Smart, yet intoxicating riffs travel through the speakers as an easy brush of arpeggios lift one into another world where all things are neatly and perfectly packaged into sonic bites of progressive wonder. Charleston, West Virginia is the homeland of Astraeus. If you can’t already tell, they are excellent. Continue reading
Between the Buried and Me are undeniably, the premier act of the progressive metal subgenre. They have spent the past 15+ years honing their expertise on their respective instruments and rewriting what is musically possible. It has been scientifically proven that one’s IQ increases after listening to a BTBAM record. Continue reading
“Loam & Sky,” the forthcoming release by San Fernando Valley, California prog outlet, THE ELEPHANT PARALLAX, is the follow up to their May 2010 self titled release. This EP ‘Loam & Sky’ is taking all of the elements of their first release and maximizing them in prolific fashion; combining aspects of funk, sludge, and progressive instrumentals, THE ELEPHANT PARALLAX aim to bring genre defying, mind opening melodies that will have you at attention the entire twenty four minutes you listen to it.
They are undoubtedly at the forefront of innovation in the world of progressive metal and often recognized for early movements in the djent scene. UK-based five piece, TesseracT, are about to grace the world with their fourth LP, ‘Sonder.’ As an experiment founded in 2003 by guitarist Acle Kahney, the band continues to push the boundaries of what it means to be a modern progressive band. ‘Sonder’ will be singer, Daniel Tompkin’s second album back after his 2011 departure and subsequent return in 2014. Kscope will release this album on April 20, 2018. It was recorded at 4D Sounds, Celestial Sounds and Project Studios. TesseracT, alongside Aiden O’Brien, engineered ‘Sonder’ while mastering was completed by Kahney.
Australian progressive metal masters are riding high on their recent success of the all new album ‘Urn‘ which was released last October. It was my number one album if I had to make a list of best albums of 2017. Anyways, what else is new in the NeO camp? Well, NE OBLIVISCARIS has welcomed a new recruit to the fold, Martino Garattoni, who will fill in as the new bassist, after the band slammed the door on their former bassist Brendan “Cygnus” Brown, over allegations of domestic violence, last year.
Macedonia? Anyone? Betcha didn’t know any bands from the land of the great Alexander from Macedon! Alright let me do the honours of shedding some light on you in introducing one of the most creative and intriguing bands from Europe. Headbangers! introducing the ever so vibrant, and one of my all time favourites, ethno progressive(yeah, this too!) band CHROMATIC POINT, from the Balkan land of Macedonia(FYROM). “Chromatic” as they sound both musically and visually, the band incorporates every sense of the word and just goes on to show the frantic and seemingly chaotic nature of it’s sonic virtuosity. Just like the rapidly changing “flight of the bumblebee”. See what I did there? Yup, that was your daily dose of classical music puns!
All right let’s stop beating around the bush and get to the point. So, this Balkan progressive powerhouse has just unleashed their brand new music video, “Clockwork” today, which the band says has been taken off their “next studio material“. Let’s get dissecting the new chops!
*This is part of the “World’s Loudest Month” segment where we branch out and focus on bands that fans can see at the year’s biggest music festivals during the month of May 2018! This week, we’re checking out Toothgrinder, a progressive metal quintet from New Jersey who are geared up for another year at Carolina Rebellion, as well as others!*
Asbury Park, NJ natives, Toothgrinder, have been making waves in the metal scene for a while now, sharing the stage with huge names including Meshuggah, Killswitch Engage, Between The Buried and Me, Polyphia, and The Contortionist. The band consists of Justin Matthews (vocals), Jason Gross (guitar), Matt Arsendorf (bass/backing vocals), Willis Weller (drums) and Johnuel Hasney (guitar/backing vocals). With an extensive live show resume, and two successful albums, ‘Nocturnal Masquerade’ (2016) and ‘Phantom Amour’ (2017) via Spinefarm Records, one thing is predominantly clear – these guys know what they’re doing. Continue reading
LETTERS FROM THE COLONY are your newest prog kids on the block. Hailing from the small town of Borlänge, central Sweden the quintet is an amalgamation of young, artistic and exceptional musicians who are determined to channel their thoughts in a creative and at the same time, an extreme way. LETTERS FROM THE COLONY spawned back in 2010, and since the very first day of their existence they have been determined on bringing something new and virgin to the metal scene. Just adding the right amount of progressiveness, melded with extreme technical aspects the band now is ready to unleash their all new debut studio album, which is releasing tomorrow, out via Nuclear Blast. It’s a progressive extreme metal album, entitled, ‘Vignette‘.
The Contortionist is back with 2 huge North American tours that will both kick off beginning next year, first they will be the supporting band next to Big Story of The Stories We Tell Ourselves North American tour with as headlining act Nothing More and on the 4th of March they will be headlining their own North American tour with special guests Silent Planet, Skyharbor & Strawberry Girls!
Hey there! Today we are premiering the debut album, ‘Coalesce‘ by NYC/London-based, prog/alt metal project, ASCENDING DAWN. The record releases tomorrow i.e. on the 1st of December and we thought we’d let you a good chance to take a sneak peak into the album before it officially releases and hits your nearest record stores. So, ASCENDING DAWN is a progressive metal project spearheaded by the multi talented Marlain Angelides. She has successfully planted her feet in every endeavour she has chosen and emerged victorious, some of her accolades are she’s a graduate of London’s Royal Academy of Music, previous vocalist of a top-charting Greek pop band, Hi-5, West End performer, representative of Cyprus in the Eurovision Song Contest, and background vocalist for world-touring acts. She is also the current front-woman of the all-girls Led Zeppelin band, LEZ ZEPPELIN, showcasing her wide range of vocal talents that drive the heavy yet melodic sound of Ascending Dawn.That is some major feathers on her hat!
ASCENDING DAWN comprises of members who met each other coincidentally from several other projects. The band members are Marlain Angelides, Owen Rees, Mark Weatherly and Jen “Connie” Fletcher. Within three weeks all the vocal lines and lyrics to ‘Coalesce‘ were written and production began. ‘Coalesce‘ was mixed and mastered by Jochem Jacobs (ex-TEXTURES) at Split Second Sound in Amsterdam. Connie left the project, as she left to go home to Australia but remains a friend and major contributor to the debut album’s mix of metal, prog and melodic hard rock. Rees and Weatherley remain in London, contributing their writing and production of Ascending Dawn from afar as Angelides paves the way in the US.
