“[Leonard and Superposition] both are avant-garde fusion jazz albums that are incredibly intricate and interesting to listen to. The chords, progressions, themes and melodies… everything on record is just excellent. On top of that, “Leonard” is a 35-minute triptych written by Dan Ryan and played by the band. […] They are both impressively fantastic!”
Full mini-review.
“Coming out on the twenty-first of August, “Sonance” is Contemplator’s new album. If you don’t remember them, their 2013 self-titled release was delicious and surprising. With “Sonance”, the band incorporates much more orchestral elements to their soundscape, and Colin Marston’s mixing talents insufflates life … Read more
Mini-Reviews XII
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
Mini-Reviews XI
Greetings! It’s Matt here with my first contribution to our mini-review series. While I’m not quite as plugged in to the underground buzz as Dave, I have accumulated a handful of intriguing albums from 2016 that slipped under his radar, so I’m going to take this opportunity to highlight some of them.
Up first is Warm, a Connecticut four-piece progressive post-metal outfit that extend their sound from aggressive upbeat sludge to downtempo grunge-tinged grooves. The production on The Human Exemplar is solid, and the composition is unique; quality post-metal with prog leanings is pretty rare to come across. The … Read more
Mini-Reviews X
Already the tenth instalment of mini-reviews since our overhaul of the ill-named one-sentence reviews. That’s 80 new albums for you to discover! I certainly hope you found one or two that suited your tastes in there! Well, it doesn’t matter, we’ll keep churning them out!
Eschatos is a black metal band from Latvia with atmospheric black metal and post-metal elements. Their latest album, The Grand Noir, came out in May of 2015. It’s an okay album; it has its interesting bits, but they’re buried under the mass of forgettable material. Interesting fact: the band is female-fronted. Alas, it’s … Read more
Shamblemaths – 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