Category Archives: Check this out!

Thinking Plague Just Released ‘The Echoes of Their Cries’ for Their Backers

by Dæv Tremblay

tp16The legendary avant-garde/art rock ensemble Thinking Plague started a crowdfunding campaign, last year, to help finance their seventh studio album, temporarily titled Hope against Hope. The album was set to be released in September of 2016, but, as you may have noticed, it hasn’t.

However, if you were a funder of the project, you should by now have received an email from Kickstarter with a download link and code to get the first track from the album. The song is called ‘The Echoes of Their Cries’, and we can also notice a small change in the album title: … Read more

Mini-Reviews XVI

by Matt Matheson

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I’m not a huge grind guy, but when the aesthetic is tempered a bit, I can appreciate it. Cognizant are a really solid example of that; with a self-titled album that explodes over the course of just 17 minutes, they weave a chaotic web of death, black and grind elements with relentless intensity and slick production. The result is simultaneously viciously aggressive and eminently listenable.

This album took me by surprise with its high quality and unique niche. I highlighted a couple of bands that could be considered progressive post-metal/sludge in my last set of mini-reviews, but Barishi actualize an … Read more

Seven Impale – Contrapasso, Review and Interview

by Matt Matheson

Seven Impale Front promo highest res RGB 3000x3000“What is the next step?”

This question is the first thing crooned by vocalist-and-guitarist Stian Økland on Seven Impale‘s sophomore album, Contrapasso. It was also the question burning in my mind after several months of listening to their debut album, City of the Sun, which was my favorite record of 2014. I’ve heard plenty of bands with elements of both jazz and prog rock, but never one that truly synthesizes those styles in perfect balance. Typically you can feel whether a band is rooted in jazz and incorporating some elements of prog or vice versa. With this … Read more

Mini-Reviews XII

by Dæv Tremblay

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Let’s kick this off with Bangladeafy‘s new ear-splitting EP, Narcopaloma. This New York drums and bass duo plays their very own brand of experimental technical math rock. Their first two releases were captivating at first but quickly fell out of favour, but this doesn’t seem to be the case here. The riffs are groovy despite their insane intricacies and they segue perfectly one into the next, making for a pleasurable listening experience. It’s whole-heartedly recommended.
Norwegian prog rock band Airbag is apparently not new to the game, but I only discovered them through their 2016 album, Disconnected. … Read more

Shamblemaths – Shamblemaths

by Matt Matheson

shamblemaths
In a remote cabin, at the base of some foggy mountain, lived a hermit, who knew only two things in life: survival, and progressive rock. One morning, he looked through his collection, in reverse chronology – Spock’s Beard, Dream Theater, Marillion, Van der Graaf Generator – and settled on a record by Egg, which he dusted off and began to place on his turntable. Just then, a quite unexpected knock came at the door. Answering it, he saw a man much younger than himself, panting breathlessly from his journey.

“Are you the prog guy? You’re him, right?!”

Silently, the man … Read more