Progressive metal – Page 51

Third Ion – 13/8bit (Review)

This is the début album from Third Ion who are a Progressive Metal band.

Heavy Metal meets Chiptune? Well, mainly Heavy Metal to be honest. When the chiptune parts do appear they shouldn’t really work but amazingly they do, mainly because they don’t overdo it of course.

This is quite a mix of styles in some ways. The Progressive Metal/Rock aspect of their sound is a modern one yet they still carry obvious influences from older Progressive Rock. Some of the guitars have a modern, almost-Djent feel to them whilst others are pure 70’s inspired riffs with added distortion.

As well as this we have the obvious electronic/video-games influences that are not overused and instead just add some individuality to the pot.

There’s also an unexpected Grunge element to their sound. This manifests not only in the music but also in the vocals. There’s a kind of laid back, hazy feel to things that recalls bands of this type and era.

The musicianship on display here is first-rate, as is the recording. Importantly the songs themselves are well-written and the album has a kind of easy-listening vibe despite the frequent higher-energy and more upbeat sections.

This is a really enjoyable Progressive Metal album that’s a little different due to the mix of related styles. Recommended.

Minsk – The Crash & The Draw (Review)

Minsk are a Post-Metal band from the US and this is their fourth album.

I’m a big fan of Minsk’s 2009 album, With Echoes in the Movement of Stone, so have been eager to hear this latest release of theirs.

Coming from a Post-Metal view that takes in the stunning panoramas of Isis, Neurosis and Cult of Luna, Minsk were never as well-known as their contemporaries but still managed to hugely impress those lucky enough to hear them.

They have now roused themselves from their six year slumber and produced a hefty piece of work in The Crash & The Draw – 11 tracks, 75 minutes of music.

Well, there’s a lot going on here. Minsk certainly don’t lack for either ambition or talent. This is an album of moods and atmospheres. In the best Post-Metal tradition they know how to build you up and then knock you down.

Psychedelic, Progressive and heavily percussive elements work alongside the crushing guitars and expansive sense of space that the band create.

Emotionally these tracks take in pretty much everything, from the beautiful to the nightmarish, sometimes even in the same song.

The songs are varied, multi-textured and rich with evocative and emotive soundscapes. There’s a lot of depth and nuance to these compositions and it takes a good few spins to fully grasp what’s going on here in some instances.

Much like Nero Di Marte‘s latest work, The Crash & The Draw seems to build upon itself with each listen until the music acts like waves, reinforcing itself so that eventually it just drowns everything else out and you truly begin to wonder how you ever thought there was anything else.

This is truly an album of wonders and otherworldly journeys.

What’s stopping you from listening to this right now?

Convulsif – CD3 (Review)

Convulsif are from Switzerland and this is their third album.

Well this is quite insane. Imagine Ephel Duath, Fantômas, Blut Aus Nord, Atomsmasher and Sunn 0))) all working together to bring on the apocalypse…it’s intense.

The recording is first rate, with everything sounding clear and precise, but not overly so. I especially like the bass presence, which provides a full contribution to the aural chaos.

This features eclectic Metal, freestyle Jazz and Progressive workouts as well as Drone/Doom sections, all plastered together in a melange of Blackened undertones. What to classify this as? Who knows, but it’s pretty damn good. I suppose you could loosely term it Experimental Black Metal, but Convulsif are a band that genre tags just don’t work for.

There are no guitars, which makes CD3 an even more interesting listening experience. Instead, we get drums, bass, clarinet, violins and electronica. Just what the (mad) doctor ordered.

And when you think you’ve heard it all, they do something else that makes you sit up and take notice. The unexpected, demented screaming that suddenly appears just when you’ve taken them for an instrumental band is a case in point.

This is highly creative and individual music that nonetheless manages to create coherent atmospheres across these 29 minutes. The eerie sounds and otherworldly noises emanating from this recording is a testament to the talent of the individuals involved in its birth.

CD3 just needs to be experienced. This is challenging, interesting music that demands your attention.

I love this. What’s not to love? You’ll love it too. LOVE IT!

Barishi – Endless Howl (Review)

Barishi are from the US and play Progressive Metal.

This is the latest EP, following on from their very enjoyable début album Barishi.

Here we have four new songs, clocking in at just less than 19 minutes in length. In an interview I did with their guitarist, Graham Brooks, he said that they wanted to explore a heavier direction in the future.

They’ve certainly done this on Endless Howl.

Again we have the mixture of angular riffs and melodic flourish; it worked well on their début album so it’s good to see it carried forward to this EP.

The songs are heavier, faster and are all-round more Metal this time though, which is something the band have successfully developed in their sound. The first song In the Hour of the Wolf doesn’t sound too far from At the Gates if they had a Progressive influence.

The heavily melodic nature of some of the music combined with the screaming vocals lends their sound a Black Metal/Shoegaze aspect which was entirely absent from their début. Smoke from the Earth is a great example of this and could almost be a Deafheaven tune.

The vocals still contribute harsh shouting screams, but this time they’re joined by the odd growl here and there. The growls are performed extremely well and the progression in screams is noticeable; they sounded perfectly good on the début but on this EP they’re even better. Completely gone are the clean vocals.

I’m glad that Barishi have incorporated more Metal without losing too much of what made them so interesting and individual in the first place. However, the Progressive and Jazz elements are less pronounced this time as something had to give due to the increased Metal influence. They are still there though in places and played immaculately, as always.

This is a very enjoyable collection of songs, showcasing a band that are truly finding their direction. Tight playing and focused songwriting means that the band sound even better than they did on their début.

The more Metal-oriented direction seems to have turned out to be a winner. Where do they go from here? Personally I would like to see their next release merge the Metal of their current incarnation with the more Jazz/Progressive tendencies of their début. If they manage to do this successfully then they’ll be untouchable.

Barishi have really impressed with this EP. An essential purchase.

Favourite Track: Snakeboat. Good songwriting and some strange, atypical atmospheric riffing that gets under your skin to create a tense and nervous listening experience.

Ur Draugr – The Wretched Ascetic (Review)

Ur Draugr are from Australia and this is their début EP.

This release is 20 minutes long and features Ur Draugr’s captivating take on Atmospheric Death Metal.

Unseen Golgotha is just under 7 minutes long and opens softly, with some light acoustic guitar guiding the way.

This slowly builds in atmosphere until the crashing guitars and thundering drums enter proceedings. Finally we get pitch-black growls entering the song and the dark atmosphere is ramped up by a factor of ten.

Tense melodies and charismatic music means that this song is an instant revelation.

Up next is the title track The Wretched Ascetic. This serves as the EP’s centrepiece at just over 10 minutes in length.

It’s a churning maelstrom of a song that builds like an oncoming storm with a heavily percussive backdrop and immense rhythms powering it along.

Like the first song, this second track is extremely impressive and ably showcases the band’s aesthetic of organic, atmospheric Death Metal that has some undertones of Black, Post- and Progressive Metal.

The final track on this wonderful début is Sombre Moribund. At 3 minutes in length it’s the shortest track here and serves as a gentle outro to the EP.

If you long for the olden days of classic Opeth but don’t want an Opeth rip-off band then Ur Draugr are the band for you.

This is a hugely impressive release. I can only imagine how good their eventual album will be. Here’s hoping and waiting expectantly.

Caelestia – Beneath Abyss (Review)

Caelestia are from Greece and this is their second album. They play Melodic Metal.

Well this is interesting. Superficially another Gothic/Operatic European Metal band, there’s actually more to Caelestia than that.

They combine elements of that sound with Melodic Death Metal and Progressive Metal to create an altogether more interesting beast than what you, (or me), might have been expecting.

The album is a mixture of these aforementioned styles, meaning that Beneath Abyss is not a listen that gets stale. This is a bigger than normal compliment actually, considering how easy it is for Gothic Metal bands to be quite generic. But of course, this is where the other influences come in.

Another very positive thing about the band is the main female vocals; the singer has a strong voice that definitely has her own personality stamped onto it and manages to avoid simply aping some of the bigger female vocalists out there. She has a versatile and powerful voice that oozes professionalism and quality.

Her voice is joined by choral backing vocals and harsher male shouting, as well as a guest spot from the singer of Soilwork.

These are enjoyable songs and the combination of the European Metal styles into one package gives Caelestia an identity of their own that differentiates them from the majority of their peers who play similar styles of music. It also lends the songs more depth than they’d otherwise have if the bite of the Melodic Death Metal or the musicality of the Progressive Metal were removed.

A very good listen. Check them out and see if you agree.

Unhold – Towering (Review)

Unhold are a Sludge Metal band from Switzerland and this is their fourth album.

Unhold play Sludge Metal with a good grasp of Space Rock, Doom, Post-Metal and Progressive Metal.

The band boast multiple talented singers and each of them brings something to the table, be that Neurosis-style rough vocals, effortless cleans or powerful female vocals.

This is a diverse selection of tracks that feature shades of light and dark, build and release mechanics, dynamic pacing, rich texture and atmosphere by the bucketload. You can just taste the quality dripping off this album like fat.

A warm sound translates into tracks that feel very organic and natural. These songs sound alive and vibrant.

I love albums that feel like a complete listening experience; where each song seems to have its place and has its own identity. Towering is such an album.

Whether it’s gritty Sludge, colossal Doom, Southern-baked meandering or epic Progressive workouts, Unhold play their songs with style, conviction and depth.

There’s a lot of variety here that’s a pleasure to explore. The band have both the discipline and experience to craft songs that have a large amount of depth and longevity. The tracks are composed in ways that seem effortless and unforced. Ideas from all manner of subgenres and styles are incorporated into their repertoire and it seems that every aspect of musical expression they dabble with comes out a winner.

Unhold have produced an exemplar of Sludge Metal that’s going to be hard to top. Be sure to check them out.

Aenemica – Empty Inside (Review)

Aenemica are from Germany and this is their début album. They play Progressive Rock.

This is modern Progressive Rock that has influences from both Progressive Metal, Modern Rock/Metal and even a splash of Djent to some of the riffs.

The singer has a voice that’s soft like silk and flows like liquid gold. He’s instantly engaging and very listenable. His voice is very versatile and the harmonies and tunes used are infectious and very more-ish.

The songs are a merging of the more modern, commercial style of Rock/Metal, (incorporating elements of Djent and Stadium Rock), and a more classically influenced Progressive Rock style. It’s played and delivered extremely well so that they successfully blend the different aspects of the music into their sound. The result is one that’s pretty much pure aural candy.

Imagine a combination of Evanescence, Device, Queensrÿche and Pain of Salvation; it’s quite a combination but it works together well.

The focal point is clearly the vocals though. Personally I’d like to hear the music slightly higher in the mix so as to create an equal emphasis on the music/vocals, but this is only a small complaint really.

Aenemica are a worthy addition to the world of tuneful Metal. Have a listen.

Voices – London (Review)

This is the second album from UK group Voices. They play Progressive Blackened Death Metal.

Featuring former members of Akercocke, this is an album full of promise from the start as Akercocke were one of the best and most individual bands that the UK had to offer.

As soon as the dark acoustic opener Suicide Note starts I’m instantly hit with the feeling that Akercocke gave me in their more restrained moments. Then Music for the Recently Bereaved blasts out of the speakers and I feel warm and fuzzy inside and out.

If voices aren’t the heirs to Akercocke then I don’t know who is. They’re definitely their own entity but they channel the same primordial power and majesty that Akercocke did so well.

Blasting Death Metal, scathing Black Metal, Progressive Metal, Avant-Garde and everything in between make up these tracks. Progressive Blackened Death Metal is as good a term as any, but it seems so small. Voices are just bigger than that and have a whole lot more on offer than that mouthful of a genre tag implies.

The songs here are varied and full of interesting ideas and avenues for exploration. The band essentially just do what they want and I’m incredibly glad of this as it has resulted in a top quality album full of modern Extreme Metal that stands alone.

Growls, screams, cleans; the band do it all with style. It’s like Akercocke, Arcturus, Opeth and Emperor were crushed up together, digested and vomited up as a slick, professional, fully formed Extreme Metal machine. It’s classy and in a class of its own.

I love it when bands do their own thing and inject their art with personality and character. It’s even better when they do this with obvious talent and a passionate hunger. London is all of these things and more.

This is ambitious and hugely impressive. For a snapshot of everything that Extreme Metal should be these days then London is flawless.

In fact that’s all I need to say really; London is flawless.

Greensleeves – Inertial Frames (Review)

Greensleeves are a Brazilian Progressive Metal band and this is their second album.

This is quality Progressive Metal with a proper Metal edge. The band aren’t afraid of being a bit heavier than the norm and the songs make the most of this, mixing the forthright nature of Metal with the wandering, exploratory Progressive edge of the style.

If you like bands such as Dream Theater, Threshold, Pagan’s Mind and Nevermore then Greensleeves should be your thing too.

The singer has a really, really good voice; coming off somewhere between the singers of Pagan’s Mind and Nevermore his voice rises to the challenge again and again. Frequently the weakest link in bands such as this is the singer and I’m very pleased to say that isn’t the case here.

The songs are very well played, as you would expect for a band in this genre, and there are plenty of leads and solos to satisfy. I should compliment the chunky rhythms also; as mentioned previously they’re heavier for the norm and certainly bring out the Metal aspect of their sound.

Decent melodies and layered harmonies combine with thick guitars and melodic know-how to create exemplars of the style.

There are 12 tracks in total and they’re all composed so that the album as a whole is a very good listen. At over 72 minutes in length it’s a long listen but one that’s very rewarding.

I’ve really enjoyed listening to this and will continue to do so again and again in the future.

Definitely one to check out for your next Progressive Metal fix.