Reports from the (progressive metal) underground: 2018 Missed Albums Edition

Hey there all! What a ride it has been! I started this blog back in July 2018. I intended to quickly catch up with the present, but as can I never do things by halves, I realized quickly that would not be happening anytime soon. And even now we’re still not fully caught up with the present. Seven months later and we’re still three months behind. Granted, there was a large hiatus after my burnout, but even then we’d at most be one edition further now. And now we’re finally at the end of 2018. To be honest I’m tearing up a little while writing this. All that’s left now is an end-of-the-year list and we’ll be delving into 2019 albums.

What was first just an idiotic thing I did to discover new music, has now become a hobby. Searching the depths metal-archives has yielded some absolutely god awful, but also brilliant music. However, since even we can’t find everything in existence, we’re bound to miss some things. Sometimes it was a private message from a band member on Reddit, another time I got a message on the Discord about a band not on metal-archives and there are also some bands I stumbled on by accident on r/progmetal. And so my missed albums bookmark list grew. Over the course of the year it has built up to a staggering 17 albums, and that’s what this edition is about.

Due to the huge amount of albums we had for this edition, I asked in the Discord if some people wanted to do a guest review. And hence, we have three guest reviews for this edition, which will be marked with a *.

So now for the usual yadayadayada, here’s a link to the Spotify playlist with all the recommended songs, and an overview of all the previous editions:
– January
– February
– March
– April
– May
– June
– July
– August
– September
– October
– November
– December

02-20 Mother Turtle – Zea Mice (Greece)
Style: rock (instrumental)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | RYM page
Review by: Dylan

I hate writing short reviews, yet if an album doesn’t give me much to talk about, I can’t force myself.
Mother Turtle play instrumental music, and it is built like classic jazz. A base is built during the opening minutes, and solos drive the songs. Much like classic jazz, some solos are good, some are bad. How much I liked each song depended solely on what I thought of the solos in it.
And when the album ended, it left me with a soundtrack like feel. I didn’t dislike what I heard, but it all kinda felt background ish. Nothing was prominent enough to catch my attention.
All in all, it’s a harmless, somewhat fun, soundtrack like jazzy prog rock album. It’s a decent addition for anyone who’s looking for something like that, but nothing more.

Recommended tracks: The entire suite flows well, so separate tracks are not recommended
Recommended for fans of: Jazz(?), background music
Final verdict: 6/10

02-28 Æthĕrĭa Conscĭentĭa – Tales from Hydhradh (France)
Style: black (harsh vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Sam

I was really eager to listen to this album. When u/kilik2049 asked me to consider this for reviewing 5 months ago, the February edition had already passed. This album is where my idea of doing a missed albums edition originally came from. He described it as spacy, progressive black metal with a saxophone, which had me instantly intrigued. However, I decided not to touch it until I went for a review so I could fully immerse myself in it. And so now that I did, how did it hold up to my expectations?

The answer is: it did not. It’s indeed spacy and there’s a saxophone, but not in a good way. Instead of subtly carrying you across the waves of their soundscapes, the songwriting rather feels aimless and bloated. The great atmospheric bands of yore like Agalloch (or Phendrana from the January edition) do have long drawn out passages, but there’s always a grander sense of purpose. Even if it’s not immediately clear where they’re going, you know they’ll take you somewhere you haven’t been before, and that it’ll be great. Æthĕrĭa Conscĭentĭa on the other hand just do drawn out tremolo sections and occasionally change it up to prevent the boredom from becoming too great. And they aren’t even good tremolos either, they’re just, there. The other guitar parts aren’t all that memorable either. The guitar performance is just really forgettable. It’s not bad, it’s just uninteresting. And the sax playing isn’t any better either. Most of the time the sax just follows the guitar lines instead of providing a unique addition to the music. After the first 5 minutes, you know what the rest of the album is gonna sound like. The only surprising thing after that is the throat singing in the final song of the album, which also goes on for way too long.

I really don’t have much good to say about this album. It doesn’t actively suck, but there’s barely anything that stands out about this either. There’s a couple of inspired riffing sections and the fourth track has some solid potential, but as of right now there’s nothing that makes me want to come back to this album, though it might work well as background music.

Recommended tracks: Along the Uncertain Paths of the Maphoros
Recommended for fans of: idk, Agalloch? Saxophones? Background music?
Final verdict: 5/10

03-17 Divine Intervention – Liminal (US-CA)
Style: heavy metal (clean vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook
Review by: Sam

This band is strange. I was expecting some modern prog metal, something like Haken or Caligula’s Horse you’d find on the sub, but instead what I was greeted with when I started playing this was… Iron Maiden. Quite literally. Sure it was mentioned in their influences, but the harmonies in the opening minute are so close to the Brits it’s basically worship. And then it gets even weirder when the vocals come in, which with their punky alt rock vibe make you wonder if you’re not listening to Rise Against instead. It continues on this Maiden/Rise Against combination for the first three minutes or so, and then it suddenly changes to a post-metal crescendo (with buildup) for the final three minutes. I was left perplexed just where on earth that came from as it’s done with such skill and grandeur it’s easily one of the best things I’ve heard all year. I’m not sure about if it really makes sense with the rest of the song, but that part alone makes this record worth listening to.

Unfortunately, the height reached in the first song is never met again on the record. It mostly follows the Maiden/Rise Against template, but to make it even weirder from here on there’s also hints of, well… Between the Buried and Me. Yeah you heard that right. From the second track on this band can basically be written by the equation of Divine Intervention = ⅓ * (Iron Maiden + Rise Against + BTBAM). Just listen to the build in Liminal. That shit sounds like it came straight from Colors. And that’s also my problem with this band. The songs are very enjoyable in themselves, but it’s just literally the sum of its parts. One moment it’s Maiden, Rise Against is present all the time in the vocals, and the prog is just literally BTBAM. Oh and I forgot to mention there’s also Mastodon worship in the third track.

So on the whole I definitely enjoyed this EP, but this band definitely needs some more identity of its own. For now it’s just worship of their favorite bands. Good worship, but worship nonetheless.

Recommended tracks: By Your Decree
Recommended for fans of: Iron Maiden, Rise Against, Between the Buried and Me
Final verdict: 6/10

03-26 Axios – Erased (US-IL)
Style: rock/traditional (clean vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | RYM page
Review by: Dylan

When I was just a reader of these monthly posts I was disappointed that Erased wasn’t included in the March edition of UPM. I discovered the album thanks to the now ex frontman, who posted it on the Dream Theater subreddit, and was met with praise. At the time, it was the first truly underground album I enjoyed. So, as soon as I joined UPM as a writer I told Sam to bookmark this album for me to write a review about it whenever we could do so.

First of all, let’s talk about the mix; The entire band sounds great. Yes, it’s not a unique mix style, in fact, if you’ve heard any other traditional prog metal, you’ve heard this sound before. Two guitars, one bass, a keyboard accompanying it all, with punchy drums in the background. I do have to give props to the drummer for making the  drumming fun and varied, with barely no double bass drum usage (a gimmick I get a bit sick of in modern metal).

So we’ve already covered that they sound pretty similar to any other traditional prog band, but do Axios have any unique ideas?

Well out of the gate, you should know that there is a LOT of Opeth (Damnation era mostly) and Steven Wilson influences here. I’m not huge on Opeth myself, but my dad noticed that the main riff from Erased sounds something that’s straight out of Damnation. And in regards to SW, the singer himself was inspired to create the band after watching the damn guy, so it’s no surprise that a track like Truth in the Lie, Pt II sounds like it could fit perfectly in a Steven Wilson album as a power ballad. Luckily, it never feels like they’re worshipping bands without adding something unique to it. In facts, there’s plenty of moods the band goes for.

Pyramid is a standard 4 minute Prog Metal single. It’s no masterpiece, but it kicks off the album wonderfully, with awesome energy, and a mini build up/climax that ends on a shriek that’s only present on this track. Truth in the lie is divided into two movements, one being a pretty neat instrumental, and the other one, as I’ve said before, sounds more like a SW power ballad. Aftermath is an interlude, which sets the tone for the album epic title track. This track is 12 minutes long, and feels wonderfully constructed. It’s a track that can be divided in two parts easily since there is a good 5 seconds of silence in between the darker beginning and the more hopeful/happy ending. The way this track is constructed makes for a great, catchy ending that leaves you full of hope after things were sounding like they were heading the wrong way. And because of that, it is one of my personal highlights.

Things keep changing in the latter half. With you in Mind feels kind of out of place in the album, it sounds way too soft and romantic, with no oomph to back it up, it’s not unlistenable or anything, but it kind of kills the flow of the album. And then, Haunted happens.

This track became a minor hit, and for a good reason, because it is absolutely amazing. It’s dark and gritty, powerful and riffy, with fantastic solos, and a beautiful interlude. It’s not a song I can sell you with words, so I’d just say that you should hear it yourself, you will not be disappointing.

The closing track does have a very ‘’ending’’ feel. It’s kind of repetitive, to present the conclusion of the album in a clear way; that being ‘’If I would fall asleep, would you come to wake me?’’ After a couple minutes of that line accompanied by melodic solos, a couple minutes of ambient sound fill the end of the album, which work wonders to leave you reflecting on what you’ve just heard.

As you may have noticed, this album is not gonna get a perfect rating…. However, I’d still advise any traditional prog metal fan to check this out. It’s catchy, fun, moody, and well constructed.

Since I didn’t know where to add this, I’ll just put it as a PS: The singer is great, he knows exactly what to do for each situation the album is in. Mad props to him.

Recommended tracks: Erased, Haunted, Truth in the Lie Pt II
Recommended for fans of: Opeth (Damnation), Steven Wilson, Rishloo, Dream Theater
Final verdict: 8/10

03-30 The World Is Quiet Here – Prologue (US-WI)
Style: metalcore (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | RYM page
Review by: Dylan

Man what an album. The World is Quiet Here came out of nowhere and took the underground scene by surprise for all the good reasons.

You know an album that released on 2007 called Colors? The one that changed the scene and received critical acclaim yada yada yada? This may be Colors: The Sequel for all I know. And like any good sequel would do, it picks up the best things from the original, expands upon it, and brings fresh ideas to the table.

It’s hard to even explain what made Colors so great back then and even now, and it is equally as hard to describe Prologue. First of all, it is more accessible than it’s major influence; the chaos is present but it’s way more groovy. Thanks to this it is hard to get lost in between the experience, something that can happen often on a “flows like one track” album. There are plenty of unconventional interludes, ranging from acoustic guitars, to bluegrassy growling. These are perfectly placed and work flawlessly to add up to the overall story.

Oh yeah, it has a story… but I really don’t understand it for now :p.

Anyways the production is pristine and everything sounds awesome, and the flow of the album is nailed to perfection. If you love Colors, or hell, just good prog metal, check this out immediately. It’s a masterpiece

Recommended tracks: all
Recommended for fans of: Between the Buried and Me, Native Construct
Final verdict: 10/10

04-04 Within Progress – Oceans of Time (Greece)
Style: traditional/djent (clean vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | RYM page
Review by: Eric*

Within Progress is a relative newcomer to the Progressive Metal world, having so far only released this one EP. While it’s certainly not perfect, the EP definitely shows a lot of potential if this Greek quintet ever continues on to release a full-length.

The somewhat deceptive intro track Celestial Notion gives the impression that this is going to be a laid back album with a post-rock atmosphere, but this is definitely not the case for the remainder of the EP’s five tracks. This intro is followed almost immediately by one of those technical odd-time riffs that basically scream “is THIS progressive enough for you?” and things pretty much continue along those same lines for the remainder of the runtime. Most of this EP is driven by chunky guitars, which are almost djent-adjacent at times in their tone. They’re supported nicely by an equally impressive rhythm section. One almost gets the feeling that these guys had a checklist of time signatures on hand in order to make sure they hit every single one at some point. Listeners who like their prog to be unapologetically, well, prog-y (and I include myself among that group) should find a lot to enjoy here.

With that being said, the vocals do feel like a slight negative. While not necessarily bad, the singer does have a rather noticeable Eastern European accent which can be a bit distracting at times, though on repeated listens I mostly got used to it. The bigger issue is that it sounds a bit like all of these songs were written as instrumentals first, with the vocal melodies awkwardly inserted afterward. Whether or not this is actually the case, a lot of the vocal lines end up being rather forgettable. There’s definitely some attempts at creating some more emotional, dramatic moments from time to time, and it actually ends up working pretty well on the closing track “Bliss In Ignorance,” but most of the rest of the time I found it falling a bit flat.

The band also occasionally likes to insert some Middle Eastern sounding melodies and scales into their guitar lines. While this doesn’t really end up doing a whole lot to make this EP terribly unique among technical/progressive metal acts, a lot of the instrumental work really does end up being catchy on its own rather than just being boringly technical. In particular I can definitely see “Divine Intervention” being a future favorite at live performances just because of how powerfully those opening guitar riffs manage to hit, and that same track really becomes an absolute banger when the tempo picks up about ⅔ of the way through (not that it was exactly a slow song to begin with, either). Same goes for that awesome (and audible!) slapping bass on the title track.

So all in all, I enjoyed Oceans of Time, and hopefully Within Progress will have a full-length coming out at some point soon.

Recommended tracks: Bliss in Ignorance, Divine Intervention
Recommended for fans of: Distorted Harmony, TesseracT, Textures, SikTh
Final verdict: 7/10

04-13 The Earth and I – The Candleman and the Curtain (US-NY)
Style: Post/Prog Metal (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | RYM page
Review by: LegionAF*

This album was an interesting pick for my first-ever album review. I’m not exactly a Post-Rock aficionado, but I feel that my lack of background gives me a relatively unbiased view with which to critique this album.

I entered the album with no expectations and I left the album with no expectations. Listening through the album was like feeling a breeze across the face; it was noticeable and pleasing while listening, but just like a breeze it gently dissipated from my mind, creating a fleeing memory rather than an engaged experience. I felt no need to listen to the album again aside for the sake of review.
The album has its merits nonetheless. The lead singer is phenomenal, and her voice is able to convey both power and emotion. She evokes the image of a “warrior princess,” and it would not be an exaggeration to say that her voice was the highlight of the album. Furthermore, the band has a pleasant sound which settles itself in a comfortable middleground between intensity and simplicity which makes it easily accessible for metal listeners who tend to shy away from the rigor of death metal. Overall, the album is atmospheric.

As for the decent parts, the album has fine production. It is fine in the sense that everything sounds as it should, but it doesn’t push any boundaries or add an real power.

The fatal flaw, however, is how unmemorable the album is is. I’ve found that the most memorable tracks are those which take a step back from the metal and veer more towards acoustic. The majority of the tracks, however, feel indistinguishable. The tuning does not change between songs, and time signature changes are ubiquitous to the point where I was unable to tell when one song ended and another started. If there is any silver lining to this, the album was consistent- but consistency does not necessarily grab attention.

All in all, The Candleman and the Curtain is a solid album, but not one that I’ll sit ever sit down and listen to.

Recommended tracks: And Now for a Slight Departure, The Hollow Deluge, Skies Like Fences
Recommended for fans of: ???
Final verdict: 6/10

04-20 ISA – Chimera (US-MA)
Style: mathcore/electronic ambient/extreme metal (???) (harsh/mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | RYM page
Review by: Sam

Hooooooolllyyy shit I completely forgot about this album. I promised Dan on the r/progmetal discord to review his album for missed editions, but it was only last Wednesday I realized I hadn’t bookmarked the album. So hence I listened to the album like 7 times in 3 days to review it anyway.
ISA is a band that is extremely hard to describe. Dan described it as progressive black/death metal, but since metal-archives rejected this band for being “too core-y/math-y/weird” (to the outrage of the r/progmetal Discord) I realized classification would not become an easy task. Listening to the full thing made it even harder to describe. If I had to pick one genre to pin this band on, I’d probably say mathcore, but I realize that doesn’t even begin to describe everything that’s happening here. There are elements of Progressive Metal, Black Metal, Tech Death, Math Rock, Metalcore and Electronic ambient scrambled all over the place. Such a wild combination can never work right? Let’s find out.
Let’s start off the bat by noting how utterly chaotic this album is. The amount of genres I listed should already give an indication, but there’s more. It’s one constant flow of crazy rhythms, noodly guitars, raspy blackened vocals, melodies and a whole lot of other stuff going on in the background. It should be obvious by now that this is not an easy album to listen to.

The chaotic nature of this album is at the same time its strength and its weakness. On one hand this is not music that would blossom with a rigid structure. In a very organic fashion you can transition between a dreamy electronic ambient landscape into a schizophrenic Mathcore/Extreme Metal guitar onslaught and everything that goes in between. The vocals arrangements for starters are really cool. Just listen to Stage III: Heathens for example. The rhythmic, air-y vocal lines are definitely a standout on the album.  This formlessness makes it hard to predict where the music is going to take you, making it a very engaging listen. It’s really impressive what happens in this album.
But on the other hand this lack of form can also turn this into a homogeneous mass of chaos. There are so many layers and transitions it’s hard to find something to grab onto. I listened to this album seven times, yet I can still barely recall a single hook. Now hooks aren’t something that music like this is going for obviously, but there needs to be something that sinks in the listener which makes them coming back to the album. Even a band like Between the Buried and Me, who are utter chaos to my ears in most cases, still have hooks behind their music. ISA falls short a lot in this aspect.

This problem is shown with the riffs for example. They switch between either Mathcore noodling or heavy chugging, but there’s no single riff that will grab your attention. So while they’re technically impressive and crunchy, ultimately it becomes just another element in the chaos. More individually memorable guitar parts would definitely be an aspect in which this band could improve on for next album.

What’s also definitely a negative on this album is the mixing. The keyboards are barely audible (which is a shame since they’re done very well), and for all the various layers in the music it doesn’t seem like all of them are in the sonic place they’re intended to be. Melodies tend to get lost in the background when the riffs get too heavy and the drumming tends to take too much space when it gets intense. And most of the interesting Avant-Garde vocal arrangements with dual vocals seem uneven in the mix. It’s not like the mix is inexcusably bad though. It’s still produced with enough clarity that you can discern everything that’s happening with effort. But it’s definitely a far cry from what it intends to be.

So on the whole I’m not really sure what to rate this album. Listening to ISA is like a really intense dream, that’s extremely vivid and real while happening, but you forget it as soon as it’s over. In that aspect the annoying alarm noise in the final track is a perfect summary of what happened. You feel like it could have, maybe should have gone on longer, but it’s time to wake up, and move on to other things. It’s definitely an impressive debut, but there’s still a lot that needs to be done to truly make waves in the Progressive Metal scene.

Recommended tracks: all or none
Recommended for fans of: Between the Buried and Me, Dissona, chaotic ambient
Final verdict: 7/10

05-12 Dyed In Grey – Anguish and Ardor (US-NY)
Style: instrumental death metal
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | RYM page
Review by: Nostrebor68

I had no idea instrumental death metal was a thing before I listened to this album. I wish I still had no idea instrumental death metal was a thing. This album bored me to tears, and I really have nothing else to say about it. If you’re looking for metal that sounds like it would be much better with a vocalist, but doesn’t have one, then this is your cup of tea. It sure as hell wasn’t mine.

Recommended tracks: N/A
Recommended for fans of: N/A
Final verdict: 4/10

05-18 Panegyrist – Hierurgy (US-IL)
Style: black (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Quintessence*

Today, we jump into Hierurgy, the debut album from Panegyrist – a Progressive Black Metal band lacking in convention, but filled to the brim with a regal and triumphant; and, most importantly, a cohesive sound. “Kvlt” is often a term thrown around in black metal – but “kvlt” this is not. Hierurgy offers a spiritual focus on lyrics, prominent keyboard that seems influenced from Arcturus with regards to its execution, and heavy use of clean vocals that could be placed seamlessly onto a Blind Guardian track.

Hymn of Inversion – the intro song, very much sets the scene for what’s to come. It’s a powerful little showcase of harmonies by the band’s clean vocalist, Elijah Tamu, backed up with a repeated pattern on the keys. But this does not last long – kicking off with another strong vocal performance, Idylls of the Cave bursts into action, quickly introducing the typical tremolo riffing and blast-beats one might expect from black metal. The band’s two vocalists swap in and out as the track goes on, peaking with a powerful bridge followed by an excellent riff.

To Quicken Stone begins with an ominous clean guitar part that quickly goes in a totally different direction. Some excellent bass parts rumble beneath some of the riffing that lasts throughout the song. A layer of ominous keyboards really helps convey an atmosphere of doubt – almost – is this the same album that Idylls of the Cave was just on? The song takes many twists and turns in its near ten minute length, despite not diverging massively on the riffing. The highlight comes with some macabre sounding, effects laden guitar trickery played over a great bassline, with some whispered vocals eventually entering the mix. And then out of nowhere – more tremolo – a very abrupt change in tone indeed. One that took me out of the song a fair amount, if I’m entirely honest. A smoother transition would have worked wonders here, I feel.

The Void is the Heart of the Flame is the shortest track on the album, and one I feel doesn’t really achieve much for its length. I don’t really have a lot to say about it. It’s not bad by any means; it’s just sort of… there. Ophidian Crucifix, meanwhile, is my favorite song on the album – it brings some of the darkest clean vocals yet, some very tasteful bass playing and a couple of really well executed guitar solos. One of the highlights of the album, for me, it really showcases what the band’s all about.

The album’s climax – the title track, Hierurgy, is not without flaws. It feels a tad bloated in places and ends in a relatively abrupt fashion, but is potentially the most “epic” of the tracks – boasting some nifty time signature changes and some drum fills that certainly satiate any hunger for interesting black metal drumming. This track also contains some excellent harsh vocals – I should point out that this album is filled with some nice harsh vocal moments, but with the exception of this track they’re often overshadowed by the clean vocal performances. Much less emphasis is given to them throughout the record than on this particular song.

So, overall, there’s a lot to love about Hierurgy. Blistering tremolo meets a vocal performance that fans of prog power would utterly adore. Among all the praise for the music itself, the album also boasts clean and crisp production – absolutely no complaints about the mix. If you’re an audiophile looking for a black metal album to spin, this is probably a good shout. If you’re a fan of black metal and you’re looking for something different, this is absolutely worth a spin or two. If you’re an Arcturus fan, give this a spin or two hundred – this is definitely up your street. If you wake up every morning bathed in corpse paint, however, you may find this one harder to appreciate (also, make sure you’re taking care of your skin, skin care is important).

Recommended tracks: Idylls of the Cave, Ophidian Crucifix
Recommended for fans of: Arcturus, Blind Guardian
Final verdict: 7.5/10

06-01 The Konsortium – Rogaland (Norway)
Style: black (harsh vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Dylan

Right out of the gate I should say that this is not very proggy. Aside from like, a rain effect, and the album having an intro and outro, there’s no polyrhythms, weird interludes, extreme transitions, nothing. The Konsortium got their prog tag for mixing… quite a lot of stuff.

This is well produced, chaotic and frantic Black Metal, with Folk, Punk, and Melodeath influences. This means that while the general sound is definitely Black Metal, you’ll get moments of brilliance that incorporate these other genres. The punk is mostly present with the Hardcore-ish vocals, so that is always present throughout the album.

The music here is AWESOME. There are many black metal acts that just play one note + blast beat as fast as possible, but this is far from the case; the band has an exquisite sense of melody, and the drummer has good criteria on when to go bananas and when to go absolutely bananas. It’s hard to keep me entertained during a full black metal album, but this one has achieved it with ease.
I’ll say that at one point the songs get a bit formulaic though. All of the great elements are still present, but they’re nothing different from the rest of the songs. That is however the only flaw in a very solid album.

Recommended tracks: Storgen, Skogen, Hausten
Recommended for fans of: Sigh, ????
Final verdict: 9/10

09-12 Potmos Hetoimos – Vox Medusae (US-MD)
Style: post sludge (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Dylan

Potmos Hetoimos is a weird example when talking about underground. It seems everyone is at least aware he exists, but out of everyone, 30% have given him a chance. Then you realize ‘’everyone’’ is actually 200 progmetal discord members, so you reduce that percentage to 1%. I myself used to fit on the 70% that was aware of his existence, but never got around to giving him a shot, and oh boy, do I regret it. This may be one of the best experimental albums I’ve ever heard.
Vox Medusae is a concept album about a Man addicted to pornography, with various thoughts on his mind being represented as different voices, one being Medusa, the personification of lustful attraction and obsession, or something like that. Thanks to that, this album can be described as ‘’fucked up Ayreon’’. And the sound fits that description perfectly well.

Upon finishing this album, I knew writing this review was gonna be a challenge, because there is so much going on, that I could barely keep up giving the album 100% of my attention. Potmos Hetoimos is a one man project, which is already impressive on it’s own, but when you take into account that the playing is top notch on every instrument, it becomes astonishing. The sound he sets out to do is very dissonant, yet jazzy and funky. As he himself said it, he described the album as ‘’what if Prince played bass in Kayo Dot?’’, and this is pretty much what happens. The sound is fucked up, gritty and ugly, and then, a piano and bass interlude happens out of nowhere. Even on the uglier parts of the album, a sax can be driving the lead instead of a guitar. Depending on what character the music is representing, the intensity of the instrumentation and his voice varies on an unique scale. These curveballs are present throughout the whole album to make the story we’re listening ever weirder and harder to depict part by part, yet surprisingly it somehow all fits. All this dissonance, grittiness, ugliness, funkyness, jazziness, punkyness, rawness, all of it just works. It’s extremely challenging to sit through, but extremely rewarding when you do.

There’s not more I can tell you about this album, because if I had to go in depth for every track, this review would make the site collapse. Just stop whatever you’re doing and listen to this. It’s a modern masterpiece, that actually takes prog metal to new horizons.

PS: If you’re interested in how the scale works for each character, this piece is a great read: https://canthisevenbecalledmusic.com/not-music-sludge-titan-potmos-hetoimos-premieres-new-song-goes-in-depth-on-songwriting-process/.

Recommended tracks: ALL OF IT
Recommended for fans of: Good music (?????????????????)
Final verdict: 10/10

09-14 Holy Fawn – Death Spells (US-AZ)
Style: post metal (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | RYM page
Review by: Nostrebor68

Every once in a while I stumble upon something seriously beautiful when I’m reviewing albums. I wade through the mediocre and the repetitive albums that I’m bombarded with, and I find a real diamond amongst all the rubbish. This time, that diamond is Holy Fawn’s latest, and what a diamond it is.

I have absolutely never heard anything quite like Holy Fawn. They’ve taken Shoegaze, fused it with atmospheric post-metal, and made something just extraordinary. The fusion of aural textures that suddenly and dramatically shift from quiet to loud to lovely to discordant, it’s just mind-blowing. The vocals shift back and forth between a float-y, airy tenor to some of the harshest high-shrieks I’ve heard in quite a while, and it’s beautiful. Everything about this album is beautiful, I cannot stress that enough.

I’m not always the biggest Post fan, often because I find that the songs take a tad too long to really get anywhere. Holy Fawn never has that problem. Every single moment of every song is enormously engaging, whether due to the gorgeous atmosphere or the absolute sonic assault. I struggle to even applaud any particular part of this album’s composition or performance because it all just feels so divine and perfectly put together. If I had any complaint, it’s that maybe, just maybe the album is a tad too long, but that’s trivial when the music is this gorgeous.

I cannot recommend Death Spells enough, regardless of whether you’re a fan of Post-Metal, or anything really, please listen to this album. It’s innovative, it’s beautiful, and I absolutely cannot wait to see what else Holy Fawn has in store for us.

Recommended tracks: Dark Stone, Drag Me into the Woods, Take Me With You
Recommended for fans of: Good music (????????)
Final verdict: 9/10

09-26 Sky Empire – The Dark Tower (United Kingdom)
Style: traditional (clean vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Sam

I was really sad I missed this album for September. There was just so much good stuff I had to shove it to missed albums. 5 songs, 2 of which are over 20 minutes and strong Dream Theater influences are what got me on board with this. The skeptic in me told me there’s no way this was gonna end well, but I always cherish this small spark of hope in me that I found the next great thing. And thus, I listened to it.

Holy fuck, really holy fuck. These dudes can play, seriously. Be it the riffage, drum grooves or the solos there’s something to enjoy for you in every category. In terms of musical peaks, this album easily rivals the likes of Dream Theater and Symphony X at their best. The solos these guys put out are insane. The instrumental wankery is at a near unprecedented level here. And I’m not even joking. It also sounds phenomenal too. It’s basically Scenes from a Memory production-wise, but then with even louder drums.

However, not all is roses and sunshine with Sky Empire, as there’s one major, major flaw with this band. He can play for sure, but his compositional ability is lacking, a lot. You know how Dream Theater always get the criticism for mindless soloing? Well, this band makes Dream Theater seem like Bach in comparison in terms of compositional ability. All problems of this album can be viewed through the lens of the song Sorcerer’s Apprentice, the first of the two grand epics. It starts with an gut-wrenching intro, and for a good while it seems like you’re in for an absolutely amazing song. After about 3 minutes the vocals come in. They are a bit bland as he sounds like basically every singer ever, but that can be forgiven in this genre. LaBrie isn’t a miracle either. It moves along nicely, and halfway the 7th minute he stops singing and it turns instrumental. So far all is good, absolutely amazing solos and buildups at every corner.

But around the 10th minute you start wondering when the vocals will come back as all the soloing starts to become a bit tiring. Then three minutes later it’s still going, and it. just. doesn’t. stop. It’s just wank after wank after wank. A constant climax if you will. Then finally, after 10 minutes of relentless, and I have to stress this again and again, mindboggling soloing, the singer comes back to wrap up the song, but it just doesn’t work as the climax has long passed already. Then after his small cameo the guitars come back in for a finale solo a la Octavarium, but it just keeps on going and going and going. I could easily show at least three points where it could have stopped without losing any power or memorability, but didn’t.

And there you have it. This is truly the epitome of musical masturbation. If you like cool technical playing, this will blow your socks off. But if you value good composition, stay far, far away from this. Even I, as a major Dream Theater fan (heck I even moderate r/Dreamtheater), turned numb to all the soloing after a while. Proceed at your own risk.

Recommended tracks: Sorcerer’s Apprentice will tell you everything
Recommended for fans of: wank, Dream Theater, Symphony X
Final verdict: WANK/10

09-28 The Arusha Accord – Juracan (United Kingdom)
Style: mathcore (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Nostrebor68

Mathcore has always been a weird beast for me. On one hand, there’s some incredibly cool instrumental work that can be found throughout the genre, and often the songs have this wonderful energy to them that I rarely find anywhere else. Unfortunately, they also tend to be pretty grating, and I’m just not always in the mood for the intrinsic abrasiveness that seems to be part and parcel to the genre. The Arusha Accord, however, have sold me on this style in a way that I haven’t felt since my first Dillinger listen back in the day.

This album starts off by punching you in the fucking face and just doesn’t let up. The guitars explode from the first track onwards with aggressive off-kilter riffs, the drums keep a steady assault, and the vocals range from aggressive to surprisingly atmospheric and pretty. All of this packaged together makes for an absolutely wonderful sound, and I would’ve been completely content for this 23-minute EP to just be that for the whole duration.

However, after the first 2 tracks, the sound undergoes something of a metamorphosis. The band shifts from classic Mathcore to something that I can only describe as a fusion of Tool and The Dillinger Escape Plan. Does this work? Yes, yes it absolutely does. The bass suddenly becomes a driving force, the riff structure shifts from mathy and bizarre to pulsing and rhythmic on a whim, and the entire sound becomes something I’m just entirely enraptured by. The addition of float-y, atmospheric synths scattered around the album just fleshes out the sound even better.

This is, I believe, a Mathcore album that even people who aren’t fans of the genre might be able to enjoy. The performances are all stellar, and the band has created a very distinct sound that I can’t wait to see more of. I heartily recommend anyone give this one a spin, even if you don’t like it it’s only 23 minutes long, so no harm done. But if you’re willing to really embrace the sound, those 23 minutes won’t be nearly enough, and I’m sure you’ll join me in hoping that these guys release a proper full-length soon.

Recommended tracks: Vultures, The Road (Amor Vincit Omnia – Part 1), Beneath the Dule Tree
Recommended for fans of: The Dillinger Escape Plan, Converge
Final verdict: 8/10

10-19 Voragine of Autumn – A P H E L I O N (Chile)
Style: black (harsh/mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Review by: Sam

It took me a long time to come up with something to write about this album, even though I knew about (and listened to) this album for more than a month already. As promised after the October edition, this one would be featured in missed albums. Ever have it that you listen to an album a zillion times, but every time afterwards you feel like you missed something? Like there had to be more to it? Or maybe you just expected to hear something that wasn’t there? This is one of those albums, but I finally know what to say about it.

Voragine of Autumn is a really peculiar band. They’re basically like a Black Metal version of Opeth, or a blacker Enslaved, but then without the clean vocals and way more drawn out. You have long, meandering melodic passages that sweep you in a trance. There’s riffs and Black Metal sure, but everything they do is full of melody and even during the intense parts it feels like you’re drifting on the waves. One moment they can be in full tremolo assault, but before you know it you’re back to acoustics or there’s a beautifully drawn out guitar solo over hypnotic Black Metal chords (idk what they’re called).

And so the songs go on and on, drifting through different sounds while keeping their black metal core. Various post-rock influences in the writing can be heard as well in how they structure their music, though I’m missing the big crescendos.

And maybe that’s what’s bothering me so much about this record: it’s missing payoff. The music feels often aimless. All the songs are long, approaching the 10 minute mark, and it doesn’t really feel like they fully justify that length. It’s not like I’d really cut much of it, but it’s rather that I’m missing some meat, something that’ll grab your attention and make you go “wow”. The lack of clean vocals also doesn’t help here. The acoustic sections especially just scream for some soothing clean vocal lines to give it some structure. It seems like they just don’t really know where they’re going. And while that’s not necessarily a bad thing for atmospherically tinged music, it does hack into its memorability. It makes listening to this album feel like a fleeting dream: as soon as you wake up you forget most of what happened. All that’s left is the vague sensation that it was a good dream.
So on the whole this is a very fine release. This band is everything I wanted Æthĕrĭa Conscĭentĭa to be. Though by no means flawless, this is atmospheric Prog Black done right. If you just want to lay down and drift off to some faraway place, but still have some sort of intensity, this album is where you should go. I imagine this’d be excellent trance music as well. Don’t go in expecting epic riffs though.

Recommended tracks: Frozen Lakes, Aphelion
Recommended for fans of: Enslaved, Agalloch, Opeth, relaxing music
Final verdict: 7.5/10

12-07 Left as Rain – Trailing Off (US-CA)
Style: rock (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | RYM page
Review by: Nostrebor68

I should preface this by saying that this album is composed and nearly fully performed by a friend of mine [r/progmetal moderator /u/Bujjick FYI]. I don’t believe I’ve let that impact the impartiality of my review in any way, but I wanted it clarified all the same. Now, Left as Rain is a solo project that was a long-time coming, and I’m incredibly happy I get to review this wonderful little album.

Torpedo Tuxedo starts off the album with a pop as it gets the album’s upbeat energy flowing with a chipper melody that never fails to leave me feeling good. That’s a theme throughout the album, as there is a prominent use of rhythms and melodies that feel almost poppy in how upbeat and pleasant they are. However, they shift into the heavier stuff just enough to really form into a wonderful combination of pretty atmospheric guitar noodling and chunky riffs to round it all out. There are only vocals on 2 tracks, and they are solid enough for what they’re needed to do. The vocal tone and timbre are incredibly nice, something akin to a sludgey style in my opinion, but it’s obvious a tad more confidence and time would go a long way. Nevertheless, I would absolutely love to see way, way more vocals on the next Left as Rain release, as I think would many others.

The songwriting itself is something erratic. Many passages feel wonderfully inspired and composed, and flow into a river of leads and riffs that just take me on an aural adventure. However, occasionally there’s a bit, sometimes just a brief moment, in these songs that takes me out of them. Often it’s a guitar passage that’s just a tad too erratic, or a style shift that feels a bit too abrupt. This is really a minor quibble, and is again something I fully expect to see smoothed out in following releases.
I can’t finish this review without making a note of the fact that this album features one of my favorite song titles I’ve ever seen. Freebird (With Purchase of a Bird of Equal or Greater Value) never fails to make me chuckle when I see it, and that alone makes it marvelous (the song is also real good, but that name is just masterful).

Trailing Off is a wonderful debut album that contains a bunch of lovely ideas and some that are just okay. I think anyone who is a fan of mostly instrumental metal with an emphasis on pretty melody and up-tempo composition will find something to like here, and I absolutely cannot wait to see what else Left as Rain has in store for us.

Recommended tracks: Torpedo Tuxedo, Trailing Off, Curse These Metal Hands
Recommended for fans of: Exivious, Scale the Summit, Cloudkicker
Final verdict: 7/10