Tag Archives: progressive metal

Best of Jazzcore 2021

by Dæv Tremblay


Jazzcore is one of these things that’s really, really good, but that doesn’t get a ton of attention, and doesn’t get a ton of releases either! It nonetheless covers a wide range of sounds, from the improvised to the purely written, from prog-adjacent to jazz-adjacent to… a lot of other things! It’s a great genre, and here’s my best picks for 2021.

Number Five: Skeletonized Quartet – Future Shock


Skeletonized has been around for some time, and they’ve been quite consistent with releases! Putting out a few releases every year at least! With Future Shock, you can hear their … Read more

Best of Jazz Fusion 2021

by Dæv Tremblay


Fusion, in this case, is when multiple genres blend together to form something new. Jazz fusion, then, is traditionally jazz mixed with rock, but I’m more generous than that, and I’m including any sort of genre-crossing in this list!

Number Five: Cory Wong & Dirty Loops – Turbo


This might be more cheesy than a Swiss raclette, but I’ll be damned if I didn’t have a ton of fun listening to this collaboration! As always with Dirty Loops, you can expect to throw your instrument in the trash and consider finding yourself a new hobby, but in the end it’s … Read more

Bushwhacker – A Fistful of Poison

by Matt Matheson

bushwhacker fistful cover

I can’t remember exactly how it happened, but one night I stumbled upon a relatively unknown cluster of Pacific deep-northwest metal bands. They were mostly average in terms of musicianship and appeal, but one act with a couple of singles from a forthcoming album stood above the pack. This band was Bushwhacker, and their since-fully released third album A Fistful of Poison is one of the most creative and polished offerings to come out of any metal scene in recent memory. To call this album “underrated” would be an understatement as big as the Montana sky; at the time … Read more

Dreadnought – Emergence

by Matt Matheson

With the release of their fourth full-length album in six years, a band I once called “one of the best, most progressive young bands in metal right now” is nearing a level of establishment and maturity that probably signifies we can ditch the “young” adjective. While not everyone knows who Dreadnought is, Dreadnought knows what it is, and they waste no time on Emergence reminding us, kicking off the album with more immediacy than ever before. On the first track of their 2013 debut, Lifewoven, they opened with haunting ethereal atmosphere, introducing us to flute, congas, and lilting vocals … Read more

Devin Townsend – Empath

by Jeff Nixon

Devin Townsend is an artist that has always been hard to classify. Releasing such a wide range of music, from death metal, to ambient, to new age, to progressive rock, to country. But to be confined to just one genre wouldn’t be Devin Townsend. Which is why he lets it all out on Empath, jumping from style to style at whim, and creating something truly unique as a result.

I reviewed the last Devin Townsend Project (DTP) album Transcendence back in 2016 saying it took Devin’s sound to a new level. Now that I reflect on it, that … Read more