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. Even though they don’t make a lot of ripples in the prog pond, their emotional, melancholic rock will most likely please fans of Porcupine Tree and the likes – i.e. not me. While I do appreciate the songs from time to time, they just seem barely prog to me, bearing almost only the song length as a genre characteristic, and that doesn’t entice me to go back and listen to the whole thing.
Crust hardcore band Trap Them will release Crown Feral around the end of September. It’s a very straightforward train of riffs that I’m glad to be ran over by. It’s your good dose of daily violence, and there even are a couple guitar solos, which is somewhat a rarity for the genre.
Swiss tech-deathers Virvum release Illuminance on September 16th. It’s quite a treat to listen to. I’m not usually a fan of technical death metal, but when it’s mixed with a healthy portion of progressive metal, things can get really interesting. Even though the focus is on out-of-this-world riffs, there is more to it than the usual tech-death band, and even a ten-minute song to finish it all. You should listen to this, if you haven’t already.
Slimey Things is a novelty to me. Their album, Goodbye Earth, came out in late August, and it’s quite a charmer. Their singer is oddly reminiscent of Greg Puciato (DEP) at times, and their music is a party-oriented experimental rock outfit. Upbeat riffs with plenty of saxophone and a few odd-time signatures, unusual song structures and chord progressions… They’re really something to listen to. It’s like Between the Buried and Me, Arsonists Get All the Girls and The Dillinger Escape Plan joined forces (and hired a saxophonist) and decided to make dance music.
Croatian black metal project, Pogavranjen re-release their 2014 album, Sebi Jesi Meni Nisi, on disc in September. I remember their last album, “Jedva Čekam Da Nikad Ne Umrem”, which came out in February, to be quite good, so it’s interesting to see where they came from. And, hey, it’s okay. It’s not as polished or enthralling as their latest one, but it’s a pretty good progressive atmospheric black metal thing. The songs do seem to drag a bit, but it’s still quite good. Check it out for yourself.
Phantom Host – which were apparently formerly known as “Strange Things” and released a three-song EP in 2015 -, just released Gone, another three-song EP. Their [mostly] instrumental progressive metal is all right, but not very inspiring, even with their so-called “densest song”, “Transcersize”. It just fails to keep me interested in any way. Maybe you’ll feel different about it.
Infinite Earths is a progressive death metal band from Florida, and they’re releasing their upcoming concept album, Into the Void, on December second. So it’s still very early, and there are no public previews available yet, unfortunately. The album is pretty good, even though it can sometimes feel like a cheap BTBAM clone. However, the five-act, twenty-seven-minute song is a festival of technical prog riffs with an often prominent bass guitar and well-represented odd-time measures. You’ll probably hear from them again once they decide to release a single or something!