Author Archives: Jeff Nixon

Haken – Affinity, an Analysis Of

by Jeff Nixon

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I wasn’t introduced to Haken until early 2014 when I discovered their 2013 release The Mountain. I loved that album and immediately listened to the rest of their discography. Later that year, they released their EP Restoration which was an awesome look into their past, re-imagining and re-recording songs from their demo with higher production quality. Now, nearly two years later, we’re graced with a new full-length album called Affinity.

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If you followed Haken’s facebook page closely in January of this year, you might have seen them post a few times about the name and content of the … Read more

Danimal Cannon – Lunaria

by Jeff Nixon

ALBUM ART Lunaria_RGB_1500x1500Danimal Cannon’s 2011 album Roots was one of the albums that got me into chiptune music (although other Ubiktune releases certainly contributed to that as well) and remains one of my favorite albums still. Danimal’s new album Lunaria contains the same familiar upbeat gameboy programmed chiptunes paired with prog metal guitar riffs, but on a whole new level.

What sets this album apart from past Danimal albums is the fact that the songs were composed on guitar first, with the chiptunes composed around those guitar parts. Also new to Lunaria, is the addition of vocals on a few of the … Read more

Divine Realm – Tectum Argenti

by Jeff Nixon

a0104658246_10Divine Realm’s Tectum Argenti is a nice mix of melodic prog and djent with some impressive musicianship. While not as heavy as similar bands like Between the Buried and Me or Animals as Leaders, Divine Realm’s debut album still packs quite a punch.

Fronted by Canadian multi-instrumentalist, Leo Diensthuber, Divine Realm which started out as just a one-man band, grew into a full band before this debut full length album, which came out this week on February 23rd.

The album consists of seven meaty tracks, all between 3 and 5 minutes a piece. Not a second seems wasted though, there … Read more

Rikard Sjöblom – The Unbendable Sleep

by Jeff Nixon

I’ve been into the progressive rock band Beardfish for a while, my favorite album of theirs being their two parter “Sleeping In Traffic.” I also enjoyed their latest album 4626+Comfortzone quite a bit. So I was excited to hear what the band’s frontman Rikard Sjöblom had in store for his second solo album “The Unbendable Sleep”.

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Rikard’s unique and catchy melodies paired with his distinct vocals makes for some interesting music to say the least. This album flows well but also goes unexpected places. One of which being a short interlude track “Building A Tent For Astor” which is a … Read more

Steven Wilson – 4 ½

by Jeff Nixon

Steven-Wilson-Four-halfSteven Wilson surprised me last year with his album Hand. Cannot. Erase. which I absolutely loved. So when I heard that his new EP 4 ½ mostly contained unreleased material from the Hand. Cannot. Erase. sessions I got pretty excited.

And it didn’t disappoint! The lineup that’s been on Steven’s solo albums since The Raven That Refused to Sing has been really solid, and they continue to nail it with this half album.

4 ½ has a nice mix of soft proggy melodies, rocking riffs, and unique solos. The glitchy sounding solo on “Vermillioncore” sounds especially cool and actually has … Read more