Tag Archives: progressive

Antlion – The Prescient

by Dæv Tremblay

Antlion is a progressive death metal quartet from Canada’s capital, Ottawa. Their debut album, The Prescient, came out on October 23rd.

First of all, they don’t do anything spectacularly out of the norm, but they do it well enough to keep it an interesting, and at times engaging, listen. There’s plenty of time signature changes and modulations throughout the album, the riffs are complex and driving, and the overall sound is tight. It just makes you try and fail to headbang to it. The album’s length is decent, giving you just enough juice to enjoy before getting overwhelmed, and … Read more

Watchtower released 3 new singles!

by Dæv Tremblay

WatchTower-ArgumentsAgainstDesignFive years after they offered their first glimpse of Mathematics with “The Size of Matter”, Watchtower, one of the first technical metal bands, have published three new songs on CD Baby, available for 99 cents each.

Arguments Against Design, Technology Inaction and M-Theory Overture follow in the footsteps of The Size of Matter but, more importantly, stay close to their tech-thrash roots, like on their 1989 album “Control and Resistance”. There are crazy odd time signatures, cool and intricate riffs, the weird and unique soloing of Mr. Jarzombek, impressive bass and drums chops, and high-pitched vocals.

So, Mathematics… Read more

Wildernessking – Mystical Future

by Dæv Tremblay

12106826_1149703221723915_927854611030029327_nComing all the way from South Africa is Wildernessking, the progressive atmospheric black metal band, releasing their second full-length album Mystical Future, after their 2012 debut and two EP’s in the meantime.

With extensive songs, often longer than 8 minutes, they give themselves time to patiently lay down an atmospheric vibe that will be fully exploited throughout the song. This is most easily noticeable with the most calm song “To Transcend” because of the clean sound, but it remains true for the other songs, at least from what I could tell. That’s a common trait among atmospheric black … Read more

Serious Beak – Ankaa, an overanalysis of

by Dæv Tremblay

After their wildly acclaimed debut album “Huxwhukw” back in 2011, we didn’t hear much from Australia’s psychedelic progressive band Serious Beak. I was much delighted when they announced a sophomore album under the name of Ankaa and released a single for it, “Red (Laniocera hypopyrra)”.

First of all, “Ankaa”, from my best suppositions, comes from the Arabic العنقاء, al-ʿanqā’, which means “the phoenix”. Now, a Phoenix is a mythological bird related to the sun, and that lives cyclically. Ankaa is also a star, otherwise known as α Phoenicis, a rather common binary star that will … Read more