Review: Joviac – Autofiction, Pt. 1 – Shards

Style: Progressive metal (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Dream Theater, Haken, Circus Maximus, Threshold, Voyager
Country: Finland
Release date: 16 May 2025

I know this will come as a shock to readers of a website dedicated to the progressive music underground, but I hate modern mainstream pop. Pick a facet of a song in the genre—melody, rhythm, tempo, etcetera—and it has all largely homogenized into a single mold flattened to a I-V-vi-IV chord progression¹ at 100 BPM with a bass drop targeting TikTok virality. I’m not so elitist as to call all pop music shallow or worthless, but when accessibility comes first, anything musically interesting to me usually comes last. With that in mind, I’m often at a loss for words to explain why I love progressive metal that has a semblance of pop sensibility. Some of my favorite modern artists—like Protest the Hero or Periphery—have a knack for throwing in a poppy hook at just the right moment to recontextualize a phrase or an entire song.

On that note, Joviac’s Autofiction, Pt. 1 – Shards appears to have tossed its hat into the ring. Taking plenty of influence from progressive powerhouses like Dream Theater and Haken, these Finns blend those inspirations with a flair for prog popification that’s undeniably catchy. So catchy, in fact, that I thought I might end up writing them off as cliché…until I saw their Bandcamp page include “addictive hooks and even clichés” in their mission statement. Turns out they got there first—and honestly, I can’t hate on the sincerity. Shards’ third track “B.O.M.B.” perfectly illustrates this embrace of hooks and tropes. In one of the transitional sections of the song, the lyrics deliver repeated, stacked rhymes that feel like they have no meaning: “Containing it, maintaining it, restraining it. I’m torn apart by gravity, calamity, depravity. It’s off the chart, and I can’t explain or give a name for this pain. I’m losing my aim. So I have to keep—” repeating the phrase. It’s corny and cringey, but ear-wormy as hell nonetheless.

Such moments don’t mean that the progressive metal that makes up the core of Shards is taking a backseat, though. The album opens with two instrumental tracks. The first, “Level 1,” wouldn’t sound out of place on Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, with its flowing yet staccato rhythm, power chord groove, and organ-like keyboard accompaniment. Comparatively, the soft and airy textures of “Haven” stand starkly against the preceding song, but the piece serves as more of an extended intro to the aforementioned “B.O.M.B.” Later in the album, another instrumental track (“Level 7”) provides a delightfully heavy start, transitioning into an infectious guitar riff while a punctuated synth tip-toes over the top that will have you rewinding the track before it even has a chance to finish.

By contrast, what follows “Level 7” is a purely vocal track which all the choir kids should love. “Open Eyes and Mind” beautifully adds an additional voice and builds more accord each time the song’s singular phrase repeats. Which leads me to vocalist/guitarist Viljami Jupiter Wenttola: I can’t say that his voice has the most striking or distinct timbre, and on the lower end he struggles to get into the baritone range that some moments of songs demand. But, as “Open Eyes and Mind” and tracks like “Canvas” illustrate, his sense of melody and harmony is so spot-on that those aforementioned foibles hardly merit a mention. Wenttola’s vocal lines are the primary bait on Joviac’s hook, and I’m biting every time.

If you only listen to one song off of Shards to see if it’s for you, I’d consider “Shine” the album’s exemplar. The snappy riffs, sing-along vocals, and addictive keyboard motifs all take turns calling for your attention, and while the song is relatively straightforward in terms of structure, the off-beat main melody and tastefully shredding guitar solos carry the progressive credentials into this pop concoction. “Canvas,” on the other hand, eschews pretty much all prog sensibilities to create a radio-rock, quasi-ballad single straight out of the ‘80s—and I’m a total sucker for it. Elsewhere, Joviac don’t shy away from the more progressive elements of their sound and songwriting, and songs like “Burn” and “Once” illustrate all of it—longer compositions, unconventional structures, and even a tasteful amount of djenty downtuned rhythm to give the songs a distinctly modern flair.

The Dream Theater worship that Shards puts on display should reel in any fans of the prog metal standard-bearers (you can’t see it but I’m raising my hand right now). Many clean tones mirror the glassy sound of Images and Words, while several of the the low-tuned, overdriven guitars have a distinctly Train of Thought liquid smoothness to them. Varied and distinct keyboard sounds, and a bass that does more than just provide the bottom end also contribute to this vibe. And—not to put too fine a point on the comparison—the closing notes that ring out in “Burn” are a descending melody that will sound familiar to anybody who put “Metropolis” (the song or album) in heavy rotation at some point in their life. About the only thing that The Pull Me Understudies don’t infuse from the masters at any point is the percussion. By and large, the drumming is quite reserved on Shards compared to most progressive metal, making sparing use of flashy fills or heavy double bass precision. The drums are mostly content to maintain the tempo, keep things moving, and let the other instruments do the showing off.

Make no mistake, though, the influence from The Progfessors doesn’t define Joviac’s sound on Shards. Their blend of progressive metal and catchy refrains grows on me with every spin, and that medley becomes more its own thing with each and every listen. Autofiction, Pt. 1 – Shards doesn’t just flirt with accessibility—it weaponizes it. While I still have a distaste for modern pop, Joviac might make me stop saying that out loud if they keep twisting it into something this dense and nerdy. I’m already eagerly awaiting Autofiction, Pt. 2.

Recommended tracks: Shine, Level 7, Once, B.O.M.B.
You may also like: Moron Police, Maraton, Lost in Thought, Virtual Symmetry
Final verdict: 8/10

Related Links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | Website | Metal-Archives

Label: Independent

Joviac is:
Viljami Jupiter Wenttola – Vocals, Guitar
Antti Varjanne – Bass
Johannes Leipälä – Guitar

1. This video is still as relevant as ever. Things have only homogenized further since. ↩︎