Style: Progressive Rock, Progressive Metal (Clean Vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Airbag (the Norwegian one), Riverside, Porcupine Tree, Ions
Country: Italy
Release date: 22 May 2026

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The Progressive Subway’s recent Haken discography ranking post shows that although our diverse cast of writers here is united by a love of prog metal, we often defy the greater prog world’s expectations with our takes. One of these (mostly) shared beliefs and a frequent topic of conversation among my peers here is that story-centered concepts rarely make an album better—and typically make them worse. Sacrilege for a prog fan, I know. Yet we’re still prog lovers, and we can unanimously agree that having unifying themes on a record can help elevate a release to the next level, while being less obtrusive to the enjoyment of a record if you don’t vibe with the narrative.

Milanese quintet Cellar Noise approach their third album, Panic Loves Telling Lies, with their heaviest material yet, theoretically ready to take on a weighty concept with appropriate musical gravity. Thematically about a paradox of the human psyche—the mind’s building of invisible walls to protect us becoming our own prisons and our eventual ego freedom from the predicament—Panic Loves Telling Lies does a good job at capturing their concept without relying on poorly written characters like so many prog bands would be tempted to do. The music itself also harnesses a slightly anxious edge to sculpt the mood—at least initially. A repeated synth line drives opener “Wasted Potential” forward, with a strong vocal melody and drums tastefully seeming to barely keep pace, creating a feeling of unease. The keyboard effects are quite familiar for fans of 70s prog—the invisible walls that protect us—but the djenty ending of the track, culminating in a few moments of blast beats, push Cellar Noise out of their prog rock comfort zone.

Cellar Noise excel precisely when they escape their comforting walls of old prog; this is primarily because neoprog is a bit trite, but the inclusion of old-school prog with djenty guitars and robust, Porcupine Tree-esque bass isn’t. But there are other reasons why Cellar Noise are most successful when they’re more metal. First, Francesco Lovari’s sweet voice can take on a lullabyish tone in more relaxed tracks (“The Case of the Silent Queen,” “We Need to Talk”), but the more power he puts into his voice the richer it gets (ending of “Caged”). Second, the production on Panic Loves Telling Lies is phenomenal, handling the maximalist sections with ease, so the band can easily include layered vocals, heavy and acoustic guitars, pianos, and exciting drumlines all at once. Those climaxes are more interesting by the simple virtue of having more things to listen to.  

The exciting sections are overwhelmingly saved for only the final sections of tracks rather than sprinkling them throughout the songs: the last thirty seconds of “Wasted Potential,” the second half of “Caged” after its extended buildup, the end of “The Day We Never Met.” The track structures become too predictable in this regard, although Cellar Noise do a good job at varying other aspects of their sound track to track, giving each distinct character. “We Need to Talk” utilizes a cello as a transition element; “Caged” repeats a mantra of sorts with increasingly many layers; and “The Day We Never Met” uses electronic elements similar to Mariusz Duda/later Riverside. But despite all the small variations and fun climaxes, so much of the album feels dominated by acoustic strumming and light choruses. They’re more comforting than anxiety inducing, and by the end of the album I’d have entirely forgotten about its concept if not for the lyrics.

Cellar Noise have a winning formula buried in Panic Loves Telling Lies: adding djent guitars to largely acoustic-focused neoprog. But the band also doesn’t lean into their best ideas all the time. Panic Loves Telling Lies is still a satisfying album because of its outstanding production, chunky bass, and Lovari’s beautiful voice. Cellar Noise even manage to keep their new record unified with its unobtrusive concept. By continuing to play into their strengths, Cellar Noise LP4 could be a breath of fresh air in the entire prog rock scene.

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Recommended tracks: Wasted Potential, Caged, The Day We Never Met
You may also like: PreHistoric Animals, Hillward, Isbjörg, Echoes and Signals, SubLunar, Derev
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram

Label: AMS Records

Cellar Noise is:
– Francesco Lovari (vocals)
– Alessandro Palmisano (guitars)
– Niccolò Gallani (keys)
– Loris Bersan (bass)
– Eric Bersan (drums/percussion)