Navigating You Through the Progressive Underground

Style: djent/core (instrumental)
Review by: Dylan
Country: US-TN
Release date: 27 August, 2021

Woah, it’s been a while readers! It seems that my engines are running a bit more motivated to find music thanks to my WIP “The Story of Argentinian Prog” post, so I thought I’d hit up our album catalogue and see if I could find myself something neat to tidy over my writing moments on said post. What I got was this fusion of djent, space-y vibes and atmosphere that Sham Shaman offered.

And it sure as hell makes up for an interesting listen, though perhaps not the most polished one. Anagnorisis (I seriously have to look up the title every time I try to spell it) embraces complexity in its instrumentation, usually with guitar driven hooks/riffs where the rest of your usual instruments take a back seat to let you digest the main course with no distractions. This means two things; that the guitars have been given extra love and care, but because of it, the rhythm section is almost non-existent in its qualities. Thanks to that, and it being a really djenty album with an abundance of downtuned riffage, makes it clear to me that the target audience is rather niche. Particularly a type of guy you probably know, who listens to hundreds of bands like these and is in one himself, the shy prog guitarist who owns a 7-string and writes music in his bedroom, aspiring to become the next Plini. Thankfully, it finds success in its guitar work being so well constructed that it manages to be enjoyable even to those not into this very particular type of scene. I myself can’t play a power chord to save my life but found myself easily engaged in the melodies presented by this abrasive wall of sound with just a touch of atmosphere.

It also justifies its abrasiveness in the intense moments with (mostly) well paced interludes that function not only as a proper rest to your ears but a Segway into whatever the song is going towards. A variety of soundscapes, synths, acoustic guitars and more allow for a variety in the execution of said interludes that make them not feel repetitive and at times the highlight of the track. Now, I say it mostly works because the one time that it didn’t, it nearly ruined a track. I’m talking about “Shadows Cast”, ironically the longest track in this short affair, where there is an usage of glitch-out/crashing-down effect to transition us from main-verse to interlude and backwards… not a bad idea per-se, but the effects are so abrasive that you genuinely believe something is up with your device and also, makes you instinctively cover your ears. While I’m all in for utilizing music for more things than pure melody, this is a case of taking it too far.

All in all, Sham Shaman manages to achieve a successful attempt into a genre that is currently way overblown with releases, making solid footing with great knowledge of guitar-oriented songwriting. It’s only big flaw can nearly ruin its longest track, but I’m willing to look past that thanks to the other 35 or so minutes of satisfying music.


Recommended tracks: Image of Swarms, For the Fleeting Dove
Recommended for fans of: dj0nt
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram

Label: Independent

Sham Shaman is:
– Evan Kubick (all instruments)


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