Artwork by Nick Steinhardt

Style: blackgaze (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Lantlôs, Møl, Sadness, Harakiri for the Sky
Country: US-CA
Release date: 28 March 2025

Whether you’re a black-metal purist, a blackgaze-hipster, or simply a fan of innovation in music, you’ve probably run into the story of Deafheaven at some point—the story of how they released an album with a pink cover filled to the brim with pretty melodies while also being undoubtedly rooted in black metal. I am, of course, talking about their 2013 album Sunbather, a black metal opus flavored with indie rock and screamo inspiration that also spawned some of the most toxic arguments in every music forum of the time. Just have a look at the reviews for the album on Metallum and you’ll find no middle point between 0s and 100s. Some took this new idea with open arms and celebrated it to no end, while more purist fans of the genre flat out rejected it as not kvlt, an embarrassment to metal. 

Where did I lie in this whole mess? Well, I got into metal in 2017, so I showed up to this war like Troy Barnes arriving with pizzas into a burning apartment. The comment warfare in random Loudwire videos addressing Sunbather certainly made me curious, and I approached it with an open mind. Not to my surprise, the purists were wrong, and I experienced one of the coolest releases of the decade whilst not paying attention in biology class. Deafheaven really knew how to deliver chaos with a hopeful tone. The lyrics were interesting, the structure of the album was impeccable, and every song left you feeling like you had just experienced an epic journey where you found hope in the darkest of times. Despite exploring territories both gritty and dreamy in subsequent works, Deafheaven never seemed to reach the level of critical acclaim born from that one pomegranate pink album. Not until this year, at least, as Deafheaven’s latest release, Lonely People with Power, has generated an equally fervent discourse in the music sphere. Bear with me as I try to explain why this LP has put our blackgaze buddies back on top of the music critic websites.

For starters, the sound of Lonely People with Power is… harsh. Even the heaviest tracks on previous LPs don’t compare to ‘’Doberman’’ or ‘’Magnolia’’; these songs have minimal blackgaze undertones and are simple black-metal bangers through and through. Everything is spot on here, be it the creative and energetic drum compositions from Daniel Tracy, providing a big sense of urgency and franticness, or Kerry Mckoy’s intricate guitar work that always manages to keep things interesting with a mixture of furious tremolo picking and agonizingly relentless melodies. Even when the lighter, dreamier moments of previous albums come, they usually function as huge climaxes after minutes of unrelenting tension. 

The entirety of Lonely People with Power feels like a short film of sorts, and these climaxes have a near-cinematic feel of experiencing a turning point in the story that keeps you on your toes, awaiting the next twist that is about to arise. Further exhibiting this cinematic vibe, Lonely People flows seamlessly whilst also utilizing breaks, silences or interludes before any larger shifts in sound. The ‘’Incidental’’ tracks all but confirm a three-act structure with how well they set up introduction, confrontation, and resolution. A particular highlight is “Incidental II”, in which a quiet, somber interlude is interrupted by a barrage of industrial sounds, expressing a sense of distress within the album’s story. This major tension setter effectively prepares the listener for the strongest point of the album—the tracks ‘’Revelator’’ and ‘’Body Behaviour’’. The former has a riff that will stick in your brain upon first listen and nag you until you hit replay, along with a melody that expresses panic and distress, which follows along the lyrics of self-loathing and irreparable ego and builds upon the previous track’s distressing atmosphere. On the other hand, ‘’Body Behaviour’’ leans as close as ever to their sound from Ordinary Corrupt Human Love, particularly its chorus that fuses dream pop and black metal. 

All the while, George Clarke delivers the best vocals of his career. Whether taking the lead or acting as a rhythmic addition to the chaos, each lyric is delivered with passion and anger, further raising the album’s already unbelievable intensity. Take, for example, the track “Amethyst”, where two minutes of spoken word build up allow for him to make a huge, dramatic entrance. Clarke sounds like an anguished man who’s desperate to stay alive, and the lyrics match, putting you in the shoes of a salvaged being who will not stop searching for a “glow”. Following its title, the album portrays people whose hunger for power consumes them to the point of being unable to form meaningful relationships or find a higher purpose in life. These people then try to find meaning and connect with others through morally dubious means—the exemplary “Body Behaviour” for instance explores two powerful men attempting to bond over the sexualization of women.

The only flaw I can pinpoint is that the album takes a bit to get going, with the first fifteen minutes or so missing the highlights of later tracks. But this slower start lends an even bigger punch to Lonely People’s middle and ending parts, making what follows all the more impactful. The whole album functions as one big blackgaze track in that sense, with the first half building unrelenting tension and the second finally releasing it all in incredible catharsis. And boy is it a payoff, for its second half is perfection. The penultimate track ‘’Winona’’ brings the listener an extreme amount of catharsis with what is arguably the album’s best climax. The track’s build-up thrives in its simplicity, scaling things back mid-song to a beautiful acoustic guitar melody before exploding with distortion and tremolo picking, unleashing a barrage of emotions while re-working that same melody. The climax itself is vintage Deafheaven—major-key melodies with black metal shrieks that make you feel like gravity no longer exists and you can finally float away into heaven. And if that wasn’t enough, closing track ‘’The Marvelous Orange Tree’’ delivers a slower, yet equally epic and heavenly atmosphere with dream-pop vocals and a blackened but mellowed out sound.

Twelve years ago, Deafheaven caused a rampage in the metal community with the controversial Sunbather. After the dust settled, a general consensus formed: Sunbather is a modern classic. And yet, Deafheaven refused to recycle their formula, opting to always offer something new with their releases. The fruits of innovation grew for over a decade and brought us yet another masterpiece in Lonely People With Power.

Recommended tracks: Revelator, Winona
You may also like: Skagos, Together to the Stars, Asunojokei, Constellatia, Violet Cold
Final verdict: 9/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page

Label: Roadrunner Records – Facebook

Deafheaven is:
– George Clarke (vocals)
– Kerry McCoy (guitars)
– Chris Johnson (bass)
– Daniel Tracy (drums)
– Shiv Mehra (guitars, keyboards)

The post Review: Deafheaven – Lonely People with Power appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Artwork by Noirs Dessins

Style: post-black metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Alcest, Deafheaven, An Autumn for Crippled Children, Violet Cold
Country: Canada
Release date: 08 February 2025

It really is strange to write reviews in this blog about bands like Unreqvited. They definitely have enough of a fan base that you’d think anyone into the band’s genre would know about them, but they’re also tiny in comparison to prog/black metal giants that need no introduction here. How do you begin this? Do I have to give you the whole explanation as to what they do and what they’re good at? Do I just jump to talking about the main changes to their sound and reviewing the meat of the album? I believe the name must at least ring a bell if you enjoy post-black and have ever actively searched for more bands past the Alcest/Deafheaven duo. But, for the uninitiated…

Unreqvited have been a mainstay in the post-black metal scene for the better part of a decade now. Known for their ability to create larger than life soundscapes that capture a simultaneous co-existence between beauty and agony, their instrumental approach to the genre has always had them leaning closer to the post in post-black. They’ve been incredibly prolific as well, with nine LPs in nine years, all having something that differentiated them from one another. Whether it’s the cinematic approach on Mosaic I, the orchestral elements in Empathica, or the more blackgaze-y influenced sound in Beautiful Ghosts, you know that when they release a new album, you’re bound to hear some changes in their sound. A Pathway to the Moon was released after the longest break between albums in the band’s existence, and it offers perhaps the band’s biggest change yet: Vocals! 

The impact of this change is felt immediately in the first minutes of Pathway; Instead of what would normally be a slow, dramatic instrumental build-up to set the scene, a minimal backing track supports the heavenly voice of William Melsness, who takes centre stage to create a heavenly atmosphere in a short overture. After the serene, ethereal opening, “The Antimatter’’ shatters that tranquility pulling the listener into a stark, near void-like soundscape. This trope really is about as post-black 101 as it gets, but the sharp contrast between both styles is something that wasn’t usually present in Unreqvited’s previous releases. Whereas previous works would see both the styles of black metal and post-rock co-existing, “The Antimatter’’ has these completely different ideas actively fighting each other. The first black metal chops leave a big impression on the listener; they come right out of the gate by displaying a sound so theatrical and dramatic that it may just get confused for a Xanthochroid song. Orchestral touches are spread all around the album in general, and they really add an extra layer of freshness to this release’s heaviest moments. Oh right, the tracks now have vocals, and I am a big fan of the harshes present as well! They are way grimmer than what I’ve come to expect in post-black metal, and their presence really adds to Pathway’s void-like soundscapes. 

I sadly have less positive things to say about the clean vocals. They’re serviceable by all means but fail to deliver that final kick to release all the tension that was built up during the harsher sections. Cleans in this genre can bring a lot of dynamism to the table, but here they’re mostly flat choruses with little to no memorable melodies. These cleans also expose one of my pet peeves with this album; its production. Whilst there’s nothing that sounds bad, it is simply far too clean and generic. I am far from a black metal purist, but previous Unreqvited releases had found that perfect middle point between clean instrumentals while also having a bit of rawness to it, especially to enhance the moments of absolute tension. And this flaw in its production is most obvious when the clean vocals are meant to express any type of strong emotion and fail to deliver. I will however admit that this production style fits Pathway’s lead single “The Starforger” quite well. A poppy, heavenly song with very serviceable choruses which leave a lasting memorable impression; it certainly works far better in a polished atmosphere where the clean vocals can deliver a catchy melody on top of very simple moody guitar licks. 

I know most of my feedback has been about the first half of this album and the reason is because the second half really doesn’t have a lot of noteworthy things to mention. The two distinct styles initially settle for a pleasant middle point in “Void Essence / Frozen Tears”, with the clean sections being especially memorable. However, the production still takes something away from the harsher melodies, and the track starts a very slow approach towards ending this journey. Whilst never getting close to being bad, the dipping point in the final three songs is felt, as every time I finished this album I was left with very little to say about this closing trio. One repeats the typical post-black 101 formula we’ve mentioned, only far slower and incredibly focused on its pop aspect; one’s a one minute interlude; and to close things off we get a very slow, albeit sonically pleasant closing track. “Departure: Everlasting Dream” does thrive with beautiful orchestral elements that give the feeling of ending a difficult journey and seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, but it would’ve served the album better had it not felt like we were already out of that tunnel fifteen minutes ago. 

All in all, A Pathway to the Moon delivers a pretty listening experience that’s too front-heavy to really strike a chord with me. The addition of vocals is a success, but Unreqvited still need to learn how to structure an album around them, as the flow of A Pathway to the Moon leaves a bit to be desired.   

Recommended tracks: The Anitmatter, The Starforger
You may also like: Nishaiar, Skyforest, Mare Cognitum, Vestige
Final verdict: 6.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives

Label: Prophecy Productions – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Unreqvited in question is:
– William Melsness (all instruments)

The post Review: Unreqvited – A Pathway to the Moon appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Album art by Detestor Graphics

Style: Post-black metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Deafhaven, Heretoir
Country: Sweden
Release date: 6 September 2024

I’ve had a soft spot for the type of black metal that’s watered down by other subgenres for as long as I’ve been reviewing music, so my love affair with post-black metal/blackgaze should be of little surprise. The manner in which it blends the raw intensity of black metal with ethereal and emotional flavours is akin to a cathartic ray of light—a way to show hope within the darkness. That combination is something that routinely plucks at my heartstrings like Nero fiddling away while Rome burns.

Together to the Stars is no exception—I was already familiar with their entire catalog, and admittedly very excited coming into this third release. Their previous two LPs had showcased the two sides to this band which I’ve grown to really like: a by-the-numbers, climax heavy post-black side on An Oblivion Above that delivered on long build ups and harrowingly beautiful production, and a rawer, crunchier blackgaze side with a bigger focus on standard songs and a heftier punch on As We Wither. However, the wide disconnect between both releases left me wondering what direction they’d take for their third release; would they create another completely different sound? Would they just repeat one of their previous sounds? Would they mix them both? In any case, if there’s one thing I can say, it’s that Together to the Stars did not disappoint. 

The Fragile Silence maintains the core songwriting process present in their debut and its heavenly atmosphere with some of the rawer, deeply emotional sections found in their sophomore. This creates an album that is at an all time high in terms of theatrics and angst; the guitar melodies accompanying the black metal blueprint feel grand and sweeping. Meanwhile, vocalist Franco Fuentes pulls off a performance that drowns you in anguish, building on grand melodies and climaxes, the few quieter sections that occur post climax haunted by this feeling of grief-stricken nostalgia. Add multiple orchestral breaks on top of all that and you’ve got an album that aims straight for your heart. 

Such a specific sound can be very hit or miss, but it definitely hits for me. I connected with The Fragile Silence the second that incredible first riff in “Mercurius” hit; a simple yet effective way to open an album with a beautiful, haunting melody that sends you back in time to a memory that feels both so close yet so distant’ it’s as if the dreampop soundscapes of Deafheaven blended itself with the cathartic combination of heavy riffs and strong melodies of subgenre mainstays like Heretoir. The shrieks join in shortly after while it straps in your belt and sends you down a typical black-metal soundscape of blast beats and tremolo riffs all the while maintaining strong major chord melodies with orchestral undertones. The tune then masterfully balances the grim atmosphere and hopeful melodies with the help of a few brief acoustic interludes that help space out the riff-fest present throughout the second half of the song. This core formula doesn’t change at all throughout the record, but clocking it at just over forty minutes means that Together to the Stars get the most out of this musical landscape without causing any ear fatigue.

While there are few apparent flaws to break The Fragile Silence, the production value isn’t quite as good as it could be. Together to the Stars thrive in their grandiosity and even manage to include some trickier instruments like violins without ruining the entire sound of a song. but some sections, particularly in the drums have an unnecessary rawness to try to enhance the emotions on display; this leads to the rhythm section disappearing into the background washing them out in an otherwise clear, crisp mix.

But even then, that’s only a very small issue in a general experience that connected with me on a level that little music has done in a while. The Fragile Silence is a marvelous display of how to do emotionally charged extreme metal, and while it might not bring anything you haven’t already heard to the table, it’ll make a fine addition to your collection of post-black albums for those times you need to be hit straight in the feels.

Recommended tracks: Mercurius, The Last Glacier
You may also like: Constellatia, Ba’al, Evergarden
Final verdict: 8/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page

Label: Northern Silence Productions – Bandcamp | Facebook

Together to the Stars is:
– David Steinmarck (keyboards, guitars, vocals)
– William Zackrisson (keyboards, guitars)
– Sebastian Ryderberg (bass)
– Magnus Brolin Stjärne (drums)

The post Review: Together to the Stars – The Fragile Silence appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: Progressive metal, metalcore (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Disillusion, Opeth, Born of Osiris
Country: Isle of Man
Release date: 02 July 2024

Isle of Man prog metalcore outfit Aeons have brute-forced me into waking from eternal reviewer slumber to once again check out their newest release, The Ghosts of What We Knew. Having already reviewed their previous two albums, Chris badgered me to death to check this out the moment it landed in our emails. Despite being slightly disappointed with their previous release Consequences, I was convinced that the potential Aeons showed on their debut was still present and that they’d just need to hone their craft a tad in order to put out something special. Their blend of groovy metalcore, memorable solos, acoustic passages and intricate conceptualization always proved that they were just a step away from greatness. It’d also seem like they did take their sweet time with this new release, taking a year longer than they did between their debut and sophomore. But how did that extra year fare out for them?

Despite a somewhat cliched acoustic guitar intro, the opening track “Noose” already shows a lot of signs of improvement as it delves straight into what defines Aeons as a band; thick, tight and heavy musicianship with influences from classic prog metal bands like Opeth but employed with enough restraint to not sound derivative. It’s a solid opening track, but maybe nothing that shows immediate improvement—that is until the song is about 2/3rds through. At this point, that generic, otherwise forgettable intro is reprised and developed as a segue into the final act of this song in a beautiful way, showcasing a sense of maturity that has blossomed within their songwriting.

The rest of The Ghosts of What We Knew doesn’t stray too far from this songwriting formula, but does have a few tricks up its sleeve. Take, for example,  “Blood”, in which they go all-out power ballad mode, something familiar from “Blight ” off Consequences. However, “Blood” is a clear improvement in this formula over “Blight”. The latter was a solid track but felt extremely derivative, a standard soft song that could’ve been written by a hundred other prog metal artists, while the former is tied to the band’s sonic identity whilst simultaneously pushing themselves to integrate a different style to their usual fare.

Something that also caught my attention was how the track list is structured; it’ll normally juggle between a longer, complex song and a shorter, more accessible track to avoid your ears fatiguing from overwhelming technicality. This becomes especially prevalent towards the second half of the album, where every track over six minutes is directly preceded and followed by a shorter track that allows you to catch your breath and ground yourself. This effectively sets up the big hitter of the album, a near twenty-minute-long epic “Ghosts”. This behemoth of a track effectively delivers what I believe to be this band’s magnum opus so far; it flies by its long length with incredible cohesion between some of the band’s best riffs and a couple of choruses that could even classify as ear worms. It also contains one of their best solos yet, with melodic dueling guitars fooling around with odd time signatures, creating a very memorable passage that sticks out immediately.

Even though the degree of consistency is something that’s worth praising, I also can’t help but feel like it at points hurts the album, especially at a rather lengthy sixty-six minutes. Getting some songs mixed up with each other is easy due to how similar they are compositionally even if they’re all executed equally well. This problem reaches its climax after the twenty minute epic, since it’s NOT the closer of the album. It’s followed by two tracks which, while far from bad, fail from justifying their placement towards the end after such an epic track that truly feels like it was the final chapter in this journey. The final track being a whopping 10 minutes really drives this point home; with it feeling like I’m being served a dessert right after I finished a large Sundae. It may be tasty and good, but I’m already too full from what I had.

All in all, The Ghosts of What We Knew left me with a better taste in my mouth than their sophomore did, but also kind of hoping that Aeons could once and for all work out ALL of their flaws and give me a truly great album to enjoy. They effectively recovered after an underwhelming sophomore release and struck a chord with their most complex track yet, but there’s still room for improvement. Luckily for them, they’ve figured out a blueprint for greatness; all they need to do now is understand where less means more, especially when it comes to trimming the track list in favor of a more focused album. 

Recommended tracks: Noose, Home, Ghosts
You may also like: No Terror in the Bang, Hope for the Dying, The Gorge, Hypnagone, The Offering
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Metal Archives page

Label: Sliptrick Records – Facebook | Official Website

Aeons is:
– Skippy Hilton (vocals)
– Si Harvey (guitars, backing vocals)
– Scott Sayer (guitars, backing vocals)
– Joe Holland (bass)
– Justin Wallace (drums)

The post Review: Aeons – The Ghosts of What We Knew appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: Extreme Metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Rivers of Nihil
Review by: Dylan
Country: Canada
Release date: 22 July, 2022

Wake is a returning band in our little blog. Their previous output released in 2020, Devouring Ruin, found its way to my ears during that god-awful pandemic that we are hopefully further away from than ever. Its abrasive yet melodically interesting nature, coupled with its great sense of self, is what made it one of the highlights from that year. And whilst I may have somewhat forgotten about it until their new album was coming up, going back to it did nothing but confirm the many praises I sung about that release 2 years ago. It was absolutely expected for their next album to not drift too far away from what made Devouring Rain a relative hit within the underground community. If it ain’t broke why fix it right? And this is something the band understood as well.

Once committed to said formula however, you are risking to sort of… dilute the originality of what once brought you critical acclaim. This is the reason why even prog giants go at times through major stylistic shifts once they exhaust all possible options in a particular “era”. Thought from Descent remains an excellent continuation of the Wake formula but does leave a question mark for their future thanks to how utterly similar it is to their previous output, without being exceptionally better (or worse) at anything. 

If I had to describe what it sounds like, I’d repeat what I said on Devouring Ruin: a fantastic mix up of just about every genre in extreme metal, with a spoonful of intricate rhythms/melodies to stand a cut above the rest. If we’re talking similar releases, think if Where Owls Know my Name had excellent production and no sax. “Swallow the Light” is a particular highlight of how this works; the song’s main drive is relentless, with a blast-beat driven riff that feels like it won’t ever let up… yet within all of this brutality they find a way to throw small yet effective guitar arpeggios that lead to an extra layer of melody that will stick with you as that highlight moment.

An aspect of this album that I found detrimental was its insistence on harsh vocals for every single moment. Quiet/atmospheric sections are a bit more frequent in this release, and I feel like instead of letting them breathe on its own or throw in some smooth cleans some heavily muted/distorted harshes are in place which just feel off with regards to the vibe those sections are going for. But that is a tiny complaint in a sea of excellence, since really, I can’t find anything else to call out as bad. Excellently produced extreme metal, with tight songwriting and tasty melodies is something that millions of bands can’t even dream of…

And yet I can’t really tell you to listen to this above Devouring Ruin or the other way around. They really are that interchangeable, I lean towards the predecessor because it is how I discovered them but one of either album is enough to crave my Wake hunger equally. This is just more songs in that ballpark, no more no less. I’m not about to diss this album for being as good as an AOTY contender but will end the review on this thought: Should a 3rd album release within this formula, that feels and sounds exactly the same as Devouring and Thought, it’d further dilue a once original and unique sound. Excellent addition to extreme metal collectors, but I couldn’t blame you if you just stuck to listening to one of the two albums in discussion.

Recommended tracks: Swallow the Light, Venerate (The Undoing of All)
You may also like: Hath, Replicant, Infernal Coil, Haunter
Final verdict: 7.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube | metal-archives

Label: Metal Blade – Website

Wake is:
– Kyle Ball (vocals)
– Arjun Gills (guitars)
– Ryan Kennedy (bass)
– Josh Brueckert (drums)
– Rob LaChance (guitars)

The post Review: Wake – Thought form Descent appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: Metalcore (mixed vocals)
Pick by: Dylan
Country: UK (Isle of Man)
Release date: 10 September, 2021

NOTE: The album was originally included in the “Albums We Missed in 2021” Issue of The Progressive Subway

Aeons is a returning band for us here, as their debut album A Tragic End was reviewed back in 2020 by me. While I remember having very few negatives to say about it, it sadly became part of a large list of albums I reviewed that while good… never really became a part of my rotation after I finished writing about said release. While this doesn’t necessarily mean that it was overrated by my standards, it does say something about how I had seemingly no interest to revisit thanks to its lack of freshness. 

Their follow-up is hardly the Consequences of my review, as it seems that they’ve gone and put out an album that is quite similar to their debut, only with a downgrade in its virtues and a pronunciation in its defects. What once was an original blend of prog death/metalcore with some genre tropes done competently has become a shallow blend of prog death/metalcore with genre tropes well implemented.

Allow me to explain; this release can be separated into 3 types of songs. The straight core-prog song with verse/chorus/verse that comes with a harsh/clean/harsh structure to complement it, the Opeth-core fusion songs that offer a bit more depth in their songwriting with longer clean sections, and yet another Opeth influenced style that’s pretty much just ripping them off. The straight core-prog songs are serviceable mostly carried out by their catchy choruses to keep you distracted from somewhat generic verses. As far as the Opeth side of things goes, the rip-off is surprisingly the best song on the album. While I wouldn’t quite call it a 1 to 1 bastardization of them, it’s undeniable that “Blight” shares many aspects of “Death Whispered a Lullaby” from Damnation, yet it seems to build upon the fantastic song that it is, instead of half-assing a copy. I actually ended up liking the rip off more than the original, thanks to the better execution in its chorus.

Unfortunately, most of the album doesn’t rely on Damnation worship but rather traditional Opeth worship with a slice of metalcore. This recipe unfortunately falls in the serviceable but underwhelming category, with nothing to point as a significant flaw yet on the other hand very little to discuss positively. The instrumentation awkwardly tries to come up with a lot of riffs that aren’t too impressive (also present in the shorter tracks but at least avoidable in the choruses), the vocals are impressive but not enough to carry out the lengthy songs, the drumming is serviceable but will never blow your mind… It’s amazingly middle of the road. Unfortunately, thanks to the nature of their structure, these songs are also what carry out a large portion of the album, effectively pronouncing their flaws to the point of degrading the good/great stuff that comes in between them.

So essentially, the traditional Opeth worship became worse, the trope-y songs got slightly better, and we got a pretty great Damnation-esque song. I can’t in good faith recommend Consequences as a complete piece, but can’t also write it off in its entirety thanks to some pretty enjoyable tracks that unfortunately made up the minority of the album. Take my recommended songs and go!

Recommended tracks: Blight, Rubicon
Recommended for fans of: Opeth, Periphery, Born of Osiris, BEAR
You May Also Like: Arjuna’s Eye
Final Verdict: 6/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page

Label: Independent

Aeons is:
– Skippy Hilton (vocals)
– Joe Holland (bass)
– Justin Wallace (drums)
– Scott Sayer (guitar)
– Si Harvey (guitar, vocals)

The post Review: Aeons – Consequences appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: post-black (mixed (mostly harsh) vocals)
Review by: Dylan
Country: US-NY
Release date: 29 October, 2021

A good while ago, I was really into reviewing post black acts. This was thanks to the fact that I’d recently gotten into the genre, and with not many bands to explore outside the “big” ones (Like Alcest or Deafheaven) I simply started to sample artists labelled as such in Metal-Archives, hoping to strike gold. Doing this so insistently turned out to be a double edged sword: On one edge, I had found a plethora of bands to add to my library and enjoy, while on the other I had become far more picky with the genre. It really became a case of feeling like the new album that just came out sounding exactly like another 100 bands you’ve listened to already, which led me to understand post black’s limitations as a genre, in its very short lived 16 years of existence.

Still I accepted that eventually the genre was going to naturally branch out to other limits, so I keep myself in the scene to see what’s going on with it. Thus came Vivid Illusion with its self-titled output, which they said took about 5 years to finish. I was immediately excited upon hearing this, surely something way more interesting than your typical blackgaze album’s been cooking up under their sleeve right? They MUST have come up with brilliant, mind-blowing stuff if it took 5yrs to write an album of this genre, right?

Wrong. Vivid Illusion is like a student’s first post black album written for a project in metal university. Would it get a pass in the semester? Absolutely! Maybe even with a great grade. But the problem that I’ve run into when exploring this genre persists, as I can’t help but feel I’ve already heard this album in another 10 bands despite them pre-dating this release by years or even a decade. It has become so formulaic at this point that it is really hard to remain engaged unless said formula has got some of the best melodies in the genre, and while the stuff that’s on offer here is not bad, it’s also a far cry from a top album in the blackgaze scene.

With all of this in consideration, I can’t in good faith wholeheartedly recommend Vivid Illusion as it pans in comparison to its influences that drive the album forward. However, not everything here is a miss! So if you’re REALLY into post black, or just wanna have some relaxingly extreme music to do stuff to, this may be up your alley.

Recommended tracks: Beacon, First time Seeing with my Eyes Closed
Recommended for fans of: MOL, Deafheaven
You may also like: Show me a Dinosaur, Holy Fawn
Final verdict: 6/10

Related links: bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Metal Archives

Label: Independent

Vivid Illusion is:
– Aki McCullough (guitars, bass, vocals, synths)
– Ant Taboada (guitars, bass, vocals, synths)

The post Review: Vivid Illusion – Vivid Illusion appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: power (clean vocals)
Review by: Dylan
Country: US-NY
Release date: 24 September, 2021

I love cheese. Not only the thing produced using cow milk and what not, but rather what’s defined as over the top happiness major key oriented music. ShadowStrike is indeed, a band that milks the hell out of major key instrumentation that soars into your ears as they tell you an epic tale influenced by mythological creatures and legendary adventures. Thanks to that, I quickly fell in love when introduced to them by their debut Legends of Human Spirit. Said album peaked with notes so utterly happy and choruses so utterly operatic that you couldn’t help but feel the Gruyere leaking through your earholes… and I absolutely adored that. Thanks to this, it is evident as to why I’m here reviewing their follow up EP, given how I couldn’t stop gushing over the only other thing they had released up to now.

But with great power comes great responsibility, and that is living up to a phenomenal debut with a 3 song EP. Did ShadowStrike provide the goods of a musical landscape grandiose enough to create a DnD campaign out of, or did it succumb to a sophomore slump with the depth of string cheese?

Well, to start things off I’d like to reassure anyone familiar with these guys that yes, the music itself is still great. You can see a natural progression from the debut but it is far from unrecognizable, as the way songs are structured, riffs are written, and chorus are performed is really similar to what came in their first outing. Guitars soar with notes as acute as possible, drums pound you with double bass and “boot-camp booty-camp” beats, vocals send you flying to the skies on top of a dragon holding that sword… all that power metal goodness. The opening track is an absolute highlight, screaming memorability with a chorus that will stay in your head for hours on end, with songwriting that’s intricate enough without overwhelming the listener making him unable to focus on the greatness of it all. And the other two tracks, while not at the peak of what came before them, still provide genuinely enjoyable, easy to digest but musically intelligent tunes. Are you now tempted to play the album yourself after my (very) positive description of the album? Well, I’m afraid to tell you that this was all a setup for a punchline. And that punchline comes after this ad- uh, I mean after this paragraph ends…

Simply put, all of that is massively hindered by one thing: They got the production wrong.

And yes, I know saying a band got something “wrong” is entirely subject to my views on how power metal is supposed to be produced, but DAMN if the way it is done here isn’t my thing at all. To provide further context, I thought their debut’s production was brilliant! To some, a bit overproduced (and I can say they have the right to say that especially considering the drums) but still just what I needed out of that album. This is like taking the overproduction criticism and taking it far, far too much the other way. Drums are have that “tupy tupy tup” feel from old metal records that didn’t know how to record double bass, rhythmic leads are too muffled with each other, and the vocals… they sound like they’re being sung through a megaphone! The latter is by far the biggest offender, since they were so cleanly produced before this EP that I can’t help but feel like the downgrade is massive. Like eating a good Roquefort and coming back to cheeze whiz, it’s shocking.

This isn’t particularly an EP ruining issue, but it sure as hell took a good point away from the album. Had they declined on their songwriting I probably would’ve given this a score way harsher than what it stands at right now, but luckily they absolutely knew what they were doing then. For now, Fables and Folklore is a middle-of-the-road album for ShadowStrike‘s career which has leaps of potential to become a stadium filling band.

Recommended tracks: Once upon a Beginning
Recommended for fans of: DragonForce, Rhapsody
You may also like: Maestrick
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page

Label: Independent

ShadowStrike is:
– Matt Krais (vocals, guitars)
– Sean Walls, Ryan Patane, Jon Krais (guitars)
– Jon Krais (bass)
– Cory Hofing (drums)
– Ryan Patane (keyboard)
etc.

The post Review: ShadowStrike – Fables & Folklore appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: djent/core (instrumental)
Review by: Dylan
Country: US-TN
Release date: 27 August, 2021

Woah, it’s been a while readers! It seems that my engines are running a bit more motivated to find music thanks to my WIP “The Story of Argentinian Prog” post, so I thought I’d hit up our album catalogue and see if I could find myself something neat to tidy over my writing moments on said post. What I got was this fusion of djent, space-y vibes and atmosphere that Sham Shaman offered.

And it sure as hell makes up for an interesting listen, though perhaps not the most polished one. Anagnorisis (I seriously have to look up the title every time I try to spell it) embraces complexity in its instrumentation, usually with guitar driven hooks/riffs where the rest of your usual instruments take a back seat to let you digest the main course with no distractions. This means two things; that the guitars have been given extra love and care, but because of it, the rhythm section is almost non-existent in its qualities. Thanks to that, and it being a really djenty album with an abundance of downtuned riffage, makes it clear to me that the target audience is rather niche. Particularly a type of guy you probably know, who listens to hundreds of bands like these and is in one himself, the shy prog guitarist who owns a 7-string and writes music in his bedroom, aspiring to become the next Plini. Thankfully, it finds success in its guitar work being so well constructed that it manages to be enjoyable even to those not into this very particular type of scene. I myself can’t play a power chord to save my life but found myself easily engaged in the melodies presented by this abrasive wall of sound with just a touch of atmosphere.

It also justifies its abrasiveness in the intense moments with (mostly) well paced interludes that function not only as a proper rest to your ears but a Segway into whatever the song is going towards. A variety of soundscapes, synths, acoustic guitars and more allow for a variety in the execution of said interludes that make them not feel repetitive and at times the highlight of the track. Now, I say it mostly works because the one time that it didn’t, it nearly ruined a track. I’m talking about “Shadows Cast”, ironically the longest track in this short affair, where there is an usage of glitch-out/crashing-down effect to transition us from main-verse to interlude and backwards… not a bad idea per-se, but the effects are so abrasive that you genuinely believe something is up with your device and also, makes you instinctively cover your ears. While I’m all in for utilizing music for more things than pure melody, this is a case of taking it too far.

All in all, Sham Shaman manages to achieve a successful attempt into a genre that is currently way overblown with releases, making solid footing with great knowledge of guitar-oriented songwriting. It’s only big flaw can nearly ruin its longest track, but I’m willing to look past that thanks to the other 35 or so minutes of satisfying music.

Recommended tracks: Image of Swarms, For the Fleeting Dove
Recommended for fans of: dj0nt
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram

Label: Independent

Sham Shaman is:
– Evan Kubick (all instruments)

The post Review: Sham Shaman – Anagnorisis appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: atmospheric sludge (instrumental)
Review by: Dylan
Country: United Kingdom
Release date: 6 August, 2021

Even though I’m taking a sort of break from reviews, I couldn’t help but feel intrigued about Existence is Temporary, an EP which looked to infuse Sludgy riffs with a sense of dreaminess that I found instantly attractive. This release was created by Grace Hayhurst, who I had a chat or two with in the Progressive Metal discord server but had no idea she was up to something like this until she hit us with the promo release. I was immediately met with an ethereal landscape surrounded by tight musicianship that perfectly knew how to drive a song forward, and make it be instantly memorable with no lyrics (bar a spoken word interlude).

Its main style is really quite curious. While the riffs are certainly driven by heaviness/distortion, with a sense of chunkiness willing to take even the strongest men down, there’s a contrasting beauty to the songwriting with the atmosphere around it. It is like the world is falling down around you, yet you remain reflective about it as you watch it unfold before your eyes (made obvious on the spoken word interlude “Existence is Temporary” where the idea of the EPs concept is made clear). This “philosophical” air about the release is best felt on any section that includes a keyboard. This isn’t uncommon per-se in atmospheric releases as it is a rather frequently used resource for sections where it all quiets down, before the other instruments build themselves back up to destroy you. But in Existence is Temporary it is frequently used both in interludes and as the cherry on top of the already complex instrumentation to give it an edge in songwriting which is not only really unique, but very well accomplished too. The way it is used to drive songs forward gives me a Steven Wilson vibe immediately, but in a way where you feel an artist is wearing its influences whilst understanding what makes them good.

This beautiful recipe was dead-set on success the moment it all came together. It just makes sense, almost as if the songs are progressing naturally from what came before, until it reaches a natural, satisfactory conclusion. It’s a shame that it is one of the few releases out there that I feel are too short for their own good. The concepts it presents (even if delivered instrumentally) are just too deep for it to only last 25 minutes in my opinion, it could’ve gone on for another 15 minutes and I’m sure it would’ve kicked even more ass. But to be fair, every song in this EP seriously screams perfectionism, so it can’t have been easy to write even more of them. All in all, Existence is Temporary is not only a massive win for Grace Hayhurst, but also a phenomenal release to build a career out of.

Recommended tracks: Negative Incline, The Search for Purpose
Recommended for fans of: Steven Wilson, Mastodon, Toska
Final verdict: 8.75/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Twitter | last.fm

Label: Independent

Grace Hayhurst is:
– Grace Hayhurst (all instruments)

The post Review: Grace Hayhurst – Existence is Temporary appeared first on The Progressive Subway.