Well, that’s another year in the bag! Having ascended to some sort of lead editor role this year, I foolishly committed to listening to every single album we reviewed in 2024. Along with everything else I listened to, that constitutes 336 new albums which is about two weeks of listening, or roughly a third of what my colleague Andy listened to. Suffice to say, my respect for my colleagues has fallen a lot. However, amid the occasional ear-scrapingly awful release and a lot of middling fare, there were gems to enjoy in 2024, quite a few, in fact. Whereas I struggled to find even ten great albums last year, this time settling on only ten was the hard part. The progressive underground remains a place full of great innovation, talent, and resounding earworms, and it’s a pleasure to be able to lay out these ten albums as exemplars of our little genre’s output. But first…
Honorable mentions
Frost* – Life in the Wires: the best band to grace progressive rock in the last twenty years turned out an eighty minute double album and somehow managed to not waste a single second of that time. Solos and anthemic moments abound. Were it eligible for our esoteric underground metrics, this’d be the clear number two in my top ten.
Borknagar – Fall: I got us to post “brat summer is over, it’s time for Borknagar fall” on our Instagram and it only got 11 likes. Go educate yourselves on Norwegian folky prog black metal that sounds like it’s being performed on the top of a mountain.
Ihsahn – Ihsahn: Opting to go symphonic on his self-titled album, Ihsahn conjures a suite of brutality and melody across this gorgeously composed work of prog black gone classical.
10. Ætheria Conscientia – The Blossoming
Style: Black metal, progressive metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: White Ward, Enslaved, A Forest of Stars
Some sort of fungi, terrestrial or extraterrestrial, was likely involved in the composition of Ætheria Conscientia’s third album, a bad trip of psychedelia infusing its way into their saxy prog black metal stylings. With a strong synth presence, some clean guest vocals and some tainted shroom weirdness, The Blossoming is a masterclass in story-driven prog metal, a tale of cosmic horror redolent of the brilliant—and tragically cancelled—series Scavengers Reign. Ætheria Conscientia bring to life their own fucked up sci-fi tale through contemplative Phrygian sax licks which call forth sublimely eerie otherworldly ecologies, perilous blast beats, and malign alien chants that signal horrors for the spacefaring crew. Equal parts eerily soft and punishingly heavy, the French group really came into their own on The Blossoming.
Recommended tracks: Astral Choir, Haesperadh, The Blossoming
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | original review
9. Hippotraktor – Stasis
Style: Progressive metal, post metal, djent (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Gojira, The Ocean, Cult of Luna
The boys from Belgium returned for a second banquet of bone-shaking post metal with irrepressible djenty grooves, befuddling polyrhythms, and messianic vocal harmonies. Constantly evolving rhythms pull the listener on a succession of compositional journeys; djentier prog can lack a sense of nuance, but beneath the pant-shittingly weighty riffs everything is as serene and meticulous as a Swiss watch. Stefan de Graef’s monolithic vocals continue to deliver some incredible moments from a transcendent “Manifest the Mountain” reprise to the mountainous title track. Sing it with me now: ‘PRAY YOUR EYES WILL WITHER: INTERCONNECTED!’
Recommended tracks: Stasis, Renegade, Descent
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | original review
8. Múr – Múr
Style: Post Metal, Progressive Metal (mixed vocals, Icelandic lyrics)
Recommended for fans of: Cult of Luna, Gojira, The Ocean
Forging a sound of your own can take years, but Múr’s self-titled debut contained the maturity and confidence of a much older band. Mixing the post metal of Cult of Luna with heavier Gojira-esque grooves, while adding an incredible vocal performance and a unique interspersion of urgent synth and keytar, Múr manages to be a compositionally satisfying and emotionally evocative work. I might not know what any of the Icelandic lyrics mean, but the seismic chords and pummelling heft perfectly communicate the geological themes that Google Translate allege are the major focus. The turbulent beauty of Iceland itself is made manifest here: the volcanic danger, the bracing cold, the battering ocean; and yet life persists. It takes talent to make music embody such natural grandeur but Múr manage it with aplomb.
Recommended tracks: Vitrun, Eldhaf, Holskelfa
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | original review
7. In Vain – Solemn
Style: Progressive metal, death metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Opeth, Insomnium, In Mourning
The fifth outing of the Norwegian underground champions of prog death, Solemn felt like the fulfillment of a prophecy, In Vain finally attaining the giddy compositional heights that divide a band that can consistently make great albums into a band who make masterpieces. Judicious use of brass and sax, singalong choruses, but never compromising on the brutality and the intricacy, their versatility is alive on this record. From the anthemic brass-drenched splendour of “Shadows Flap Their Black Wings” to the doomier portent of “At the Going Down of the Sun” to the emotive force of closer “Watch For Me on the Mountain” (which features a very welcome surprise lead performance from Vidi of Subterranean Masquerade), everything about Solemn testifies to the expertise of In Vain, who have emerged triumphant as the elder statesmen of the progressive death metal underground.
Recommended tracks: Shadows Flap Their Black Wings, At the Going Down of the Sun, Watch For Me on the Mountain
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | original review
6. Lamentari – Ex Umbra in Lucem
Style: Black metal, symphonic metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Emperor, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Ihsahn, Septicflesh, Limbonic Art
For us OGs who were with Lamentari from the very beginning, the wait for a debut full-length was long but absolutely worth it. The Danish sextet’s deft melding of vituperative black metal with bombastic twentieth century classical influences reaches its pinnacle on Ex Umbra in Lucem. Gnashing harshes tear chunks out of the listener, solos blister your hands via the transitive property, and the melodramatic symphonic work threatens the integrity of the eardrums. Where black metal is often quite lo-fi, crystalline production renders Lamentari a shimmering beacon in their scene—after all, you don’t record with a real orchestra and choir just for the production to muddy all that sonic pizzazz. For those of you who’ve always wondered “what if Gustav Holst really liked Emperor?” here’s your answer, and it fucking rips.
Recommended tracks: Intra Muros Mentis, Tragoedia in Domo Dei, Appugno
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | original review
5. Meer – Wheels Within Wheels
Style: Progressive rock (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: The Dear Hunter, Steven Wilson, Renaissance, Bent Knee
Already having become a bit of a cult hit in the progressive underground thanks to their 2021 sophomore Playing House meant that expectations were high for Meer’s follow-up; Wheels Within Wheels delivered and then some. Here, the self-described alternative pop orchestra are both proggier and tighter than ever before, the composition ratcheted up and yet flowing seamlessly, the sibling vocalists at the height of their powers. Folky (“Chains of Changes”), proggy (“This is the End”), anthemic (“Behave”), contemplative (“Take Me to the River”) and much more, Wheels Within Wheels is commanding in its presence and maturity; a soulful, symphonic and effortlessly listenable work. Meer have proven incontrovertibly that they’re one of the leading lights of modern progressive rock.
Recommended tracks: Chains of Changes, Behave, This is the End
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | original review
4. Triton Project – Messenger’s Quest
Style: Traditional progressive metal (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Seventh Wonder, Dream Theater, Shadow Gallery
Doug and I don’t often overlap in our taste but he tends to have one banger rec per year. 2023’s was Ions, and this year’s was Triton Project. I’m not a trad prog guy, but Messenger’s Quest absolutely blew me away with its scope: a cinematic, through-composed concept work, glimmering with layered keyboards, belting vocals, reprising motifs, and a yeti. A deft collaboration between keyboardist, composer and sound designer Title Tanpawat Suttipong and vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Sean Thompson, the duo (alongside Kieran Pope on bass) create a whole world, steeped in fantasy storytelling and nineties trad prog conventions to bring to life the titular messenger’s quest. With two tracks of the total five collectively topping fifty minutes, Triton Project are the epitome of epic. Are they gods? No, just messengers.
Recommended tracks: Messenger’s Quest, The Key, Everdream
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | original review
3. Kyros – Mannequin
Style: Neo-progressive rock, synth-pop (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Frost*, Haken, poppy Devin Townsend, 80s Yes and Rush, a whole host of eighties synth pop groups
Prog rock is often thought of as a pretentious genre, an impression that I don’t think any prog fan would be able to deny the validity of. Rejoice, then, that a band as energetically twee as Kyros can thrive in today’s scene. Melding the more whimsical side of neo-progressive rock with the glitz and groove of synth-pop, Mannequin (and the follow-up mini EP Fear & Love which you should assume is tacitly included in this pick) sees the group really come into their own with a bunch of bodacious tracks that dare to cross into the territories of synthwave, new wave, and EDM. Beneath the frivolity lies exquisite musicianship, introspective lyricism, and some sick performances, all testifying to not only Kyros’ uniqueness but also their importance as crusaders for a long lost sense of camp that’s been missing from the prog scene.
Recommended tracks: Esoterica, Liminal Space, Have Hope
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | original review
2. Bent Knee – Twenty Pills Without Water
Style: Art rock, art pop (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Radiohead, Steven Wilson, The Dear Hunter, Björk
A third of the membership down, Bent Knee’s fortunes looked potentially dismal, but on their seventh album, the uncategorisable band remain undiminished. Channelling a deep-seated melancholy revolving around the idea of ‘never coming home’, Twenty Pills Without Water is a tapestry of grief and disconsolation, steeped in a more art pop sensibility redolent of Radiohead, whilst recalling their older albums Say So and Land Animal. From uptempo stomps like “I Like It” and “Illiterate”, to laments like “Big Bagel Manifesto” and “Drowning”, to infracaninophile anthem “DLWTSB”, the emotional journey contains triumphant highs and bittersweet lows, but is always steeped in something deeply felt and personal—and it’s all composed with their usual sense of wit and originality.
Recommended tracks: Never Coming Home, Big Bagel Manifesto, DLWTSB
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | original review
1. i Häxa – i Häxa
Style: Art rock, trip-hop, dark folk, electronica, ambient (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Chelsea Wolfe, Massive Attack, Radiohead, Björk, The Gathering
I’ve waxed lyrical about i Häxa five times already this year, do I really need to do it a sixth time? Yes. Yes, I do. Songwriter Rebecca Need-Menear and instrumentalist and producer Peter Miles join hands on this boundless, poetic, genrefluid collaboration, melding a range of influences into a cohesive whole; every time I listen, I’m transported into this strange parallel world. i Häxa is a refraction, it bends to the occasion; variously cathartic, thought-provoking, a warm balm or a frigid wind, the companionship of the music is constant. We recognise ourselves in art because it articulates that which was within but hitherto hidden, unexpressed. What is there of me inside this music? What can I learn about myself from it?
What does all my verbose pseudo-philosophising mean? That some art is simply beyond words. I could spend a lifetime trying to explain to you what this album means to me and fail because, very occasionally, an album comes along that resonates at your own frequency, that feels like it’s trying to possess you, or is speaking the language of the soul. I could talk about gorgeous vocal performances, profound recitations, explosive backbeats, horripilating synths—i Häxa is all that and more. But most of all, it gets me; I have given in to the desire for infernum and now I see it all.
Recommended tracks: I keep saying listen to the whole thing, but if you have to have individual songs to hook you, Underworld, Sapling, The Well, Destroy Everything, Infernum
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | original review
