Reports from the (progressive metal) underground: August 2019

Good day readers! I bring big news! Notice anything? That’s right, we have a logo now! Stephen (also known as BaylorYou) and I were browsing /r/HungryArtists for possible candidates to design our logo, and our eyes quickly fell on this post. The cartoon-y style and bright colors really fit both our visions of what style our blog’s logo should have. We then brainstormed a bit what our logo should look like, and after coming to a consensus Stephen sent a message to the artist. We were all really happy with how it turned out. Huge credits to the artist. You can find more about him here on Reddit: /u/MoshiDokyo, and here on Instagram: @moshi.dokyo.

And that’s not all! This blog has finally gone on social media. We are now on Facebook @theprogressivesubway and Instagram @progsubway. Like/Follow us if you want to be updated about future posts and installments. Also please Share with all your (prog) metal friends, that’d be of great help to us. You can also request album reviews through Facebook now, though emailing us is still preferred.

Finally, I’d also like to notify that we have this site’s first interview out with Dimhav, a Progressive Power Metal band we’ll be reviewing for November which features Daniel Heiman (Harmony, ex-Destiny) on vocals. You can read it here.

So now time to talk about August. This month was a mixed bag. There are a lot of albums that just miss out on true greatness, a couple that are really freaking bad, but then also we have our third 10/10 of the year. However I do believe this month really has something for any prog fan. It’s a very diverse Offering this time. And lastly here’s the Spotify playlist with all recommended tracks.

And then again, time for practical information:

What is this place? We use Metal-Archives’ advanced search engine to find all progressive/post/avantgarde metal (and some weird stoner as well if there’s any) releases in a month, then we select the best/most grabbing ones and write a (small) review on them. We go chronological through the months. We take releases from outside of metal-archives too, but that is generally limited to requests and recommendations from other prog fans as the other sites’ search engines aren’t as precise nor is their database as thorough as Metal-Archives. You can read more about us on our About page, which also includes some history. Do you want your band reviewed? Or do you want to send us a recommendation? Send an email to theprogressivesubway@gmail.com, send a PM to me (/u/genderlessperson) on Reddit or hit me up on Discord (sam1oq/genderlessperson). Just make sure it’s from this year for a month we haven’t covered yet.

Now let’s get this ball rolling!

---

Tool – Fear Inoculum (US-CA)
Style: Alternative (mixed vocals)
Related links: Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | RYM page
Review by: Sam

A few months ago I found a song called “Fear Inoculum” by some band named “Tool” buried in r/progmetal/new. It barely had any upvotes (didn’t even surpass my shitty prog metal guide no one liked), but it seemed decent enough to bookmark. I’ve found some real gems in that abyss (Daydream XI for example turned out to be my AotY 2017). It turned out this was a band that has been going on for quite a while (debut was in 1993), and that this was a single of their first new album in 13 years. This made me slightly concerned. A band that has stayed so far underground for so long has probably not made any commercial headway for a reason, right? 

Well, I was right. This record is completely, utterly awful. Like, would you take a look at those song lengths? Yeah sure it screams “prog”, but it also screams of a band that tries really hard to convince the public of how intelligent they are to hide a lack of actually interesting ideas and self-editing. Six songs over 10 minutes just screams pretentiousness. Not every band can be Ne Obliviscaris, and even then Portal of I feels bloated at times. But wait, aren’t there 10 songs? Yeah that’s right 4 of those are interludes. Luckily, Tool at least had some wisdom not to include 3 of them on the actual CD as they were simply too freaking boring. Unfortunately, us Spotify listeners have to sit through the drag. Terrible marketing if you ask me. They’re making it even less likely for someone to buy the CD.

But bloated songwriting wouldn’t even be the biggest crime in the world if they actually had some interesting ideas. Sadly they have none. They try to be atmospheric and “groovy”, but fail miserably at both. Take their guitarist: all he does is weird guitar effects over mindless chugging for 86 minutes. They’re not tasteful, they just come off as a boomer trying to relive the djent movement 10 years after the fact. Everyone has long since moved on from that. Speaking of boomers: that singer, Oh. My. God. Maynard is his name apparently. He sounds like someone made a fusion of Ian Kelly from Karnivool and Serj Tankian from System of a Down, but sacrificed most of their singing abilities for a huge load of angry boomer energy. He’s that grandpa who sends you memes stolen from r/FellowKids in an attempt to be cool, and then gets angry when you tell him how bad his meme game is. And did you look at those lyrics? Putting in some spirituality and psychedelics isn’t gonna make a difference to the music you know. At most you’ll attract some angsty teenagers that are too insecure about their own intellect, so they think citing pseudo-intellectual nonsense will make them look smart.

The only thing slightly redeemable about this record is that their drummer is not a total Tool (pun intended). He sometimes comes up with some semi-interesting fills and grooves. However, if you look closer, you’ll see that behind this veil of fake competence he’s actually just a (relative) Lars Ulrich discount version of Baardt Kolstad (Leprous, Rendezvous Point). Again, just another angry boomer trying to replicate what’s cool and failing miserably. 

So then we reach the conclusion. I think it’s safe to say that Tool has stayed underground for a reason all those years. This album is the epitome of r/FellowKids, except that no one there has heard about them. I don’t recommend this to anyone unless you think that an angry boomer version of Karnivool with extra pseudo-intellectual nonsense is something that’ll make you happy. 

Recommended tracks: did you read the review???
Recommended for fans of: angry boomer Karnivool, r/iamverysmart
Final verdict: 1/10


(NB: this review was a joke. Tool is the most commercially successful prog metal (related) band ever so I thought including their first album in 13 years on a blog about the most obscure stuff out there was a fun idea. If you wanna read my actual thoughts on the album, read this review on sputnik.)

The Offering – Home (US-MA)
Style: EVERYTHING (mixed vocals)
Related links: Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Metal-Archive page
Review by: Jonah

As I sit here and try to write this review I’m reminded of something a wise man once told me: “There’s no way to describe The Offering without it sounding absolutely terrible.”

The wise man was me, and I’m going to spurn my own advice and try to describe this masterpiece anyway. The Offering hail from Boston, feature multiple graduates of Berklee School of Music, and play something that I can best describe as a fusion of Power Metal, Nu-Metal, Deathcore, Metalcore, Death Metal, Thrash and Progressive Metal. If that sounds like an absolute garbage fire to you right now that’s fine, it did to me too. But then I turned on the album. 

I don’t know what kind of witchcraft this band cast before writing this, but it worked. This madcap assortment of styles and genres has lead to one of the first albums I’ve heard in a damn long while that I can truly consider genre-transcending in the best possible way. The vocals swap between Deathcore gutturals, Death screams, Thrashy shouts, Metalcore cleans and sweeping Power Metal operatics at the drop of a hat and every, single, line is perfection. The guitar is equally varied as it flies between Slipknot chugs, the occasional tremolo, and some of the most tasteful solos I’ve heard in a metal record in quite some time. Then once it’s done all that it’ll switch to Power Metal galloping for a bit before a gnarly Core breakdown. The drumming is technical as all hell and fits every section perfectly. The only real complaint I have is that the bass is so far back in the mix it’s functionally inaudible, but for once I don’t really find that impacting my enjoyment of the album one bit.

From a production standpoint things are a tad loud, and as I said the bass is missing, but otherwise the sound is crisp and lovely. I really can’t pick out a single weak song on the album, and I even would argue that the bonus track is essential, as it honestly contains some of the best clean vocals on the entire album. There are tiny things I can nitpick about Home, but in all honesty it’s one of my favorite albums I’ve ever heard, and I fully suggest anyone who enjoys anything metal, even if it’s absolutely 0 of the genres I listed above, give this at least one spin. It’ll surprise and amaze.

Recommended tracks: Ultraviolence, Failure, Home
Recommended for fans of: Slipknot, King Diamond, Whitechapel
Final verdict: 10/10

Horseburner – The Thief (US-WV)
Style: Stoner/Doom/Psychedelic (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archive page
Review by: Tyler

I don’t like to compare bands I write about more popular, well known bands. I like to give the little guy the spotlight and let their art stand on its own, but there are some comparisons that sort of need to be made when you come across an album like The Thief. As soon as the album starts, it’s pretty apparent where the influence comes from. I won’t name any bands I’m referencing because it should be pretty obvious, and this review is about someone who likes his horses extra crispy. What is really important when you get a band like this, is to look past what other artists they sound like, and find what makes them unique. With that in mind, as I listened I found that Horseburner is doing a lot here that might go overlooked.

Horseburner blends a lot of really great elements from all over heavy spectrum. There are elements of Sludge, Doom, Thrash Metal, and Hard Rock that all blend together pretty cohesively and help the band find their place in the metal landscape. The big stand out performance-wise is the vocals. They are gnarly, gritty, and sit at the forefront of the mix in that soar above the rest of the music. The layering effect on them helps add a sense of complexity and also makes the vocals seem like they are coming from an all knowing shaman type figure, screaming about the end of the world…or something. The rest of the band does a phenomenal job with interesting melodies and crushing riffs. Whether it is bounciness of The Fisherman’s Vow or surprise blast beats at the beginning of Drowning Bird, all aspects of the songwriting and performance are top notch.

The songwriting is something I wanted to take a special dive into, because there are definitely things Horseburner are doing that are different than their contemporaries. There are a few moments where there are breaks for some very riffy clean guitars in odd time signatures and then they build on those things and chords that they set for themselves. Listen to the end of The Oak for a great example of what I am talking about. Fathoms is also a stand out favorite, where there are a few of these breaks that culminate into a crushingly somber riff that give a pretty intense sense of hopelessness that I was not expecting. And this moment goes on to play with some different motifs that kept me engaged to find out what would happen next.

Everywhere I’ve looked for discussion on this band, I was constantly met with the comparisons to other bands like I had mentioned before. Everything was 100 percent positive, but it is sort of a shame when you find a band that is obviously trying to do something that breaks the mold that the world is putting them in. It’s why I made it a point to look for the differences rather than the similarities, and Horseburner really has a sound that’s there’s. It’s not often I get to say ‘be like a Horseburner’ but in this case, burn a horse, people.

Recommended tracks: The Oak, Fathoms, Drowning Bird
Recommended for fans of: Baroness, Torche
Final verdict: 7.5/10

Dead for Ages – In Defence of an Ordinary Life (Australia)
Style: 80s Metal/90s Punk (clean vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Metal-Archive page
Review by: BaylorYou

In Defence of an Ordinary Life by Dead for Ages is definitely a Prog release, but it at its heart it feels more like a Punk/80s Metal release. There were a lot of moments on this album where this album felt very punk rock, not in a Green Day or Blink 182 sense, but more of a proggy version of No Use for a Name and NOFX. It terms of modern prog bands to compare to, I think Moron Police is the closest comparison I can make. It’s definitely a different sound from a Progressive Metal band I’ve heard this year.

The biggest positive from In Defence of an Ordinary Life has to be the guitarist. This guy can shred quite a bit, and I think is the biggest strength of Dead for Ages. The biggest problems I have with the album is that it’s not really my taste and the songs feel pretty same-y. I have given the album a few listens and there isn’t a track that stands apart from the others to me. I think that is the biggest downfall to the album, is that the songs sound very similar to one another. The vocals on the album aren’t bad by any stretch, but they definitely have that sing-song punk style of the bands previously mentioned at times. That isn’t necessarily a knock against the band, it’s just not my cup of tea.

Overall, if you like both prog-metal and 90s punk with a splash of 80s metal, they’re worth checking out. They’re a talented bunch, but I think this album missed the mark a bit because all of the tracks felt very similar to one another.

Recommended tracks: none
Recommended for fans of: ??
Final verdict: 5/10

Pijn & Conjurer – Curse These Metal Hands (UK)
Style: Post/Sludge (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook Pijn | Facebook Conjurer | Metal-Archive page
Review by: Jonah

I’m sure many of you, like myself, have spent some time this year wondering what it would be like to listen to a Baroness album in 2019 that wasn’t just an hour of static with the occasional clear vocal or instrumental line. While I obviously am hyperbolizing here, the production on Gold & Grey made it entirely unlistenable for me, and so I was really damn excited when I heard Curse These Metal Hands presented as a slightly Posty Baroness with actual audible music included.

I’m usually a little iffy on collaborations between bands like this, as often it tends to just sound like each band trading off their sound midway through a song instead of one cohesive package. This is not the case here. Pijn and Conjurer are both incredible bands, and I highly recommend both to anyone reading this, but this album doesn’t really sound like either of them. We don’t have the full Post atmosphere of Pijn, nor do we have the brutal assault of heaviness that is Conjurer. Instead both bands have made something new, fun and really damn pretty. Metalheads don’t be discouraged, there are definitely riffs to be found here, and some of Conjurer’s beastly roars are included as well, but the feel of the whole package is more in line with the Post-Rock/Sludge but soft feel that Yellow & Green era Baroness had. 

I can’t really pinpoint an instrumental performance that really stood out to me here because they’re all so damn cohesive and restrained. There’s no noodling to be found, no excessive atmosphere, it’s all really damn lovely. My only complaint about this is that it’s too damn short. I know it’s just an EP, but I could have easily listened to an hour of this. I really, truly hope these two bands collaborate again in the future, as they’ve made something really badass.

Recommended tracks: All of them
Recommended for fans of: Baroness, Conjurer, Pijn
Final verdict: 9/10

The Illusion – Falling to Consciousness (Ukraine)
Style: Djent (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | VKkontakte
Review by: BaylorYou

I was excited to get to Falling to Consciousness because it was going to be the first Ukraine band/artist I was going to review for 2019. Djent has turned into more of a genre rather than a subgenre in recent years, and Falling to Consciousness falls on the Textures, Architects, and Veil of Maya side of the genre. I feel like Djent in particular is a genre that suffers from retreads, more so than any other genre in prog-metal. So when I’m listening to a new Djent release, that is the first criteria I grade on. So, does Falling to Consciousness pass? Well, it’s borderline.

One thing I liked about the album is that there were moments that I can best describe as creepy moments. For example, there is an interlude in Reflection where the vocalist sang a nursery rhyme (or vocals with the cadence of a nursery rhyme) over the top of some heavy djenting. For me personally, that was the biggest strength of the album.

My biggest issue with the album overall is, outside of the previously mentioned “creepy moments,” it is a little lackluster for me. The album is produced pretty well, but it’s filled with djent that has been done before by previously mentioned bands.

Overall, I think there are some aspects and songs that will appeal to some Djent fans, but after multiple listens the album as a whole just didn’t keep my attention.

Recommended tracks: Reflection
Recommended for fans of: Textures, Architects, Veil of Maya
Final verdict: 5.7/10

Halcyon Reign – The Voyage (Australia)
Style: Traditional (Hetfield vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archive page
Review by: BaylorYou

The Voyage is an album inspired by Moby Dick and sea life by the Australian prog-metal band, Halcyon Reign. Right off the bat I got major Metallica and Mastodon vibes, and I’d be shocked if these two bands weren’t major influences on this Australian trio. The Metallica influence is more present on the Hetfield-esque vocal inflections, and the Mastodon influence is more present on the overall tone of the album. There were definitely things to like about this album; one thing being the riffs. There were definitely some tasty riffs that were gluing the tracks together. My favorite being the riff that kicks in around the 2:25 mark of Peleliu. As all of you know, sometimes prog bands can have some aimless-noodling that makes songs drag, that isn’t the case here. The other strength of the album is that it never loses the seafaring-vibe. The Kraken even features the sounds of waves and seagulls, just in case the listener was missing the theme of the album.

So, were there any issues I had with the album? Yes. The main issue that I had with this album was on the mastering and production side. Every song was too heavy on the low-mids, and had a slight muddiness that took a little bit away from the enjoyment. Also, some of the cymbals were really tinny at times. I’m sure this won’t bother everyone that checks The Voyage out, but it was definitely something I noticed.

So where do I stand overall with The Voyage? I enjoyed it, and I think it was probably my favorite album of the three I reviewed for this edition. I think The Voyage shows that Halcyon Reign is a band to keep an eye on. If you like Mastodon and Metallica, this album is worth checking out.

Recommended tracks: The Kraken, Peleiu, Beyond the Cape
Recommended for fans of: Metallica, Mastodon
Final verdict: 6.8/10

Eternal Storm – Come the Tide (Spain)
Style: Melodic Death (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archive page
Review by: Jonah

As a lover of all things drab and morose, although I always lean towards Doom for my depressive fix I occasionally also find my way towards Melodic Death Metal. Although not all bands in the genre fit that emotional bill, ever since Insomnium and Omnium Gatherum gained popularity there has been an upsurge of Melodeath bands that bring in that good good emotional devastation I crave. Although Be’Lakor is undoubtedly the best of them in recent times, Eternal Storm have popped in to give it a try, and a damn good try they have given.

This album sounds like the absolute best chunks of the Insomnium Gatherum sound mixed with a healthy dose of old school Opeth death-prog. The riffs are crushing when needed and soft when not, and the leads are as melodic and emotional as can be. The drumming is fast and aggressive quite often, but honestly the fills during the softer sections are what I really loved here. They’re technical and tight, without reducing the emotional punch of the guitarwork. The vocals aren’t necessarily mindblowing, but the harshes vary between snarls and roars and both are very well executed, as are the occasional clean vocals. The bass is a bit hard to pick out for most of the album, and didn’t really blow me away when I could hear it, but the sound as a whole is incredibly effective. 

In an era with, honestly, not nearly enough good melodeath, this album has really done a lot to remind me that there are some damn gems in the genre. Unfortunately I seem to find myself going and listening to other bands of this style more than this one now that I’ve been reminded of this, but by no means does that make this a bad album. I heartily recommend it to any fans of more somber Melodeath, or anyone looking for a slightly Opeth-y fix.

Recommended tracks: Through The Wall of Light Parts 1 and 2, Detachment
Recommended for fans of: Be’Lakor, Insomnium, Opeth
Final verdict: 7/10

The Fifth Alliance – The Depth of the Darkness (The Netherlands)
Style: Post/Black metal (harsh vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archive page
Review by: Tyler

There is a style of tattooing called Brutal Black, where the tattoo artists cover the client with black, scratchy lines that look like scribbles that have no rhyme or reason to what they are doing. The point is to show tattoo art in its most primal and visceral form. The videos you can find online show artists angrily dragging their tattoo machines into the canvas, and the canvas’ are begging for them to stop. It’s a terrifying thing to watch. But at the end, everyone comes out having regret nothing, saying that as horrible and painful as it was, the experience was something they’d never forget. I bring this up because the sound that The Fifth Alliance manages here can’t help but remind me of watching the Brutal Black process. Raw, emotive, and cathartic.

The album starts with Black, a slow and brooding building track that is reminiscent of other Post Metal bands. Slow guitars, big beefy drums, reverb soaked vocals, overall an incredibly bleak mood. And then around three minutes in, just after an unassuming drum fill that explodes into a massive wall of sound with blast beats and tremolo guitars that feels like the album is punishing you for thinking it was going to be something that it isn’t. And the album as a whole has that same ebb and flow, where these massive sounds come out of otherwise beautiful slow passages. Not saying that the heavy parts aren’t great, but comparatively, they are anything but pretty. The guitar tones are stellar, vocal performance is big and honest, the drums fall into place very will in the realm of everything else and never distract from the greater good. The songwriting itself is wonderful, the ebb and flow the album has overall reflects in the songs as well, going from pretty light and delicate highs to the absolute lowest you can go.

That isn’t to say that this album doesn’t have its flaws, nothing is perfect. The actual tone of the drums is very inconsistent, wherein some passages you have a huge boomy snare that sounds big and great and then in other parts (like towards the end of Hekate) where it seems to lose its body and gets swept away. That part of the album is especially damning as it’s driven by the drums and when they are front and center, you can hear how much work they need. To talk about my favorite and least favorite track The Hellfire Club puts me in an odd place. While the back half of the song is the best part of the album in my opinion, the first half is rough, largely due to the vocals. The way that the heavy vocals are done here is incredibly odd, especially because there are other similar passages like in Black, where the heavy vocals over slow and clean guitars sound great. This is the only part of the album that does anything like this, which is great, everything else goes on without a hitch, but it being right in the middle really does get you out of the headspace the band is trying to keep you in.

While the band’s sound I don’t think is uniquely theirs nor are they doing something outrageously revolutionary, what the main focus is of this offering is the emotion and performances behind it, and the ability the package as a whole has to suck you in, and not let go until it’s good and through with you. And it’s that experience that I had going through this album that made me appreciate it with a great amount of respect. And while it wasn’t exactly happy or positive, it was moving and likely exactly what the band wanted it to be: brutal, and black.

Recommended tracks: Black, The Hellfire Club
Recommended for fans of: Neurosis, The Ocean, Krallice
Final verdict: 8/10

Ivory Tower – Stronger
Style: Heavy/Power (clean vocals)
Related links: Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Metal-Archive page
Review by: Matt

I like album titles that, aside from trying to sound cool, also comment on the state of the band. We haven’t heard from Ivory Tower in eight years, and there’s been some changes: There’s a new singer, drummer, and keyboardist, and the landscape of metal itself has shifted still further from the 90s Dream Theater-esque prog this band used to play. In spite of this, Ivory Tower have held it together and come back faster, meaner… Dare I say… Well, you know where this is going.

Honestly, I have scant experience with their past albums, but this isn’t even recognizable as the same band to me. All progressivism has been ditched in favor of traditional-leaning Power Metal that’s about as heavy as the genre gets. It reminds me quite a bit of Primal Fear, both musically and vocally – new singer Dirk Meyer is like Ralf Scheepers plus 25% burliness. For my money, he’s a huge upgrade – this guy rules. The music has that thrashy-verse-melodic-chorus dynamic, sort of predictable, but I’m not complaining too much when the riffs and choruses are so good. There are a couple clean guitar and choral excursions to break things up, such as the uncharacteristically laid-back ballad The Wolves You’ve Let In, but nothing to hint at the prog textures that used to be.

Normally I hate it when a band “goes heavy” (thanks Symphony X), but I think this might actually be the superior incarnation. I don’t know if there are old die-hards out there who will be annoyed, but it’s hard to deny this is quality. My only complaints would be the 70 minute runtime – which gets fatiguing and does a disservice to the later tracks – and the song Strong, which skews uncomfortably close to Rammstein or something. Definitely weird amidst everything else. Besides that, I’ll quote my favorite lyric of the album: “Don’t be a dunce” – go listen to Stronger!

Recommended tracks: The Offer, End Transmission
Recommended for fans of: Primal Fear, Judas Priest, Iced Earth
Final verdict: 8/10

The Holeum – Sublime Emptiness (Spain)
Style: Post/Experimental/hardcore/djent/I have no idea (harsh vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Metal-Archive page
Review by: Dylan

So this one was a weird one. I’ve reviewed salads before, but this is just an album that keeps on leaving me confused. Whenever I listen to this album I can tell it’s good, I do, but at the same time, it’s so hard to nail down WHAT I’m listening to. It’s produced kind of like hardcore, has build up and climaxes ala post metal, the riffs are The Dillinger Escape Plan-like, the vocals sound more Punk-ish than Metal……. 

Let’s try this; Remember Neuronaut? A band I reviewed for February? This is basically that sound, with a good chunk of heaviness and chugginess added. There, that’s it. That’s about the best description I can give. It’s good. I can’t even give it a rating for god’s sake, but trust me, it’s good. Check it out .

Recommended tracks: Protoconciousness, Fractal Visions
Recommended for fans of: Neuronaut
Final verdict: good/10

Merlin – The Mortal (US-MO)
Style: Doom (clean vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Bigcartel | Facebook | Metal-Archive page
Review by: SharkTRS

It’s really easy to make bad Doom. The temptation to play fat riffs and drone on for far too long claims many a band with potential. Fortunately, Merlin have not only avoided it but have actively rejected it, creating a diverse, Progressive Stoner Doom/Heavy Psych album that not only brings interesting new elements to the table but also nails the parts of the genre that define it.

To review Doom and not start with the riffs would be a sin. Merlin’s riffs are fuzzier than an overgrown bear. They’d fit right in during the late 60s, with many of them sounding almost like they’re off an early Black Sabbath album. However, this isn’t all that Merlin’s got on The Mortal. Their guitarist demonstrates not only a tendency to experiment, but also a willingness to step back. This album’s got sax leads, acoustic sections, lead bass, (ft. a Primus-sounding slap bass intro on Basilisk) and even accordions. You never really know what Merlin will do next on The Mortal.

The singing on this album matches the atmosphere perfectly. Vocalist Jordan Knorr belts out straight cheddar with the conviction and energy to have it come across as epic rather than lame. The dude’s got the voice of an incredibly hammy villain straight out of a musical, and he knows it and loves it. His energy is through the roof, to the point where he could sing the text of a Wikipedia article on an obscure fruit native to Spain and I’d still be grooving. He really can’t go wrong.

As a band, they have incredible chemistry and the uncanny knack to sound like each member is doing something different, yet it all fits together as one cohesive whole. Check out the intro to Basilisk, for example. It’s absolute chaos and feels like it shouldn’t work, yet it does. It’s got a groovy stoner riff, wailing sax, cavernous vocals, and then the left side guitar which I’ve got no idea with, and all of that coalesces into one coherent driving force, meeting up at the end of the riff. I don’t know what these guys can’t pull off, honestly.

While Merlin have many strengths, they are not always able to capitalize upon them. In the mix, there tends to be one instrument that’s more audible than all the others, tunnel-visioning the listener away from hearing the interplay between instruments. There’s also a good bit of fat that could be trimmed from this album without much of a loss. The track Ashen Lake could be cut entirely without hurting the album at all, and a few of the other tracks run on for too long and begin to repeat themselves. In the grand scheme of things, though, these don’t hurt the album that much. The Mortal is definitely one of the better albums of 2019 and a breath of fresh air within its genre.

Recommended tracks: Mindflayer, Basilisk, The Mortal Suite
Recommended for fans of: Black Sabbath, heavy psych
Final verdict: 7.5/10

VAK – Loud Wind (Sweden)
Style: Sludge (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archive page
Review by: Tyler

I don’t know what it is about Loud Wind. I’ve been up and down about it for weeks. I’ve asked friends about it, what they thought. I’ve listened and re-listened to it for the past three days, and there is just something about it that doesn’t grab me. I liked every aspect about it. The riffs are crushing, the songwriting is solid, the production is great. It’s hit me now is that those things don’t make a great album. It’s a great listening experience, but the content of what’s there is lacking.

As I said before, everything here sounds really good. There are a lot of moody sounds you’d expect to find in a Sludge/Doom project like this. Slow and droning guitars and rhythms roam free across the pastures until sundown. The tone of the bass in particular I appreciated, it really brought a good depth and body that this needed here. The drums sound fantastic as well, the snare is one of the better I’ve heard this year. The vocals are exactly what you’d think of: not exactly sung, not exactly harsh. A raspy in between will do ya. All of these things technically great, nothing is jarring or out of the ordinary. But that’s the problem exactly: There isn’t anything to make this stand out from the next Sludge band down the road. Almost everything is so by the books, it’s gone in one ear and out the other.

I feel like expanding on “I liked what I heard, but nothing stood out” any more would just sort of stalling for time. If you like sludge metal no matter what, this is for you, you won’t find no less, and you certainly won’t find more. There are some interesting parts for sure. The intro to Fear the Morning grabbed for a little while, until the heavy happened and then it was just a teardrop in the ocean again. My favorite song was actually the interlude here, it was a welcomed change of pace that gave me time to rest when being surrounded by the br00t. This is Sludge Metal, thank you, bye.

Recommended tracks: Underwater Whisper, Fear the Morning
Recommended for fans of: meat and potatoes Sludge, nothing fancy
Final verdict: 4/10

Wrvth – No Rising Sun (US-CA)
Style: Post/Core (Harsh vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archive page
Review by: Jonah

I think it can be argued that just about any genre of metal has been overdone to some extent by this point. Even the newer styles that have cropped up have either been ground into the dirt (Djent) or shouldn’t have happened in the first place (Nu-Metal). Post gets a bad rap for being overly slow or boring, but honestly I’ve never felt that way about good Post-Metal. When done right the builds are satisfying and the payoff is pure bliss. Bands like Cult of Luna and Neurosis do this impeccably well, and I never once find myself wishing the songs were any shorter or less meandering. 

Sadly, Wrvth is neither of those bands. They play a brand of -Core influenced Post-Metal that I just can’t get into no matter how hard I try. From a technical standpoint these guys are completely fine. The guitar is played well, as are the drums and bass. The vocals are relatively unimpressive but inoffensive, and the production serves its purpose well enough. But man, the songwriting. The songwriting is so god damn bland. The builds and textures are as generic as they come, the vocal melodies feel drawn out and emotionless, and there’s just absolutely nothing that draws me in here.

So, is this album objectively bad? No, probably not. I’m sure there’s plenty of people that enjoy this style that would enjoy this too, but boy am I not one of them.

Recommended tracks: Eventide, Undertow, Enshrined
Recommended for fans of: Converge, Holy Fawn, Cult of Luna
Final verdict: 4/10

Obsidian Tide – Pillars of Creation (Israel)
Style: Extreme (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archive page
Review by: Sam

Not many of you know this, but Israel has a really good underground prog metal scene. On the more well-known side you have Orphaned Land, Subterranean Masquerade and Distorted Harmony, but beneath that there’s a good plethora of very good bands. Among others you have Stormy Atmosphere, Orpheus Blade, Scardust and my runner-up album of the year 2018 makers Venus in Fear. So when I saw there was this band from Israel among the list, my interest piqued and I immediately screamed at Jonah: “MIIIIIIINNNNNNNNEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!” 

My first impression of this album told me two things: observation one is that these guys have a real talent for songwriting, and observation two is that they really like Opeth, a lot. Now I absolutely adore bands that channel Opeth in their own sound (see: Hands of Despair, Disillusion), but if a band tends to get more into copying territory I tend to get Disillusioned (pun intended). The Piah Mater flashbacks were strong with my first listen. However, as I kept coming back to the album, I began to notice it’s not just worshipping of the Swedes. Instead of going full Bad Salad to their Dream Theater, these guys rather go for the Circus Maximus approach. So yes, it has a worship element, but it’s definitely it’s own thing.

But now enough about Opeth, we’re talking about Obsidian Tide here. The album opens with a lovely Middle Eastern-folk tinged acoustic melody that immediately immerses you as a listener. Then the vocals come in and BAM you’re sold. Oz Avneya has an absolutely lovely singing voice. It’s soothing like a campfire song, yet it has a very subdued strength about it. These oriental elements and the singing remain a high-point about the album in general. The percussion transitioning the opening track into Seven for example is just brilliant if you ask me. After this they go into the growly bits supported by some excellent riffage. The growls are a lot weaker than the singing, but they get the point across well enough. They’ve got the gastly thing going well for them, but it misses power and general demonic gutturalness that makes someone like Mikael Akerfeldt so great.

I should note that this is a concept album. From what my absolutely horrific lyrical analysis skills have managed to gather, it tells a story about someone trying to reach enlightenment (thanks other reviews). I do not know whether the story is any good (proof is left as an exercise for the reader), but the music has plenty of twists and turns, making it feel like a real journey. The album has an incredibly good song flow, making it feel much shorter than the 55 minutes it actually is. Overtly long outro in track 6 and worship elements aside, there’s nothing detracting from the experience. The songs are just very well-written. Each of them is filled with great guitar work, clever vocal lines, creative rhythms and tastefully incorporated elements of oriental folk (excuse the general term, I don’t know enough about the subtleties of the region’s music to make the proper distinctions). And most importantly, they all have their own identity. Along with really crisp production, it’s just a very pleasant listening experience.

Overall, Pillars of Creation is a great achievement. The only thing that’s holding this band back is that they tend to steer dangerously close to Opeth at times (and there’s also a flute motif in Magnanimous blatantly stolen from ORwarriOR by Orphaned Land never mind my memory sucks). This is the sound of a very talented band that hasn’t found its own sound just quite yet. That said, I’m super excited to see what these guys will come up with in the future and I highly recommend this to any Opeth fan out there.

Recommended tracks: Pillars of Creation, Seven, Hireath
Recommended for fans of: Opeth, Orphaned Land, Wilderun
Final verdict: 8/10

Omnibeing – Polytheria (Belarus)
Style: instruDjental
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | VKontakte
Review by: Dylan

We rarely review Djent in this blog, let alone instruDjental. Not only from a quick glance at our last fm profiles can anyone tell that there’s not one reviewer in this blog that is a big djent fan, but it’s also a genre capable of producing oh so many unmemorable tasteless albums that it is very hard to come across something underground that truly does something notable with the genre. But with all of that said, just because I’m not a fan of the genre, it doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a good Djenty album, even if it doesn’t particularly do much to me. And that’s exactly what Polytheria is.

Well written, kind of electronic, instrumental Djent. This band, like Essence of Datum, also doesn’t go with the ‘’mindless solos over a boring riff’’ route, which means that it’s already a step above 96% of instrudjental albums. The songs are fun, easy to listen to, and a good time overall. But I can’t say much more about it really. It’s an album to put as background noise while you’re studying, gaming, etc. While being absolutely competent, Omnibeing don’t do really anything to put them above the category of good but easy listening instrumental prog.

I’d keep writing if there was something to say other than what’s been said, but I think everyone that’s reading this got the idea of what this is, and has already decided if it’s their thing or not.

Recommended tracks: Aura, Polytheria
Recommended for fans of: Plini
Final verdict: 6/10

Chronicles – The Forest (US-UT)
Style: Avantgarde/Symphonic/Metalcore (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archive page
Review by: SharkTRS

The genre tags on this album may come across as confusing. Right now, scroll down to the FFO at the bottom of this review, then scroll back up.

If you like Native Construct, it’s pretty much a guarantee that you’ll like this. It’s got the piano and strings, the wide range of styles, the powerful vocals, and the high concept, and utilizes all of these elements in a similar way to the aforementioned band (RIP). I’d argue that they pull off their concept better than NC. From the start, they hook the listener on the album’s plot, a rarity with concept albums. The opening track, Synopsis, is just that, a synopsis of the album’s storyline. The soaring vocals have the listener paying attention as they introduce characters, giving the listener grounds to follow the plot, then concluding with the line “In this tale he dies,” before diving into two and a half minutes of symphonic instrumentals. This raises tons of questions for even an inattentive listener. From there, if they dive into the concept, they’ll find it quite a rewarding tale.

As for the music itself, it’s incredibly engaging. The singer sounds like James LaBrie with the range of Tilian Pearson, which turns out to be a surprisingly good combination. He’s more engaging than LaBrie, and hits some soaring, cinematic high notes that his Dream Theater parallel never could. His harshes, though, leave something to be desired. His highs are serviceable, but his low screams come across as weak, sounding like thin deathcore lows. Overall, though, he’s a quality vocalist. The guitar work on this album is great, too, and it’s varied enough that it never gets old or feels repetitive. Guitarist David Lyon alternates between low-end djent-influenced riffs and upbeat, major-key lead lines. I’m well aware that djent doesn’t have the best reputation, but Lyon keeps it groovy while never resorting to mindless chugging. His virtuosic solos, though, are his strongest appeal. He plays incredibly fast on these without ever coming across as excessive, a common pitfall within the genre. In addition, he shows a willingness to step out of genre lines and experiment, such as with the jazz solo section on Patriarch.

Unfortunately all this excellence is muddled by the mix. The vocals never feel as full as they should be, and overall the album sounds thin. Despite this, The Forest is a great, unique album that deserves your attention.

Recommended tracks: Vanished, Torment, Through the Forest, Patriarch
Recommended for fans of: Native Construct, The Dear Hunter, Between the Buried and Me, Protest the Hero
Final verdict: 8/10

Essence of Datum – Spellcrying Machine (Belarus)
Style: Tech Death (instrumental)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | VKontakte | Metal-Archive page
Review by: Dylan

I was very intrigued on how can you make Tech Death instrumental. It’s obviously a genre of which its growled vocals are a huge part of, so how do you take that out and still make it work?

Well, Essence of Datum had two choices. One was doing the: simple riff in the background, infinite mindless soloing, or the sort of videogame-y songwriting, where it feels as if a song is telling a story even though it doesn’t have any lyrics. To me, 90% of instrumental prog dies when they go with the first route, and it is because of it that I happily report that this is not what the band does. 

Think something like Liquid Tension Experiment gone extreme metal. A constant frantic feel, thrashy beats, tasty riffs, and the sort of song length you’d come to expect out of prog. They all follow mostly the same structure, but still have a bit of memorability so that it doesn’t all feel identical. This means the album can be enjoyed passively while doing other tasks, or actively immersing yourself 100% into it.

The only thing that doesn’t quite strike its landing is that most of the songs have no clear end. They just fade out or all of the sudden stop. But as you’d assume from reading this, it’s nothing that ruins the album or anything. For what it is, a well done album, creative and enjoyable. 

Recommended tracks: Shikari Algorithm, Vitality
Recommended for fans of: Tech Death without the death
Final verdict: 7.5/10

The Spectre Beneath – The Downfall of Judith King (UK)
Style: Power/Heavy/Modern (clean, female vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Metal-Archive page
Review by: Matt

This new project from guitarist, author, and all-around renaissance man Pete Worrall is hard to categorize. It’s one of those nebulous 2000s-sounding bands that isn’t quite Power Metal, Thrash, or Metalcore, but you know it’s something… Maybe “Modern Metal” or some such cop-out. Further complicating the matter are the unusual female vocals and one of the wackier album concepts I’ve seen.

Whatever this is, it’s viscerally satisfying, with crunchy riffs that tend toward the “chug stick” interpretation of guitar, but possess enough melodic sense to get your brain moving as well as your neck. They basically take everything from the aforementioned genres and stop just short of where the cliches would kick in. It’s heavy, epic, and full of harmonized guitar leads without overdoing it in any particular aspect. There’s also some nice piano work that pops in to enhance things, but this is far from prog. The songs tend to run long, but it strangely doesn’t feel like it – either they keep the emphasis on the core parts, or the extra stuff flows so logically you forget about it. Top marks to the songwriting.

Now we get to the obligatory vocal paragraph – there’s something off here, though I’m curious if it’s just me. Singer “L. Lockser” has clearly got skill, hitting powerful high notes, but her vocals gnaw at the back of my mind throughout the album. I think it’s this certain pop-esque aloofness to the delivery – every other note starts with a voice crack or a groan, the timing is all over the place… It just drives me nuts after awhile. Besides that, her accent is thicker than most, and it’s hard to make out any of the plot, which could be one of the most intriguing parts of the album. A lot of the lyrics you can make out are written quite literally, adding to the awkwardness – they’re phrased more like a script than a song, regardless of where the syllables need to land.  

About that plot – from what I’ve gathered, protagonist Judith King is raised in captivity for some purpose, escapes, and goes on a quest for revenge like in the movies. I wish I could say more, but all I know is you can’t argue with song titles like Mrs. Lovett’s Pies. (Not sure how Teach Yourself Guitar figures into it.) There’s a hint of surreal creepiness, but it doesn’t majorly interfere with what’s basically a traditional metal album.

Any complaints I have with The Spectre Beneath are mostly centered around the strange vocal delivery, and I suspect a lot of people won’t notice it that much, so I recommend listening and judging for yourself. If you happen to like the vocals, this is probably a 9/10. There are some seriously kickass songs here. I’m just constantly being distracted when I try to listen to them…

Recommended tracks: There Are Cameras in the Dolls, The Downfall of Judith King, The Plotting of Judith King
Recommended for fans of: Manticora? Nevermore? Power metal in general?
Final verdict: {7 or 9}/10

meth. – Mother of Red Light (US-IL)
Style: Mathcore/Noise (mixed vocals)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | RYM page
Review by: SharkTRS

Mother of Red Light is the definition of a difficult listen. meth. have done everything in their power to keep the listener uncomfortable throughout the course of the album. At base, their sound is Noisecore with elements of Mathcore and Black Metal. Noisecore as a genre is known for being extremely harsh and unrelenting, constantly baring down on the listener with its fast and abrasive sonic palette. meth. took that sound and wondered what would happen if they forced the listener to wait. Repeatedly throughout the album, they crank it back down to first gear. This has an effect similar of that in a horror movie, where the monster is present, the character knows it’s present, but it doesn’t reveal itself. The first time meth. pulls this is right at the start of the album. The first track, Failure, opens with a full minute of foreboding, ominous ambient noise before diving into harsh, dissonant riffs, pounding the listener into submission. 

From there on out, meth. dives back into dissonant noisecore, keeping the listener constantly off guard with rapidly shifting dynamics and fast panic chords, pulling off the latter without coming across as gimmicky. As a contrast to the album’s drawn-out pauses, meth. are also willing to get extremely heavy at times, such as with the end of Child of God, where they discard all pretenses of mood and resort to pounding the listener directly with their expansive sound. This feeds back incredibly well into the pauses, making them far more impactful because of what could follow them. This, in turn, allows them to get away with some musical decisions that they reasonably should not have gotten away with, such as fitting five whole minutes of entirely noise into the middle of The Walls, They Whisper. It shouldn’t be interesting, yet it is. They capitalize on this well, too. Just as it begins to taper off and the listener feels like it’s about to fade out and end, the whole band comes back in out of nowhere with another extremely dissonant verse.

The pitfalls of this album are the same things that make it good. While I see myself coming back to individual tracks often, I don’t see myself listening to the album as a whole that much. It’s just such a punishing release that despite it being the length of an average album, it feels far longer. While rewarding, it’s too hard to come back to frequently.

Recommended tracks: Child of God, Inbred, Psalm of Life
Recommended for fans of: early Swans, being in a state of constant fear
Final verdict: 7/10