Progressive Rock – Page 26

Coshish – Firdous (Review)

Coshish are from India and play Progressive Rock that is very well put together and realised.

Lighter than most of the bands reviewed on this site; this is for moments of introspection and contemplation, and fans of Tool, Porcupine Tree, (new) Opeth and (elements of) Orphaned Land should lap this up.

Firdous is an involved concept album documenting a young man’s journey towards attaining Mukti, (liberation or release), and the lyrics are entirely in Hindi. This story spills out into the detailed artwork and even the tracklisting, where the optimal order of the tracks is a puzzle to solve using clues from the complete digipak artwork. A lot of thought has gone into this release.

None of which would matter a damn if the music didn’t meet these high standards, but it so obviously does from the first track onwards. Coshish create a rich tapestry of sound and impression via expansive Progressive Rock.

The songs are very well crafted and full of an array of instrumentation and harmonic flourishes. The content of the compositions is warm and textured, and the tracks uplift and hearten without sounding trite.

The vocals are highly melodic and accomplished, providing the icing on the proverbial cake throughout this delicious album.

As Progressive Rock goes this is an exquisite release brimming with delicacies to satisfy even the most jaded palette. If this is to your taste then there is a feast to be had with Firdous. Eat up.

The Restitution – Waves (Review)

From the US The Restitution are a Progressive Metal band who aim to take a more cerebral approach to harder music.

According to the band they are influenced by modern Metal giants such as Deftones. The Restitution combine both clean and rough vocals over a more thoughtful and progressive musical background to create some good songs, and I hear elements of bands such as Isis, Devil Sold His Soul, Cave-In and Tool in their sound as well.

Melodies are used well and there is enough aggression strewn in with the Post-Rock elements to keep the energy of the tracks moving.

It’s obvious that a lot of attention and hard work has gone into crafting these songs and it all pays off. Whether they are raging and shouting or crooning and lulling, everything feels deliberate and you get the impression that every single second of this release was meticulously thought through and passed rigorous quality control methods before being confirmed as an actual part of the album. All of this leads to a varied and enjoyable collection of songs that work well individually but even better as a complete package of tracks – a listening experience.

Overall this is a high-quality release combining melodies and aggression seamlessly in a modern Metal style that leaves out all of the clichés and rookie mistakes that a lot of more accessible Metal usually makes. Recommended.

Ephel Duath – Hemmed by Light, Shaped by Darkness (Review)

Italian Avant-Garde Metal band Ephel Duath return once again with their new album.

Not quite as off-the-wall as some of their previous releases, Ephal Duath could still never be described as a “normal” band. And who would want that anyway?

The songs twist and turn, describing elements of Metal, Post-Metal, Hardcore, Progressive Rock, Jazz and everything in-between. The capability of the musicians is not in question, but rather the songs themselves – do they work? For the most part yes; if you’re up for the challenge then they’re up to the task.

Once you accept that musically these are not your average compositions, I imagine the biggest sticking point for some listeners would be the vocalist as she has a voice that can be quite an acquired taste on occasion. When she’s not bellowing out pure aggression her voice is somewhere between clean and rough. Her sometimes-unusual sound takes a little getting used to at first, but once you’ve acclimatized it becomes quite endearing after a while.

This is a complex listen and not everyone will appreciate its multi-faceted delivery, but persevere and there are some real gems to be found here.

Favourite Track: Tracing The Path of Blood. Description fails me at this point; it’s just a damn good listen.

The same could be said for the entire album; not easy to describe, not easy to get into, but rewarding once you do.

Step into their world.