██████ – Demo 2013

Just for their name, or lack of, I had to post about them. Luckily enough, ██████, Nic, or wedonthaveaname – call them what you will – make sweet music!

If you’re into the atmospheric black metal and the post-hardcore realms of music, you’ll probably dig those whose name shan’t be spoken. And keep in mind this is only a demo! A demo! And it’s really promising : some bands releases EPs or LPs that are way worse than this; I mean it sounds great!

There’s a heavy focus on instrumental sections, full of clean guitars, eery leads, cool rhythms and … Read more

Prymary – The Enemy Inside

Prymary is one hell of a band. In all seriousness, it’s comparable to Dream Theater, Redemption, Symphony X, etc. except that they are pretty much unknown by all. So if you feel concerned by the bands I just named, keep reading and spoil yourself!

The best thing Prymary has done, apart from this very album, is the arrival of Jackson Heskett on vocal duties. And just for this reason, I couldn’t recommend the band’s earlier works. Heskett’s voice just has that tone, it’s just so damn good! So yeah, Prymary’s music is quite similar to the bands I’ve mentioned earlier: … Read more

AeneA – Perennial EP

The fact that the album was released in 2011 should not make you overlook it, for it is one pretty damn fine piece of music! San Diego’s Aenea made some really strong progressive metal even in an age shrouded in djent copycats. For your information, this band isn’t one.

Deciding to ditch the new “progressive metal” sound (note the quotation marks and the italic letters) in favour of the more traditional yet more malleable prog-metal sound is always a winning bet. Don’t get me wrong, I love some djent from time to time, it’s just that there are so much … Read more

Kevin Suter – Pathways

Warp Prism’s guitarist Kevin Suter is releasing a so-called small EP that is in fact longer than some albums, at just under 30 minutes. This is a first good news! Another one being that it’s absolutely fantastic and a great listen.

Tagged only as “experimental metal”, I’d prefer the designation “instrumental progressive metal”, as I think it’s more representative of the work here. A nice mix of heavy prog, ambient elements, and a djent touch makes for an interesting album to listen – one that will let itself be listened as naturally as wine be drunk.

The riffs are rhythmic … Read more

Art Far Away – Verisimilitude & The Second Estate

If Cynic hadn’t gone in silence after the release of the acclaimed album Focus, they would’ve probably ended sounding like Art Far Away. I know, I know, that’s no small deal elevating any other band than Cynic to the rank of Cynic, but hear me out.

Art Far Away makes something that doesn’t sound too far from what I’d call “technical progressive post-hardcore”. In a sense, it’s not like Cynic’s Focus as it’s not quite “death metal”, but the presence of the vocoder just immediately makes you think of the band. It also adds that atmospheric touch to the sound … Read more