Shattered is a new song from jazz, rock and metal fusionists Axon-Neuron, and their first appearance on video, too! The new singer doesn’t depart too much from the band’s previous ones and seem to be a perfect match. In Shattered the band starts it really smooth only to build up continuously and end up in a progressive metal moshfest. I have said before and I say again that this band is a premium example of extended range guitars being used out of the djent spectrum, which has more or less become a parody of itself. The 9-string axe in … Read more
Review: The Mercury Tree – Countenance
I had the pleasure of being introduced to The Mercury Tree at Progtoberfest this past year. This Portland band was easily one of the most interesting and modern sounding bands on the bill. They are far from being just another prog band, as they incorporate influences from math rock, jazz, alternative rock, and more. All of this is evident on their latest record, Countenance, which displays an enormous stylistic range (and a huge progression from their previous records, which did not include many of these elements). If you’re a fan of bands like The Mars Volta, Tera Melos, Tool, and … Read more
Review: Ur Draugr – The Wretched Ascetic
Australia seems to be a great spawning point for good dissonant heavy metal, Ulcerate and Ne Obliviscaris being the two most obvious examples. Ur Draugr falls between these two bands in sound. Being on one hand relying on dissonance a lot and on the other hand progressive and black metal.Often taking one idea, or riff, or motif, and building on it, applying it in different environments and dislocating it in a lot of ways. The mind(s) of the band really know how to craft a song so it’s a continuous flow, evolving and keeping our interest up. With a … Read more
News: Vod’s New Album Teaser!
Vod (a solo project by our other co-creator) has just released a teaser for an 80 min album he plans to released on Feb 17! Here is the write up:
… Read moreᑑᕐᖓᐃᑦ (Tuurngait, meaning ghost) is an album about winter, the snow, the night, isolation, and the cold. This album is 80 minutes long, the most we can fit on a CD. 1 hour and 20 minutes of riffs being built, atmospheres rising and then falling back, polyrhythms and off-time signatures. All played on bass guitar, with drums and vocals. Loads of bass and sub-bass frequencies, and lot of droning and
Review: No More Pain – The Post Human Condition
We rarely review progressive rock albums here. This is mostly because most “prog-rock” nowadays obviously don’t know that “prog” is short for “progressive” and that “progressive” means “favouring or promoting progress”. Well, No More Pain is no different. The Post Human Condition is a great, albeit standard, prog rock album; it sticks to the prog rock formula.Heavily influenced by Spock’s Beard, apparently, themselves heavily influenced by the likes of Gentle Giant, ELP, King Crimson, and Pink Floyd, NMP dwell in 60s and 70s progressive rock, with a modern edge to it. There’s nothing new that’s brought to the … Read more