It is happening again: the summer stagnance, the vacant calendar, the terminal stillness of the doldrums. We had it last year and it’s returned to plague us again this year—there just don’t seem to be many releases in our little genre niche during the summer months, and it’s not clear why that should be. Is it down to the average prog lover’s inherent aversion to weather which necessitates the removal of one’s shirt or is it just that all the prog bands are busy having a brat summer (if you’re still trying to work out what “brat” means, basically they just rebranded “fetch” and made it happen)? Anyway, whatever the reason, there was a little less to wow us in July, but it’s not about how much you have but how you use it, and on that front we can provide. So put the parasol up, get that factor 50 on, and stick on our playlist while you peruse our favourite releases of July 2024!
Mile Marker Zero – Coming of Age
Recommended for fans of: Rush, Yes, Steven Wilson, Riverside
Picked by: Christopher
Trading out the sci-fi concepts and sprawling narratives for an album of more straightforward commercial prog bangers is a risky move, but Mile Marker Zero handle the transition with aplomb on Coming of Age. Sitting between Moving Pictures-era Rush and 80s Yes with a Steven Wilsonian gloss, the Connecticut foursome manage to marry the retro with the modern for an album of proggy AOR style bangers that makes a perfect soundtrack for the summer months.
You may also like: Azure, Advent Horizon, Kyros, Southern Empire
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | original review
Scarcity – The Promise of Rain
Recommended for fans of: Glenn Branca, Imperial Triumphant, The Dillinger Escape Plan
Picked by: Andy
Two years after one of the most harrowing metal experiences I’ve had, Scarcity are back, this time as a full band, the project taking on a vibrancy and energy that even the masterful debut lacked. Instead of the endless layering of microtonal guitar parts, The Promise of Rain explodes with a greater urgency, taking cues from the greatest explosions and crescendos of Aveilut without apeing them. This is essential avant-garde black metal and will be remembered as one of the defining black metal albums of this decade.
You may also like: Pyrrhon, Thantifaxath, Dodecahedron, Meth., Kostnatěni
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | original review
Piah Mater – Under the Shadow of a Foreign Sun
Recommended for fans of: Opeth, Ihsahn, Enslaved
Picked by: Sam
While our staff regularly disagree about music it’s rare that the person with the more positive take isn’t the reviewer (because the person who likes an album is more likely to pick it for review). Forget what Cooper said, Piah Mater have successfully stepped out of the shadow of pure Opeth worship (though some traces remain) and have come into their own as a thrilling prog death act, offering dynamic, melodious songwriting with some lofty peaks, with added black metal and Brazilian folk (for a lack of a more accurate term) accentuations making for a very colorful record. “Fallow Garden” in particular is a song of the year contender for me for both its versatility and climactic value; Cooper, go back to reviewing dissodeath.
You may also like: Obsidian Tide, The Anchoret, Pressure Points, Hands of Despair
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | original review
Krallice – Inorganic Rites
Recommended for fans of: Tangerine Dream, Enslaved, Gorguts, Klaus Schulze
Picked by: Andy
Colin Marston wrote a perfect sendoff to the longtime studio he was forced to evacuate. Among the most notable and most prolific of his many projects, Krallice have been a weirdo black metal fan’s best friend forever, and Inorganic Rites synthesizes his love for synths and electronica tones with his creative, visionary black metal. This is some of the best prog black metal you’ll hear this year.
You may also like: Midnight Odyssey, Thantifaxath, Esoctrilihum, Nightmarer, SkyThala, Bakt
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | original review
Non-Subway Picks
Clairo – Charm [indie pop] I dislike indie pop, but really dig Clairo. That should be enough. [pick by: Andy]
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