Style: Prog Metal, Prog Rock, Experimental
Review by: Ryan
Country: Australia
Release date: Many.

Toehider, the prolific Australian project that combines visual art and progressive music, are in the midst of releasing 12 EPs in 12 months. The first four releases contained songs in the style Toehider is mostly known for, 80’s style synthpop about Teen Wolf, medieval acoustic music, and conceptual prog metal. Those reviews can be found here. Now the second 4 EPs continue the chaos with power metal, fake cartoon theme songs about ducks, a 70s-style prog rock epic, and a spoken word cyberpunk synth-driven lullaby. 

EP 5 – Take on a Tank

Style: Prog, Power Metal, Thrash Metal
Recommended for Fans of: Sonata Arctica, Iron Maiden, Nanowar of Steel
Release date: Patreon – July 2, 2023 | Public – November 30, 2023

Picking up on the style he previously flirted with on 2017’s “Millions of Musketeers” from the album Good, and “How Much for that Dragon Tooth” from 2020’s I Like It, Toehider has gone full bore into that small gap between power metal and NWOBHM. Take on a Tank is a cocktail equal parts Iron Maiden and Sonata Arctica served with a fine cheese and a dash of Salt. It’s hard to choosing the strongest track of the four is hard since they all employ the style so well, but my personal favorite is the (not bird, but) batshit “You Love Heavy Metal… Don’t You?”: an ode to that kinship we’ve all experienced when randomly meeting another metal fan.

EP 6 – Children of the Sun 3: A Collection of Cartoon Theme Songs from an Alternate Timeline in Which All Cartoons Are Duck-Themed

Style: Saturday Morning Cartoon Theme Songs
Release date: Patreon – July 25, 2023 | Public – January 18, 2024

You know how you’ve always desperately wanted to know what theme songs to Saturday morning cartoons would sound like if we lived in a universe where every cartoon was about ducks? Well, Toehider has answered that call with the third installment of his cartoon theme song cover series, Children of the Sun.  Only this time, he’s broken through the multiversal barrier to bring us covers from the duck dimension. We get both the opening theme and end credits to cartoons including Truck the Duck (the subject of Andrew Saltmarsh’s Toehider Patreon-exclusive comic book), Quackbeard the fowl pirate, and Dr. Mallard, the quack celebrity therapist. We also get to revisit an old friend introduced on Quit Forever with the 16-bit theme to Uncle Aqua’s videogame tie-in, which I’m sure was a huge hit in the world of ducks.

EP 7 – Toad Hirer

Style: 70’s Prog Epic / Rock Opera
Recommended for Fans of: Rush, Gentle Giant, Kansas
Release date: Patreon – August 31, 2023 | Public – February 16, 2024

And now we enter the Toe-emple of Syrinx with (Toe-wenty112?) Toehider’s Toad Hirer, is an eighteen-and-a-half minute long 70’s style epic. The rock opera follows a tick-averted clockmaker who employs toads to craft his tock-only timepieces and the goings-on in his workshop – including one worker who begins to give birth through her back. The song flows through a myriad 70’s influenced styles like Rush, Gentle Giant, and maybe a dash of Jesus Christ Superstar all enveloped in Toehider’s whimsical world. Also, just in case you find either the vocals or the music distracting, Mike has graciously included both an instrumental and a vocals-only version of the song for your listening pleasure.

EP 8 – Stereo Night Ash: Music for Relaxation, Meditation, Decatastrophizing and Deep Sleep

Style: Spoken Word, Synth, White Noise
Recommended for Fans of: Devin Townsend, Grails
Release date: Patreon – October 26, 2023 | Public – March 18, 2024

An even more left field release from Toehider, Stereo Night Ash is an ambient project specifically made to listen to when one needs to de-stress, meditate, or relax. It harkens back to Devin Townsend’s Ghost and Snuggles and his current ongoing project DreamPeace, but with a spoken word cyberpunk story overlaid. Even the artwork is very unlike anything in Ol’ Salty’s past portfolio. While this release may be quite divisive, it absolutely nails exactly what it’s going for with its dreamy, soothing textures, and Mike’s nearly ASMR narration.

With this second installment, Toehider has gone even further into the experimental. This collection will mostly be love it or hate it for many. I do find myself mostly forgetting about both Children of the Sun 3 and Stereo Night Ash, while absolutely loving Take on a Tank and Toad Hirer. That being said, at this time, two more EPs are available on Toehider’s Patreon that may be some of his most interesting work to date. With the public releases looming and only two more EPs to complete, this experiment thus far has been largely successful with only a few middling moments.

Recommended Tracks: Meet Me at the Stronghold, You Love Heavy Metal… Don’t You?, Quackbeard!, Toad Hirer

Final Verdict: 7/10
Related Links: Official Website | Bandcamp | Spotify | Patreon | Twitch | YouTube | Facebook
Label: Toehider
Toehider is:
Mike Mills: All Instruments, Vocals, Production
Andrew Saltmarsh – Art

The post Review: Toehider – XII in XII in MMXXIII – Part 2 appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Honorable mentions:

• Aviations – Luminaria
• Sleep Token – Take Me Back to Eden
• Closure in Moscow – Soft Hell
• The Ocean – Holocene
• Earthside – Let the Truth Speak

10. TEMIC – Terror Management Theory
Style: progressive metal, electro-prog (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Leprous, Haken, Caligula’s Horse

TEMIC is a new supergroup featuring members of Haken, Maraton, Arkentype, Neil Morse Band, and Shattered Fortress. Throughout Terror Management Theory, TEMIC prove that they’re more than just the sum of their parts. Despite hailing from some big names in the prog-o-verse, they’ve forged their own path. With Terror Management Theory releasing rather late in the year, I haven’t been able to spend much time with the album, but what I have heard made it clear that TEMIC needed to be on this list.

Recommended tracks: Falling Away, Count Your Losses, Mothallah
Related links: original review | Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook

9. tB Project – Hourglass of Exile
Style: progressive metal/rock (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Teramaze, Ayreon, Voyager

I first learned of Taylor Batory’s music project, tB Project, during last year’s High Taste at Home live stream. As a big fan of UK band Azure, I was pleasantly surprised to see Chris Sampson pulling double duty performing lead vocals for both bands. Chris’s high-flying voice over Taylor’s virtuoso are a winning combination on Hourglass of Exile. While not a perfect album, I still found it to be one of the more interesting offerings this year.

Recommended tracks: The Messengers, Zeal/Appeal
Related links: original review | Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook

8. Nospūn – Opus
Style: traditional progressive metal (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Haken, Native Construct, Caligula’s Horse, Dream Theater

I’ll admit, I’m a little late to the Nospūn party. I did listen to Opus when it first released, but it wasn’t until very recently that I’ve revisited the album and really took it all in. It seems every year, a band comes out of nowhere with a hugely ambitious debut that rivals the efforts of seasoned veterans, and Nospūn is that band for 2023. Opus is a snapshot of a brand new band already at the top of their game.

Recommended tracks: The Death of Simpson, Earwyrm, Within the Realm of Possibility
Related links: original review | Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook

7. Vulture Industries – Ghosts from the Past
Style: progressive metal, avant-garde metal, alternative metal (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Arcturus, Thy Catafalque, Ghost

Avant-garde tends to be the overlooked subgenre of prog. Vulture Industries have created five high-quality avant-garde prog metal albums since their debut in 2007 and Ghosts from the Past finds the band just as bizarre and energetic as they’ve ever been, even if this album is a bit more straightforward than previous records. Bjørnar Nilsen’s unique operatic vocals lead the charge backed by the band’s crunchy rhythms and dark vaudevillian melodies creating a truly entertaining record.

Recommended tracks: Saturn Devouring His Young, Deeper, Tyrants Weep Alone
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook

6. Head With Wings – Without Intervention
Style: progressive rock, alternative rock (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Anathema, Rishloo, Riverside

With their first album being produced by two members of Earthside and Without Intervention by Vikram Shankar of Lux Terminus, Head With Wings comes with some heavy-hitting endorsements. While their sound is quite disparate from the aforementioned bands, there is a reason these artists have collaborated with Head With Wings. With mostly clean guitar tones, wavering vocals, and a hard-hitting rhythm section, Without Intervention becomes a cinematic experience you should not miss.

Recommended tracks: The Dream Broker, Galaxy, Absolute Zero
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook

5. Stoneside. – God of the Mountain
Style: progressive metal, djent (mostly clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Sleep Token, Katatonia

With the unprecedented meteoric rise of Sleep Token’s popularity this year, people have been clamoring for other bands that occupy a similar sonic space. Out of all those suggested, Stoneside. are easily the most interesting group listed. I wouldn’t say they really sound all that much like Sleep Token but they share a similar aesthetic with their masked anonymity and utilize soft ethereal passages in tandem with crushing djenty moments. The band states that they tell the stories of the dead through their music, which can be heard through the wide range of emotions prevalent throughout God of the Mountain.

Recommended tracks: Dust Cloud, Foothills, Avalanche
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook

4. Omnerod – The Amensal Rise
Style: progressive death metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Devin Townsend, Opeth, Gorguts (Mixed Vocals)

Omnerod fall into a bewildering void between dissonance and melody. Crushing rhythms, sinister ambience, and tortured screams intermingle with jazzy leads and epic melodic cleans. The Amensal Rise is a practice through meditative chaos, enveloping the mind in sweet darkness. Omnerod’s sound may be quite contradictory, but the balance they’ve found on The Amensal Rise makes it required listening from this year. 

Recommended tracks: Satellites, Spore, Magnets
Related links: original review | Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook

3. East of the Wall – A Neutral Second
Style: progressive metal, post-metal, post-hardcore (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Intronaut, ISIS, The Mars Volta, Mastodon

The dreamy progressive post-metal collective are back with their sixth full-length (seventh if you count their previous life as The Postman Syndrome) and they haven’t lost an ounce of their genius. Despite multiple line-up changes, East of the Wall have retained their unique identity in the sludge-o-sphere. They use a lot of the same tools as their contemporaries like psychedelia, prog, adventurous soundscapes, but it’s the way that they utilize these pieces that truly places them in a league of their own. 

Recommended tracks: Detonator Gauntlet, Momentum Mori, Autosomal Recessive
Related links: original review | Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook

2. Alkaloid – Numen
Style: progressive death metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Obscura, Gorod, Cynic

Progressive death metal’s premier Lovecraftian supergroup rises from the shadowy depths once more with their third full-length album Numen. Building off of their accomplishments with their previous two releases, Alkaloid have proven once again that they are one of the most engaging and inventive groups in the genre. From their penchant for dank stygian grooves to I Can’t Believe It’s Not Pop hooks to otherworldly solos, Alkaloid demand attention from the listener. Cosmic horror has never been so damn fun.

Recommended tracks: The Cambrian Explosion, Clusterfuck, Alpha Aur
Related links: original review | Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook

1. The World is Quiet Here – Zon
Style: progressive metal, metalcore (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Between the Buried and Me, Black Crown Initiate, Rivers of Nihil

On their second full length release, Zon, The World is Quiet Here are anything but quiet. They’ve employed new vocalist Lou Kelly whose trademark ultra-low cleans and contorted-creature harsh vocals deploy a unique element over the band’s controlled chaos. Additionally, with guest musicians Poh Hock (Native Construct, Replacire), Max Moberry (Others By No One, Flummox), and Ivan Chopik (Painted in Exile), Zon is a wealth of progressive mastery. Despite releasing in January, Zon remains the year’s best underground release.

Recommended tracks: White Sun, Ossuary, Moonlighter
Related links: original review | Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook

The post Ryan’s Top 10 Albums of 2023! appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: Prog Metal, Prog Rock, Experimental, Synthpop, Medievel, Etc.
Recommended for Fans of: Ayreon, Devin Townsend, Coheed and Cambria
Country: Australia
Release date: 2023 – 2024

Since their conception circa 2008, Australian prog outfit Toehider has had only two official band members: Mike Mills who plays every instrument, writes the lyrics, provides vocals, and records and mixes the music, and Andrew Saltmarsh who creates all of the visual artwork. In 2012 the pair pursued an unprecedented project: twelve EPs in as many months. The experiment proved a success, and now a decade later, they’re doing it again. Everything began in February over on the Toehider Patreon where they’ve been releasing one EP per month for a year and releasing them to the public on a six-month delay. I will be covering the EPs in batches of four as they are released publicly.

EP 1 – Quit Forever?

Style: Prog Metal
Release date: Patreon – February 23, 2023 | Public – August 4, 2023

The first EP Quit Forever? is basically a collection of Toehider-style Toehider songs. It serves as a perfect entry point to the twelve EPs by setting a baseline for what to expect moving forward: huge riffs, soaring vocals, genre shifts, attention to detail, and lyrics that range from goofy fables to more serious subject matter. All of these tenets are realized on tracks like “Uncle Aqua” and “Nobody Even Really Liked it in There But Me,” with the former being a fast-paced jaunty tune and the latter a slower but no less impactful track with a nice feathered orchestral cap atop its noggin. 

“Every Day I Wake Up In The Morning and I Fail! Fail! Fail!” calls back to “I Like It” from the album of the same name being an amalgam of Coheed and Cambria at their poppiest and unexpected Devin Townsend heaviness. With ’80s-infused synth sections and call-and-response vocal melodies followed by harsh vocal-led breakdowns, “EDIWUITMAIFFF” (what an acronym) is a jolly track with injections of self-doubt and mental darkness.

The title track “Quit Forever” is a piano and orchestral-driven ballad pulled from a strange sad musical seemingly musing on that old demon known as imposter syndrome. Any creator can likely identify with the feeling of not being good enough and the struggle in making art. Sometimes it does feel easier to simply “Quit Forever.”

EP 2 – Snapshots from Beacontown Spring Dance 1985

Style: Prog Rock, Synthpop, 80’s
Recommended for Fans of: Tears for Fears, Voyager, Toto
Release date: Patreon – March 22, 2023 | Public – September 1, 2023

EP number two, Snapshots From Beacontown Spring Dance ‘85 takes place in the Teen Wolf universe from the perspective of multiple side characters. It’s a synth-laden romp that would not sound out of place in a particularly edgy John Hughes film. “Animal In Your Eyes” may be the runaway hit from this EP with huge ‘80s tone and riffage throughout with a prog sprinkle on top. This is also true for all four tracks on “Snapshots.” It reminds me of what Devin Townsend once said about his album Ki, and I’m paraphrasing, “Every time it wants to get heavy, it gets reigned back in.” Toehider gets proggy multiple times here, but quickly pulls it back to The Breakfast Club. It’s so well done, I’ve been able to secretly sneak a few tracks from this EP into the 80’s Sunday playlist at work and nobody has noticed. 

No 80s album would be complete without a ballad or two and that’s where “You’d Think That I’d Be Used To It By Now” comes in. It’s the part of the movie that features a montage of the main characters at their low point, but they’re back to prove to the world that they are the main character and deserve to be treated as such. Saxophone comes back from “Pack it Up” to add to the emotional weight.

Final track “Keep Going for Me” almost serves as the end credits. I can see the scrolling text with a small blooper window on the side.

EP 3 – The Four Castles of Stelcoaryn

Style: Prog Rock, Acoustic, Medieval
Release date: Patreon – April 24, 2023 | Public – October 6, 2023

And now for something completely different. The third EP The Four Castles of Stelcoaryn is an acoustic medieval style album that would not sound out of place at a RenFaire. It’s a concept album about an ancient land called Stelcoaryn that has four identical castles within its lands. You may have already guessed that from the name, but what you couldn’t guess is what’s coming next. 

With acoustic guitar, flutes, and absurd lyrics Four Castles is like if Blind Guardian’s “The Bard’s Song” came out of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The EP begins with “Filly Folly Castle” a bardic tune about choosing a king by the candidates flicking each other in the belly button. For some reason this duel also takes place in the kitchen. Meanwhile, stories are unfolding at the other castles that include a hero on a classic RPG-style quest and a man really misses a goat.

EP 4 – Horse EP

Style: Prog Metal, Folk, Western, Sludge
Release date: Patreon – May 23, 2023 | Public – November 3, 2023

“Horse Song” picks up on a story thread that has been sewn through many previous Toehider songs following a character named Malcolm. The ethos began with “Malcolm, Dust ‘Em,” and continued through “What Kind of Creature Am I?,” “I’ve Been So Happy Living Down Here In the Water,” and “Concerning Lix & Fairs.” “Horse Song” is a classic Toehider prog fable containing a fantastic reprise from “What Kind of Creature Am I?” It’s a story-forward song with many progressive moments.

“How Do I Dial It Down?” uncharacteristically features a rare deep vocal performance and a darker lyrical subject matter from Mike Mills. Harkening back to “Quit Forever” this song explores the trappings of being in the public eye and measuring up to what people now expect based on your past offerings.

“Nobody Wants to Hear Another Song About Your Heart” is the internal dialogue of every artist. That gnawing feeling one gets when creating something: wondering if anyone else will enjoy the output. 

And then comes E-Snout (The Search For the Worst Toehider Song), which actually happens to be my wife’s favorite Toehider song, due to just how silly the whole thing turns out to be.

At the time of this writing, Toehider has already released the next four EPs over on their Patreon including EPs that encompass thrash metal, Saturday Morning Cartoons, a 70’s prog rock epic, and meditative spoken word synth. And there are still four more to come.

Recommended Tracks: Everyday I Wake Up In The Morning And I Fail! Fail! Fail!, Animal In Your Eyes, Filly Folly Castle, Horse Song
You May Also Like: Major Parkinson, EcSovereign, Moron Police
Final Verdict: 9/10

Related Links: Official Website | Bandcamp | Spotify | Patreon | Twitch | YouTube | Facebook

Label: Toehider

Toehider is:
Mike Mills: All Instruments, Vocals, Production
Andrew Saltmarsh – Art

The post Review: Toehider – XII in XII in MMXXIII – Part 1 appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: Avant-Garde, Prog Metal, Experimental
Recommended for Fans of: Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Native Construct, Subterranean Masquerade, The Dear Hunter, Pain of Salvation, Igorrr
Review by: Ryan
Country: Israel
Release date: September 1, 2013

Shame on you. Shame on all of you. How this incredible piece of music has flown under the radar for ten years is irreconcilably ridiculous. What should be the gold standard of experimental progressive music has instead found itself as a footnote. Even worse, OMB has never released a follow-up to their debut album, SwineSong. Imagine a world where this band had found its audience and subsequently influenced our modern prog scene. Maybe the world we live in would be a greater place for us all, but instead, we have only fifty minutes of their collective genius and may never see anything on par with it again.

Israeli collective OMB  (Of Marble’s Black) unleashed their only album SwineSong in September of 2013, and a decade later, SwineSong is still one of my absolute favorite pieces of music. Over the years I’ve watched their Spotify monthly listeners fluctuate from one monthly listener (me) to currently fifty-one, which may be the highest I’ve ever seen it. People throw around phrases like “ahead of its time” constantly, but I don’t know how else to describe SwineSong. OMB set a precedent with this album that I’ve yet to see surpassed or even matched when it comes to avant-garde prog metal. You may recognize the vocals of Davidavi Dolev from his more recent work with Reign of the Architect, Seventh Station, Gunned Down Horses, and Subterranean Masquerade. Despite being a fan of all of the aforementioned acts, I’ve yet to have the same itch scratched achieved here on SwineSong with its passion for over-the-top experimentation.

Genre-bending tends to be a tricky mistress, but OMB has created an incredibly fluid piece of music here that flows seamlessly through muddy waters. To quote Chris Parnell in Walk Hard, “It’s like some kinda concerto,” and SwineSong is better for it. OMB takes the listener on an unrelenting and surreal journey through a beautiful demented world—structure, be damned! OMB rarely repeats themselves, instead opting to keep moving forward with their abstract art. 

Genre barriers are brutally ripped apart limb by limb throughout SwineSong. With a firm avant-garde and progressive metal basis, OMB incorporates elements of musical theater, flamenco, black metal, virtuoso, jazz, bossa nova, traditional percussion, psychedelia, thrash, djent, post-rock, and on and on—they’re all here wrapped In a firm but comfy prog metal blanket. On first listen, it may seem disjointed and random, but given time, the music becomes incredibly clear just how impeccably planned this record actually is. Every moment serves its purpose and flows directly into the next section. Even when the changes sound sudden, every piece Tetris-es its way into an obscure myriad of moving pieces. From horns to violins to sitar, OMB continuously challenges the listener to keep up with them as they travel through a strange auditory universe. If ever an acid-induced fever dream was put to music this is it; SwineSong is simultaneously a terrifying bad trip and the most enlightening beautiful journey ever recorded. 

I find it extremely difficult to do justice to SwineSong with mere words. It is beyond a simple music review and can only be absorbed properly as an auditory experience. There has never been anything like this record and the genius herein may never be seen again. It may be humanity’s greatest shame that SwineSong never managed to find its audience and instead was birthed into obscurity and ten years later still orbits that same ghostly veil. 

SwineSong is a piece of high art. Its heartbreaking finale “The Cricket’s Broken Violin” ends with the lyric “Through all my life, through all my times, I try to write my next creation.” Yet, this ending vocalism was the nail in the OMB coffin. If only we could pry open that casket and find good old Stan S. Stanman inside offering to sell us a brand new OMB record. I, for one, would solve a litany of obscure and punny puzzles to finally unearth that treasure.

Recommended Tracks: These Walls…, An Ordinary Caveman Sings Ode to Obsession, Someday My Prince Will Come, The Cricket’s Broken Violin

You May Also Like: Vulture Industries, Schizoid Lloyd, Gunned Down Horses

Related Links: Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube | Facebook
Label: Ward7 Group

OMB is:
Davidavi Dolev – Vocals
Yuval Kramer – Guitars
Or Rozenfeld – Bass, Contrabass
Yuval Tamir – Drums, Percussion

The post Lost in Time: OMB – SwineSong appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: Progressive Metal, Metalcore (mixed vocals)
Recommended for Fans of: Between the Buried and Me, Alkaloid
Review by: Ryan
Country: Louisiana, United States
Release date: September 1, 2023

For a beast of such massive stature, Soul Giant was hiding right under my nose. While I’ve been living my normal life, this four-piece cryptid has been lurking in the shadows of our shared swamp city. Since February of 2022,  there have been numerous sightings here in Louisiana, as well as in neighboring states. I only recently discovered their debut self-produced album, New Wave, while trudging through new prog metal releases on Bandcamp. I quickly sent a Spotify link to other local prog nerd friends who all seemed to have the same thing to say: “Yeah, I know Soul Giant. Wait, YOU didn’t know about Soul Giant?” I even called my wife into my home office to show her, to which she responded, “Yeah, that’s Soul Giant.” Clearly, this conspiracy runs quite deep. The album even shares a name with my air fryer that I still haven’t figured out how to clean properly. Based on the album artwork, I initially expected New Wave to be a very Spawn of Possession-esque tech-death experience, but that doesn’t paint the full picture. 

One of my favorite categories of prog metal is what I like to call “adventure prog”:  music that just sounds like an adventure itself. It’s an unofficial tag, but I find it an apt title for such albums as Cormorant’s Metazoa, Son of Aurelius’s Under a Western Sun, and Parius’s The Signal Heard Throughout Space. Aside from being melodic and theatrical, “adventure prog” doesn’t really have many specific parameters, but I know it when I hear it. I’m happy to formally induct Soul Giant’s New Wave into this niche echelon to the sound of my own dopamine receptors’ applause. 

New Wave begins with a very famous Carl Sagan quote from Pale Blue Dot reminding us of our insignificance and simultaneous self-importance. “The Departure” starts with a very upbeat Omega Experiment or Astronoid style riff dancing across the fretboard, and a pounding rhythm section juxtaposed against the elongated soaring clean vocals creates a very heavy yet uplifting atmosphere that wouldn’t feel out of place on Lantlos’s Melting Suns. The instrumentation throughout New Wave shows that Soul Giant must certainly be influenced by technical death metal, but leans way further into the sphere of modern prog metal with a primarily clean melodic vocal approach. “The Departure” and the title track, “New Wave,” both shine a bright light on the band’s groovy-melodic side with soaring cleans and instrumentation oozing in positivity, but that doesn’t mean that Soul Giant is afraid to get heavy. The midsection of “The Departure” conjures the rhythmic intensity of Gojira’s “Art of Dying.” Soul Giant’s heaviest moments include the unstoppable force that is “Gut Wrench” and the first movement in the fifteen-minute epic finale “Primordial Plague” that nearly emulates Behemoth.

Being a self-produced album, New Wave does suffer from somewhat muddy mixing, but I find that it adds to the DIY charm. Soul Giant are clearly students of the genre and their songwriting chops add enough dynamics to cast the mostly mild production woes to the side and make for a truly entertaining album. The band knows exactly when to gallop from clean to harsh sections and when to include a huge sweep-solo or blast beat. The raw vocal recordings add a level of honesty to the final product. They may be slightly buried behind the guitar, but you can hear the strain in the performance, rather than covering up every imperfection in ProTools. Lyrically, New Wave could use a bit more substance for my taste, but the lyrics aren’t simplistic by any means and get the job done. At the end of the day, Soul Giant has crafted a bombastic debut full of expertly utilized prog tropes we know and love and I’m excited to see what they do next and maybe catch a live show right around the block from my house when I get the chance.

Recommended Tracks: The Departure, Gut Wrench, Primordial Plague
You May Also Like: Parius, Son of Aurelius, Cormorant, Elkhsha
Final Verdict: 8/10

Related Links:  Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram

Label: SS Bootyblaster Enterprises

Soul Giant is:
Chris Fontenot – Vocals / Guitar
Justin Doan – Guitar / Vocals
Jeremy Parker – Bass
John Callais – Drums

The post Review: Soul Giant – New Wave appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: Prog Rock, Alternative, Pop Rock, Fun(k) (primarily clean vocals)
Recommended for Fans of: Twelve Foot Ninja, The Reign of Kindo, Faith No More, Flight of the Conchords, Thank You Scientist
Review by: Ryan
Country: Australia
Release date: September 4, 2023

Australia is no stranger to strange music and Brisbane (the same city that gave us The Stranger) is home to the strangely accessible – but definitively strange – Osaka Punch. Seven years after their last album and six years after the album’s first single, “How We Operate,” Osaka Punch have finally released their third full-length Mixed Ape. 

Osaka Punch are a wacky bunch. They jump around from crunchy riffs to jazzy basslines to funky fills, all led by the chameleon vocals of frontman Jack Venables who manages to channel the vocal stylings of Mike Patton in Faith No More, Anthony Keidis from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Maynard James Keenan in Tool, and weirdly Adam Levine of Maroon 5. But despite their knack for whimsical genre-hopping and comedic lyrics, Osaka Punch are far from a novelty band. They manage to create an identity of their own within this aray of conflicting influences, where eventually it just sounds like Osaka Punch, rather than the sum of its parts. Within the first two minutes of Mixed Ape’s first track “Heat Death Ray,” Osaka Punch lay their foundation and manage expectations by moving from a capella to djent to funk to pop. And this doesn’t even begin to cover the upcoming experimentation.

“Hall of Shame” is almost a modern reimagining of a nu-metal song. A massive groove riff and a Kiedis-eque near-rap verse with an eccentric synth companion break the gates down to make way for a somewhat underwhelming chorus that just sort of meanders with a quieter near-whisper vocal style. Then the band brings a bridge straight out of a Tool song before warping back into the chorus in a way that breathes new life into it. Contextually, the previously bland chorus now works in an unexpected way.

The shapeshifting on display is simultaneously Mixed Ape’s greatest strength and weakness. Every time I find myself uninterested by a certain portion of a song or even think it’s derivative or cringey, Osaka Punch completely switch directions and suddenly I’m back on board and eager to hear what they do next. The elder song of the album “How We Operate” might be one of the most cohesive tracks here despite housing some of the silliest lyrics. “Who’s that guy with the funky hat? Is he smoking crack? Well fancy that.” The band begins the song with goofy lines like that and then immediately deliver one of the more passionate sequences on the back end of the track.

“Slink” serves as a bombastic instrumental interlude with heavy Meshuggah grooves, jazz brass and video game tones. “Kamikaze,” as the follow-up falls mostly flat. It’s a shorter track with similar verses that we’ve already heard and a chorus that is basically just the song’s name. Luckily, your friendly neighborhood “Simulate” swings in to save the day as possibly the most serious moment in all of Mixed Ape’s forty minutes. The beginning section is a Thank You Scientist ballad by way of The Reign of Kindo. It’s jazzy and layered and wears it’s heart on its sleeve, even venturing into Pain of Salvation territory at times. The solipsistic lyrics perfectly meld into the emotional instrumentation to create a strong emotional climax. Like “The Spider and The Fly” from previous album  Death Monster Super Squad, “Simulate” is an intricate and emotional beast of a song where Osaka Punch show that they’re more than just a bunch of wacky dudes.

Whoever decided on the track order for Mixed Ape deserves some sort of award. The goofy but groovy “Too Old (For This Shit)” seeks to undo all the heavy weight of the previous number with a silly little ditty. A song about getting older after a life of partying, but is an entire party in itself. It includes, but not limited to, showtunes, Game of Thrones, old man impressions, breakdowns, gang-vocals, saxophone, and the word derierre. “Too Old” is just unbridled fun. O-Punch lean back into their Tool and Faith No More influences for “Drones” with a I Can’t Believe It’s Not Maynard chorus/bridge combo and parts where I’m just waiting for Jack to belt out “you want it all but you can’t have it.” 

Mixed Ape’s penultimate song, “Under the Influence” follows “Kamikaze”’s lead as a mostly forgettable track that doesn’t steer far from some rap-rock that could have aired on FuseTV in the early 2000’s. However, the instrumental closer “Hekyll and Jive” comes through to end Mixed Ape on a high note (or rather many very low downtuned notes). It’s heavy, dark and spacey with classical piano and without words, manages to convey, “Hey, remember how much FUN we just had?”

And that’s the main take-away from Mixed Ape. While not every choice that Osaka Punch makes will resonate with every listener, they’ve crafted an undeniably fun and original record: earworm melodies that make you want to sing along without even knowing the lyrics, heavy riffs rife for headbanging, jaunty tunes that demand a little shimmy, funky bass licks endorsed by the StankFace. Mixed Ape has a lot to offer (at times too much) and is well worth the listen.

Recommended Tracks: How We Operate, Simulate, Too Old (For This Shit)
You May Also Like: Moron Police, Hairy Soul Man, Lou Kelly
Final Verdict: 7/10

Related Links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | YouTube | Facebook
Label: Self-Produced

Osaka Punch is:
Jack Venables – Vocals, Keyboard
Chrispy Town – Guitar
Brenton Page – Bass
Blair Hamilton – Drums

The post Review: Osaka Punch – Mixed Ape appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: Progressive Metal/Rock Opera
Recommended for Fans of: Ayreon, Haken, Devin Townsend, Astronoid
Review by: Ryan [Editor’s note: this is his first review here! Welcome, Ryan.]
Country: Sydney, Australia
Release date: 11 August, 2023

Romancing the Ether, Hemina’s fifth full-length album, serves as the epilogue to a story that has spanned each record since their conception. The band has composed a single thirty-five minute song (cut into six separate tracks) to conclude this chapter of their life. I was a big fan of their 2016 album, Venus, which showcased their knack for enormous melodies and interesting songwriting.

A blink-and-you-miss-it fifty-five second track introduces the album with an aboriginal soundscape (tribal percussion and is that a didgeridoo?) This bleeds into a keys and strings melody which quickly transitions into “Strike Four” with a blackened scream and a melodic guitar solo. Soft emotional vocals from lead singer Douglas Skene break through over the piano until a big 80’s hair metal-style crescendo. This track ebbs and flows with crunchy djenty guitars under a soaring, almost power metal vocal line with some Devin Townsend-esque layering. “Strike Four” is bombastic, cinematic, and catchy as hell. The blend of classic and modern prog makes for a fluid and flagrantly fun track that feels quick despite being the longest track on the album. 

“Embraced by Clouds,” the obligatory ballad of the album, begins before you even know it’s there with bassist Jessica Martin’s vocals and an atmospheric instrumental backdrop before lead singer Douglas enters stage-left with a more somber approach. Even when the band picks up and leans into more “metal” territory, the emotions behind the music are still pushing forward. Guitarist Mitch Coull and drummer Nathan McMahon go absolutely nuts while still keeping the somber atmosphere intact. Halfway in, everything stops for an a capella section to rival Queen’s “The Prophet Song” before the whole band comes back in with fury, again, for just a moment, before breaking down into huge emotional belting ballad territory featuring both vocalists. Everything comes together very smoothly.

Middle Eastern influences take center stage in the introduction to “Dissolution.” Majestic wavering vocals over complementary spacey guitar licks until the meditation is broken with ripping guitar solos and EDM beats, pushing huge Lucid Planet vibes. Chorus-laden a capella section releases the chaos to give way to “Revelations.” This one reminds me a lot of Azure with the heavy music and huge soaring vocals. Again, emotion is on the foreground here, gorgeous and heavy at the same time. 

The album closes with “Integration” bringing a moment of respite after all the beautiful chaos laden throughout the former tracks. There’s atmosphere behind the vocals before it slyly disappears to leave the voice alone and end the journey.

All things considered, this seems to be a story album first. Everything keeps moving along whether you’re ready or not. From a strictly musical standpoint, Hemina has delivered an engaging album full of fun and it definitely is the type of album that rewards multiple listens. The album begins to become more cohesive and unearths other layers that may have been missed on a previous spin. That being said, the album also feels very short despite the thirty-five minute runtime holding possibly too many ideas that end too soon. The record does flow exceptionally well, if not giving a yearning to revisit some of the gone-too-soon moments.

This album goes fast, which depending on how you absorb it, could either be a strength or a weakness. I’ll admit that a wealth of interesting ideas and massive sing-along melodies appear, but Romancing the Ether ends up feeling a little cold when the listener has no time to absorb the full breadth it has to offer. Since this is the culmination of five albums, Romancing the Ether may very well fit more properly as a bookend. Still, it was a very enjoyable piece of music and I do intend on spinning it a few more times while adventuring into their backlog. 

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