A Sceptic’s Universe’s 15 years

Today marks the 15 year anniversary of what is widely known as one of the most important releases in progressive metal. One that has no equivalent, and very few competitors. Personally, Spiral Architect changed the way I viewed music, and the way I viewed the bass player in a band. It is a really important album for me, and I believe it deserves a little post here, for its 15 years of loyal service. If you aren’t already into the spiral train, it’s never too late to embark.

Happy 15 years and let’s just underline that the band is … Read more

Review: Pryapisme – Futurologie EP

If you didn’t already know our blatant bias towards French experimental metal band Pryapisme, now is the time to witness it. The reason is that the band’s newest work, Futurologie EP, has just come out, and, as you would expect from a totally biased reviewer, it’s fucking incredibly awesome! Now let’s dig a little deeper to see why, and try to convert you into our Church of Pryapismology.

First of all the band has made it clear from the very beginning that they would be including a lot of humour into their instrumental mayhem. With an imagery based … Read more

Review: Kooba Tercu – Kooba Tercu

I quite frankly wasn’t expecting that one… Over the very first listen there wasn’t much that just hit me. It wasn’t overly impressive and it wasn’t really “novel” in any way, but I kept coming back to listening to that album. I didn’t really know why, but there was something drawing me towards it. And now, after quite a bunch of listens, I can safely say that I really like the album. It’s good, well varied, nicely constructed, and the fact that it’s a live recording (with ulterior overdubs) makes it all the more interesting.

Kooba Tercu is the work … Read more

News: Om Mani reunite!

The highly-praised French band Om Mani left us crying a river (the Seine river, precisely), when they announced that they had split up due to distance issues, since their drummer Mike moved to Tahiti, while the other band members stayed on continental France. However, it is with great joy that I announce you the return of the spiritual progressive metal band! They have created a bandcamp account to our great delight, since I never was able to find their EP before that, and that their full-length Apology went missing since their official website went down not so long ago. And … Read more

Review: Nathan Parker Smith – Not Dark Yet

Does the name Nathan Parker Smith ring a bell to you? No? Well, that is about to change. His album Not Dark Yet certainly would have been on our best of 2014 list if we only knew about it earlier, but life, as good as it is, can sometimes be unfair. However, it’s certainly not too late to give the album a spin, and marvel at its ingenuity, and pure goodness.

First of all, we should talk here not just about a band, but rather a big band (bold is to emphasize the bigness), or large ensemble. In addition to … Read more