sfogli, John Pettruci, shred in general
Final verdict: N/A

Creature – Ex Cathedra (France)
Style: Avantgarde/Black/Classical (mixed, French vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Sam

As technical as progressive metal is, I rarely feel like my lack of music theory knowledge hinders my enjoyment of an album. With avantgarde however, I frequently feel like I just miss all technical knowledge to properly understand what is going on. And never have I felt more out of my depth when reviewing an album for this blog than for Ex Cathedra by French outfit Creature.

A lot happens in this album. It’s very dynamic music. My dad told me these guys were definitely classical music inspired in their compositional approach, which does explain a lot. There are lots of reprises and variations of themes, shifts in timbre, tempo, etc. It’s also very rich in terms of instruments used. You have the standard metal lineup plus synths, trumpets and flutes. It’s impressive how naturally they managed to ingrain each instrument in a cohesive, fitting manner, which speaks to the production as well. It’s vivid and gives every instrument exactly the space it needs to (though the drums tend to sound machine-like). The sheer amount of dynamic prowess on this album puts a lot of prog metal to shame. Or, to quote my dad, “the music is a lot more ‘sophisticated’ (so to speak) than what you usually show me.” (thanks dad). Creature rarely go for an easy melody or a straightforward riff to get you headbanging. Ex Cathedra is the type of album you listen to fifty times and still discover new things in. On the other hand though, I found that the complexity of it all makes it harder for me to gauge how much I simply enjoy this album. Reviewing Between the Buried and Me pre Coma Ecliptic would have been a piece of cake compared to this (and I don’t like that at all). At least there I can use the kitchen sink analogy. This is way too cohesive for that.

So that leaves me with the conclusion. This is a mammoth of an album, and giving it a rating would not do justice to all its complexity I feel. I guess the closest band to this would be Arcturus, but their compositions are still a lot more straightforward and easily enjoyable than this band (and they aren’t instrumental 50% of the time either). I suggest you go into this album with an open mind, put on your prog snob monocle, and give it at least a couple of listens before judging it because boy is it a dense one.

Recommended tracks: Fugue en Sol Mineur, Note Anticosmique, Atlantis, but it’s best to listen to its entirety
Recommended for fans of: Arcturus, BTBAM, Solefald, classical music in metal
Final verdict: N/A