Good morning/afternoon/evening r/progmetal!
And welcome to the fourth installment of this series. This time around there's quite a varied selection if I must say so myself. I've finally found a decent progressive metalcore album to review in Eve from The Afterimage, some Italians decided to make progressive industrial metal a thing (A Tear Beyond - Humanitales), while other Italians from Twintera suddenly dropped their prog power sound and started playing alt rock. Brazilian prog power metallers Maestrick also made an album that's so happy it even includes Christmas music at some point and German neo-proggers Subsignal made another great happy prog album. There's also some good old Dream Theater worship in Dreyelands from Hungary. On the other side of the spectrum we've got some great Floridan prog death worship in De Profundis, creepy post metal from Poland's Hegemone, maximum wasted potential in Indonesian Goddess of Fate and -as always- there's the obligatory uninspired prog death review for VoyD from the UK.
What is this, you ask? In this series I scan the metal-archives for good underground progressive metal albums that went unnoticed. I use their advanced search function for progressive metal full lengths. Then I click on literally everything on the list for the corresponding month and intuitively pick out a few. Be it that I read a positive review somewhere, that it has an interesting characteristic like a 20 minute song or that I just get a good impression from their scanning through their music on their bandcamp and/or Spotify page, if any of those give me a solid enough impression I'll give it a chance. It's a tedious process and the quality of bands is very unstable, but I have found some of my favorite bands this way. Someone on the discord gave me the idea to structure my searches and write down notes on them, and that's what I'm doing now!
Previous installments:
Once again, I did not search rateyourmusic and/or progarchives for related genres like prog metalcore or djent. The reason for that being that their search engine does not lend precise enough results for me to make it feasible to search for bands there. What also makes it ineffective is that bands there are often poorly tagged, making it hard to distinguish bands that play "progressive metal" and are not on metal-archives and those who are. And there are also bands who only have a bandcamp page and you have no way of finding them unless someone directs you to it. However, as always, feel free to PM me music you'd like to see reviewed for future installments! Especially if you find anything outside of MA, I'd be very happy to review it.
Now that all of that is out of the way, let's get to it!
A Tear Beyond - Humanitales (05-05, Italy)
Related links: Spotify | Official website | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Style: industrial/Gothic
Progressive industrial (/Gothic) metal is something I had never heard of, until I found A Tear Beyond on a random search. This super rare genre made me instantly add this album to my list for May. Seriously I had no idea such a thing even existed haha. I have no experience with industrial metal whatsoever except for like maybe 5 Rammstein songs (and that isn't even metal lol), so to say my opinions on this are uneducated to say in the least. However that'll also mean I can review this completely unbiased, which is nice. So is this any good? Find out in the next episode of Dragon Ball Z paragraph.
I was gonna talk about the music, but since this is a concept album I'll first have to discuss the mention. I'm not gonna go into depth on the concept since the band already did that on their website, but I'll give you the gist of it since it's heavily intertwined with the music. Like you might have guessed from the album title, this is about the condition of being human. In their own words: "Humanitales unravels among the labyrinths of the natural human emotionality and its inexorable social mutation." Emotion is the keyword in this album. Each song is a separate story, but it's all connected in a bigger picture.
In the music emotion is also a keyword. From the get go you're moved by a beautiful piano opening piece. It's beautiful and melancholic, which sets the theme for the majority of this album. Not all is melancholy though. The second track is a pretty straightforward industrial rocker (though it takes a nice little emotional detour in the bridge) and there are many heavy riffs and rockers to groove you through the day (does that make sense?). The main focus however lies on the emotional journey which every song makes, which is in large part delivered through the excellent vocals. The singer has a very warm, melancholic low-pitched (slightly nasal) voice. I really like his delivery. Despite not having much range, his delivery is varied and emotionally layered. He also adds some screams occasionally, which though a bit lacking in quality, are effectively placed for optimal emotional effect. Finally they also incorporate some female guest vocals, again with optimal emotional effect. Oh, and there's a child singing at the end of album closer Tale, and it's done to great effect.
The songwriting is really a strong point with this band. Most songs are quite straightforward in nature, yet I find them hardly predictable. Like I said earlier, the songs take you on a journey. There's not much in terms of odd time signatures and stuff like that, but the song structures are heavily prog metal inspired. One moment you're in a nostalgic piano ballad, then you're in a Rammstein song, then it drops with a heavy breakdown riff and suddenly it builds towards an epic climax. A Tear Beyond really know how to keep things interesting.
I really found this record grow on me on repeated listens. It didn't make my hairs stand on edge as much as the greater bands in this genre do, but I found myself plenty moved through this album. It's a solid album that's certainly worth checking out. As long as you don't mind clean vocals, I'm certain you'll find something likeable on this album. I still don't know what to think of the progressive industrial/gothic tag, but I'm certain I liked this, albeit only mildly.
Recommended for fans of: I really have no clue for this, Rammstein?? Pain of Salvation? Katatonia? Type 'o Negative? Video game music?
Final verdict: 7/10
De Profundis - The Blinding Light of Faith (10-05, UK)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official website | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Style: death/black
Fans of the 90s Floridan progressive death metal scene, I have a treat for you here. Hailing from London, De Profundis created an excellent record channeling all of your favorite bands. While a prog death record at heart, they incorporate all sorts of outside influences to give it a unique edge. Primary is of course the black metal (see: the genre), which ranges from straight up black metal parts with blast beats to tremolo-enhanced OSDM riffs. The BM is not as good as the DM, but overall it's a great addition to the music. Also like in most early death metal, there's still a very strong thrash metal undertone in all the riffs. It works for the better here imo, as it lets the soundscape breathe more. De Profundis escape the overproduced wall-of-sound trap that most modern DM bands fall into. For modern DM, this sounds surprisingly light on the ears. There's also a surprising amount of melody to be found in here and there are a lot of jazzy undertones in the prog (again a big nod to the 90s Floridan prog death scene). Are you tired of listening to Death, Atheist or Cynic for the 100th time and looking for something new? De Profundis is here to satisfy your cravings.
Recommended for fans of: Pestillence, Atheist, Death, Akercocke
Final verdict: 8.5/10
VoyD - A Realm Awakened (10-05, UK)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Style: death
Remember how I said De Profundis did not fall into the overproduced wall-of-sound trap that most modern DM falls into? VoyD here does almost exactly that, except for the wall-of-sound part. A Realm Awakened sounds too clean for a death metal record. Especially the drums sound way too mechanical and processed, making me question whether they were programmed instead. The guitars also lack rawness in their sound. Death metal should not sound so polished. I wish I could talk about this album more than just the production, but there's not much more to say about it. I like some of the riffs they lay down and the solos are very good, but the mechanical sound just gets in the way of my enjoyment. The drums are also heavily overbearing. On almost every section there's that annoying kick drum sound that dominates the soundscape. The vocals are also very monotonous brutal DM. I like the songwriting though. The songs sound well-written and properly arranged. It lacks originality, but the songs have enough memorability to justify VoyD's existence.
This band shows some clear potential, but for now they don't do enough to standout in the grey landscape that is modern progressive death metal. This won't change your opinion of the genre, but it's worthwhile enough for prog death fans to check out.
Recommended for fans of: Revocation, Neuraxis, Psycroptic
Final verdict: 6/10
Hegemone - We Disappear (11-05, Poland)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Style: post black/sludge
This album is creepy, just look at that album art. There's a distant haunted looking tower in a grey landscape. It makes you feel like one day, doom will come, but you're not entirely sure how much and when, if it will at all. But on the other hand it's also a strangely pleasing view to look at. The music is like that as well. It's full of distant tremolo picking, but warm sludgy riffs at the same time. The riffs are hardly distinguishable thanks to the production, but in my opinion it works in its favor. The distant sound of everything and low production values evoke a feeling of a distant impending doom, but at the same time work very relaxing. This would make for excellent meditation or tripping music (for those here who are into psychedelics). The album works on slow buildups and almost hypnotic repetition. The soundscapes are mostly build around the drum patterns, which have enough diversity not to get you bored. However this also works against the band as sometimes you wish they'd just speed things up a bit and throw in some more dynamics. I didn't burst any major nut, but there rather was a small, consistent leaking of euphoria when the songs reached their peak. It's a good listen, but I don't think it'll blow anyone out of their chair.
Recommended for fans of: post metal, hypnotic music
Final verdict: 6.5/10
Twintera - Propaganda (11-05, Italy)
Related links: Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Style: alt rock/post-hardcore
I am really breaking my own violations here, as the relevance of this album to prog metal is pretty much negligible. Twintera used to play prog power, but for some reason they dropped it all and started playing weird alternative rock. There's barely anything progressive about this (think Karnivool's Themata, but then less proggy), but it was just too different to pass up. So is this any good? Not really, but there's some good fun to be found on here, so let's start with the positives: This is a band that's at its best on the high energy rockers. Tasty bass lines with sexy riffs and catchy vocal hooks make this album. Especially Thai Adele in Broadway and suga(R)man are highlights. The ballads are really fucking sappy though. Patty P for example has a chorus with more cheese than the French use every meal (sorry u/pdsprogblog for assuming what you eat). The guitar solo somewhat redeems it, but overall it's just way too corny (which applies for the singer in general). Most of the songs also simply aren't that memorable (except for the two I mentioned). It's a fun listen, but it quickly wears off after the initial shock factor of its weirdness.
Recommended for fans of: Karnivool - Themata, Diablo Swing Orchestra, band 3 (because that one's a bit derivative)
Final verdict: 6/10
Eve - The Afterimage (18-05, Canada)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | RYM page
Style: metalcore, mathcore
Wow I finally found a progressive metalcore album! And it's actually good! Or at least, most of it is, because it starts pretty standard. Fans of progressive metalcore probably won't get any major goosebumps from the first three (real) tracks, bar some moments in between. Heavy chugging riffs and poppy choruses that feel like you've heard them before. After that it quickly gets better though. While on the whole a very streamlined album, their chaotic mathcore-ish technicality is certainly pleasing on the ear. The more chaotic, the better seems to be the rule with this band. The songs Wrath and Violator give plenty of examples of that. Switching spastic melodies, heavy ass breakdowns and a great chorus in a heartbeat. They've also got a very nice sense of melody, which is especially noticeable in the choruses. And like in any good metalcore, there are some soul-crushing breakdowns scattered throughout (again, see Violator). This was quite a good album. It didn't set my heart alight, but there were some moments that got to even me, and I nearly never listen to metalcore.
Recommended for fans of: ERRA, Earthists, Protest the Hero
Final verdict: 7/10
Goddess of Fate - Spiral Orchard Pt.1 (18-05, Indonesia)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Style: death
This band is one of the reasons I started this series. I've been looking forward to reviewing this for a long time. It's similar to Hands of Despair in sound, but unlike the Canadians, I just really wanted to trash this album, because it really fucking offends me. It's not even funny. The sheer amount of wasted potential on this album is staggering. Pure musically speaking, this is fantastic. It's easily an 8, if not a 9/10. It's Opeth-inspired progressive death metal but heavier, more spastic (reminiscent of BTBAM) and they use Indonesian acoustic folk parts in their more quiet sections. The songs can really take you on a journey and all the ideas were put together with great cohesion.
However, the execution sucks. And by saying it sucks, I mean really piss-poor levels of suck. For starters the production is god-awful. The volume is 3 levels too low and all the instruments sound incredibly muddy. But for some reason the bonus track is again at a normal volume (not with better mixing though), so if you're unprepared the song will shatter your ear drums when it gets going as it starts deceptively mellow. Usually production alone does not cause me to thrash something like this, but in this case it's not alone the production that's horrifying. But let me first ask you a question: have you ever heard a progressive metal band where the instruments played off-tempo and not properly synchronized? I personally hadn't, until I heard this album. I just couldn't believe what I was hearing. Awesome riffs, awesome drum beats, but they're off-tempo. What a fucking waste of potential.
So overall this album had a huge amount of potential, but somehow Goddess of Fate managed to royally screw it over by awful production and instruments just playing out of sync. If any flaws scream: fixable, it's these ones. For the next album they should really get an external producer (and take some band lessons), because with these issues fixed this band might just become one of the standouts in their genre.
Recommended for fans of: Opeth, Hands of Despair, Disillusion
Final verdict: (9/3) /10 = 3/10
Maestrick - Espresso Della Vita: Solare (23-05, Brazil)
Related links: Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Style: traditional/power
I will cliiiimb every mountain
And no matter what they say about my reality,
I will cliiiimb every mountain
And no matter what the say, I will reach my goooaaaall!!!
Reach my gooooaaaall!!!!
Are you the type that craves melancholia in their music? Are you depressed (and perhaps, Finnish)? This is not for you. I have never heard such a happy, upbeat prog metal album in my life. It's 80 minutes of bliss and soaring through the sky in a fancy golden locomotive that certainly does not pollute the atmosphere even further I swear. I'm usually immune to power metal cheese (those who talked to me on the discord know what I'm talking about), but this album gets even me, and I absolutely love it.
At its core this is a prog power record, but don't let that distract you from the insane variety that comes with this album. It goes from soaring power metal riff galore to Christmas music (yes you read that right), to funky breakdowns to Brazilian conga music to Dream Theater-esque lightning speed solos and instrumental wizardry. This record shines in its unpredictability. They've also got an incredibly sense of melody. Both the keys and the lead guitars did a very good job. Low points would be the production and the vocals, which are a bit off. The keys are too low in the mix and it sounds like it could use some work in general. It's not very jarring, but because of the long duration of the album it can become annoying. If anything the mix feels unfinished. You get what they're trying to do sonically, but they don't pull it off entirely. I'd usually rate this at least an 8, but aforementioned issues cut it down half a point. Highly recommended listen for any fan of traditional prog metal, modern or old school.
Recommended for fans of: Beyond the Bridge, Flaming Row, Haken, Dream Theater, prog that goes all over the place
Final verdict: 7.5/10
Dreyelands - Stages (24-05, Hungary)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official website | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Style: traditional
Unlike what the critics say, not all underground prog metal is Dream Theater worship. Those who've been reading my posts should know that by now. However, this band is exactly one of those Dream Theater worship bands, except it sounds more like Pagan's Mind than Dream Theater (but whatever those two are similar anyway). Wait, didn't I write exactly this once before? Yes I did (see: Kaiser's Bart). Jeez, I'm getting repetitive. But really that's just what Dreyelands sound like. They're not original, so why should I? The instrumentation sounds like a discount Dream Theater Pagan's Mind, and the vocals are overly dramatic without the singer having the pipes to back up that approach (unlike Pagan's Mind). Well, at least the songwriting is tight. They've got a good grip on melody and the songs don't overstay their welcome despite their lengths. It's not a bad album by any means, but the lack of originality really prevents Dreyelands from making much of an impression on me.
Recommended for fans of: Pagan's Mind, Seventh Wonder, Dream Theater
Final verdict: 6.5/10
Between the Bur... Dallian - Automata (25-05, Portugal)
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official website | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Style: symphonic death
No, this is not BTBAM, despite its name. It could be something fans of BTBAM might like though, albeit it's not a very close match. Automata is a symphonic progressive death metal album with mixed vocals. Like you'd expect from the genre, the music is very epic in nature. Unlike a certain instrumental album I earlier reviewed in this style on a previous installment, this is more than simply ...OK. Way more. Maybe it helps that this does have vocals, which give it just that extra little diversity needed. And they even incorporate some singing as well in their songs. I find that often in this genre the growls have a strong tendency to become very monotonous, which is the opposite of this record. It's a long one (67 minutes), but it's very dynamic. The aforementioned mixed vocals for diversity, the symphonic elements for epicness and melody and the guitars nail down some great riffs and solos. The production is not that strong though. You can hear that it wasn't produced in a studio. It doesn't detract much from the music, but it's still noticeable. The singing is also pretty weak, however it's placement is so effective in the songs that it doesn't really matter. Overall this is a very good album and definitely one of the better prog death albums I've reviewed for this series.
Recommended for fans of: idk, Septicflesh? Fallujah?
Final verdict: 8/10
Subsignal - La Muerta (25-05, Germany)
Related links: Spotify | Official website | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Style: neo prog/rock
Neo prog is a term which I hadn't heard of until I was told about it on the discord server. Some call it "happy prog", but beyond that I really have no real idea what it sounds like. Apparently this is what neo-prog sounds like, and it certainly is happy sounding. But most of all, the music is excellent! Subsignal actually is a radar that has been on my band from before I started this series (just like Goddess of Fate and Dreyelands), but I hadn't listened to it until now. You can imagine I've been eager to review this.
The first thing I always check when picking albums is how it sounds. You can have amazing musical ideas, but if your production sounds off it can drag your music down hard (hello, Goddess of Fate, I'm still salty). Subsignal does not fall to this trap, because La Muerta sounds terrific. It's a light, but very clear and organic mix. Subsignal is clearly a band that knows what they're doing. It's a carefully put together soundscape in which every element has its place. There are no sonic gaps or other jarring elements. If I should compare it with anything, this is the sonic equivalent of going for a walk in the forest on a slightly chilly spring morning with the sun still low at the horizon gently warming you. The fresh smells of the plants waking up from their winter sleeps and soft bird chirping fills you up with life.
The music is like this too. Despite its name La Muerta (meaning "the death") the record feels like Spring. All the pleasant guitar and keyboard melodies and energetic singing give the impression of new life popping at every corner. This record is very energetic in general, and they manage to do so in a very natural way. The writing is subtle and intricate. For example the gradual development in the keyboards in Every Able Hand is simply a sight to behold. There are many more of these sort of cool moments in the album. Their compositions are very organic. Likewise this album has a very natural flow from one song (section) to the next, with peaks and valleys, a clear beginning and a clear end.
However a clear end won't be given to my review (and with that, this post), as I'm really out of inspiration right here. I know, I'm a shitty reviewer. Sometimes I wish I had more musical vocabulary to discuss these things, as this is also a really shitty cop-out. Anyways, for those who don't like big power metal theatrics but still want something happy and upbeat, this could be for you. I really liked this record, and so will you.
Recommended for fans of: Sieges Even, Caligula's Horse, Haken, happy music
Final verdict: 8.5/10
Submitted October 01, 2018 at 09:55PM by genderlessperson https://ift.tt/2Qm7Jao
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