Thank you for taking time to interview with us! I’d like to start with Azure’s most recent single “Mistress”, which kicks ass by the way. From an outsider’s perspective it looks like the single has garnered a lot of attention within the prog scene. Do you feel that “Mistress” has been a catalyst to elevate Azure?

Chris: Thank you for inviting us! Honestly, the response to ‘Mistress’ has been extraordinary. After spending two years quietly working on our plans for 2021, we assumed that re-establishing ourselves in the progressive scene would be challenging. To combat this and get the ball rolling, we wrote ‘Mistress’ in December 2020, – short, dramatic, and brimming with our identity, it has totally gone beyond our expectations serving as a musical ice breaker!

For readers who might be unaware of Azure, how would you best describe the band’s sound and in your own opinion, what makes Azure unique?

Chris: To me, Azure is like Genesis, Iron Maiden, and Yes being squashed into one band, decorated by a modern, hyperactive synth-pop shimmer, all while singing songs about our favourite books.
Though they aren’t direct influences for us, we also get a lot of Rush and Coheed and Cambria comparisons – which is a massive compliment!

What is the band working on now? Can fans expect anything new in the near future?

Chris: Absolutely! I’ve never been more excited for the future than I am now. This is going to be a fast-paced, high output year for us; a lot of finished material will finally see the light of day. Additionally, an intense body of new Azure endeavours (musical AND non-musical) is in various stages of completion, and is looking to be the most exhilarating and uncharted territory we’ve ever entered!    

How might future material compare to previous releases?

Chris: This year’s output is definitely some of the most guitar-heavy – and fantasy-centric – music that that we’ve released to date. It’s still enormously animated by synthesisers and general production, but unlike previous releases there are no programmed drums or bass guitars. With the help of Gareth Mason (Mixing) and Jonas Johansson (Mastering) from The Bakery, the band sounds more ‘live’ and organic than ever! 

There’s some incredible talent in the band; from Chris’s vocals to Galen’s guitar playing. How long have all of you been playing music and, did any events or artists in particular inspire your musical journey?

Chris: Thank you so much! My parents inspired most of my formative music tastes, and my dad is a great singer, so I’ve been trying to sing since I was tiny. When I was about 10 I started playing guitar, and as puberty ruined my voice guitar became my main focus, learning all the parts to Iron Maiden songs, before trying my hand at Dream Theater. Once I became interested in forming bands as a teenager, I started trying to sing again! My mom is also completely responsible for my love of fantasy, and its inclusion in the project! 

Galen: I started playing guitar when I was 16. Had a friend at school called Sam who showed me all the 80s shred stuff like Satriani and Vai, so I got really into technical stuff straight from the get-go. He also showed me how to practice and hold the pick and stuff so it got me off to a good start.

Alex: I’ve been playing bass for about 10ish years now, the moment that really made me want to pick up the instrument was when I heard Ryan Martinies bass playing and tone on Mudvaynes first album L.D 50. I’d never heard bass sound like that and be so forward in the mix and it just absolutely blew me away and still does to this day, most of the things I do on bass I’ve just ripped off from him haha.

Azure’s sound and lyrical content leans heavily into establishing its own mythos. How does this affect the writing process? Does lore directly affect composition?

Chris: That’s an awesome question! For the most part, it tends to work one of two ways for me. Either a song just writes itself, and is given meaning afterwards, OR I have a new character/story I want to introduce, in which case I would storyboard what needs to happen, and then gather lots of dedicated musical ideas and sections to be arranged accordingly. I adore writing music either way, but as the fantasy aspect of Azure has grown in importance (leading me to write over a whole book’s worth of narratives), I’ve found that we have the most fun (and write more effectively) by trying to bring characters and settings to life with sounds!  

In a world where streaming services pay per track played, how do you feel about being a band releasing long-form standalone songs like 2018’s (brilliant) Redtail? Do you think that potential streaming revenues might incentivize a band like yours to split a long piece into multiple tracks or do you feel that would compromise your artistic vision?

Chris: This was definitely a consideration for ‘Redtail’, not only for splitting the streams, but also because it’s very normal to doubt yourself when it comes to releasing long songs. There is always a concern that people would be too busy, or intimidated, to indulge in a 20 minute long song by a band they might not have heard of.
We toyed with splitting it into two parts, or possibly even three, but eventually the idea of any of those sections being isolated from each other became illogical; even divided, the sections would still be at least 7 – 10 minutes long.
It would be all too easy to accredit the success of ‘Mistress’ with its snappy, re-listenable 3 minute runtime, but ultimately ‘Mistress’ also had a much better release plan, so who knows how ‘Redtail’ would have performed if released in the same way!
Regardless of losing streams, or potential listeners, I’m really glad we released ‘Redtail’ intact. 

How has the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting social distancing and restrictions affected the band? 

Chris: Though intermittent lockdowns and gig cancellations genuinely threatened and reshaped many bands’ careers in 2020, the delays gave us a lot of extra time to polish everything we already had. Remotely, I spectated most of Gareth’s mix sessions on the new material, and although I would have liked to have been there in person, we ended up getting into a healthy routine of screensharing the process and putting in late-night hours that worked best in the comfort of our own homes!
When it comes to planning releases, the restrictions became much more of an obstacle. It’s been a serious challenge trying to shoot music videos and prepare photoshoots etc while adhering to social distancing measures, and rehearsal space closures, but these restrictions are definitely necessary so we’ve just had to work around them!
There are also a few gigs I am really gutted about missing out on, including Novena’s Eleventh Hour album release, and Euroblast 2020, but hopefully similar events will be underway again before we know it! 

In terms of touring, while we may not see it anytime soon due to the pandemic of course, are there any artists you’ve always wanted to perform with? 

Chris: I’m still restlessly keen to perform alongside our lovely friends in Novena, as soon as we can! Collaborating with Aryeon would be a dream, and I also think that gigging with Pain of Salvation or Ichikoro would both be amazing experiences, for very different reasons!

What is the local music scene like in Brighton? Are there any local bands you’d like to shout out?

Chris: The Brighton art scene in general is the just most spellbinding, prismatic explosion of creative young individuals, all converging into multiple projects and having the best time! I think we owe a lot of our sound to the Brighton scene, and the people we’ve been lucky enough to meet here. I’d recommend both ‘CLT DRP’ and ‘Penelope Isles’ to anybody who’d like a taste of some incredibly fresh, creative music happening down on the UK south coast!     

Galen: The Brighton music scene is great honestly. Know a lot of incredible guitarists around here. One of my favorite players locally is Levi Cano. Absolutely beautiful improviser. His ear for harmony is just amazing! He’s got some stuff online you can check out if you’re into players like Holdsworth, Plini and Eric Johnson.

Alex: The music scene is actually pretty good in Brighton, a lot of the bands know eachother pretty well and get on very well so it feels like a great little community. I’d have to give a shout out to Gurf, they’re just sick. No other words can explain it you just need to see them if you can.

More broadly, what has the band been listening to as of late? Anything you’d recommend to our readers, prog or otherwise?

Chris: In terms of big acts, it will come as no surprise that I still listen to Iron Maiden at some point every day, as well as The Weeknd, Queensryche and The 1975. I also listen to an unreasonable amount of Disasterpeace, which I would recommend to prog fans who also love 8bit synths and game soundtracks, as well as rising indie-pop legends Fickle Friends, and art-rock/pop innovators Everything Everything.

Galen: I’ve been listening to Patricia Taxxon and early Genesis pretty much exclusively for the last 5 months. Patricia’s this young prolific electronic artist, she’s put out like 60 albums or something in the last 4 years. She’s got a really punk approach to the distribution of her stuff online, and all of her albums just have such interesting concepts. Great sound design, clever composition and just generally really catchy, evocative stuff. Mistress, the solo in particular was heavily inspired by her work.

Alex: I’ve been absolutely rinsing Soften the Glare’s latest album Glint, they’re this mental jazz fusion three piece that’s unlike anything else I’ve heard so yeah I really recommend that. Then I’ve also been listening to Humanities Last Breaths new album which is one of the heaviest things I’ve ever heard straight up, and then to round it off I’ve had Steel Panther on repeat again because they’re just great.

Again, thanks for taking time out to interview with us. Azure has the floor now, is there anything that you’d like to add that any of the questions didn’t cover?

Chris: These questions have been so good – they’ve covered everything! I want to say thank you to everyone who has recently joined us on this new chapter, and for reading this interview! We have an unbelievably varied amount of music to share with you all very soon, and I’m so excited to for you all to hear it! 

Azure social links:

Bandcamp: https://azureish.bandcamp.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/azuresongs/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/azure_the_band/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1DtccHmhCsq6YANugr7Bqa

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjWKEUczIL2qzcPS0i1CbeQ

The post Interview: Azure appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: progressive metal, alternative metal/rock (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Tool, Karnivool, Rishloo, The Mars Volta
Review by: Stephen
Country: Sweden
Release date: 8 May 2020

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This review was originally published in the Missed Albums 2020 issue of The Progressive Subway.]

To start this review, I feel the need to address the elephant in the room. We had a miscommunication, and dropped the ball on reviewing this album in our May 2020 edition. Considering the fact that we interviewed Vulkan prior to the release of Technatura, combined with the fact that most of us love this album, we couldn’t believe that it somehow didn’t get reviewed in the May edition. Anyways, with that out of the way, let’s dive into this fantastic band and fantastic album. 

Vulkan has had a special place in my heart for a while now, ever since discovering their debut album Mask of Air. So when I heard Technatura was in the works way back in 2019, the seed of excitement was planted. I imagine that many of our readers are already aware of Vulkan, but for those of you who have not heard Technatura yet, you’re in for a treat. These are the types of albums that you search the underground progressive metal landscape for. 

From the moment “This Visual Hex” kicks the album off, you’re taken to a soundscape that is a combination of an ancient primal world and a futuristic dystopian world. There are so many highlights on this album, it’s difficult to highlight them all in a concise review. That said, I’d be remiss to point out some of my favorite moments. The first I’ll highlight is in the midway point of the fourth track on the album, “Bewildering Concept of Truth.” There is an interlude where the song slows down, and includes an absolutely beautiful string arrangement. The violin, which leads the string section, has some tasty delay on it that gives it a very unique listening experience on top of the beauty. Then if that wasn’t awesome enough, the track slowly builds back into a heavy release of tension that concludes the song perfectly.

The second moment I need to highlight is the middle section of the tenth track on the album, “Blinding Ornaments,” where singer, Jimmy Lindblad, delivers one of my favorite vocal performances on a Vulkan track since “Moon Over Paris.” The vocal segment is followed up by another beautiful string segment that transitions to the next track perfectly. Which also happens to be the prog-metal epic of the album.

Speaking of vocal work and prog-metal epics, the third moment on the album I feel like I have to highlight is on the eleventh track, “The Royal Fallacy.” This song has it all, heavy riffing, incredible vocal work, awesome polyrhythms, grooving bass, huge drums, hypnotizing synths, and more. It’s difficult to pick out one moment on this track, but one moment worth mentioning is that this song features some harsh vocals, which is a first from Vulkan if I’m not mistaken. Seriously, if you only check out one track from this album, check out this one. It’ll convince you to check out the whole album, I can almost guarantee that. 

In summary, there are too many high points on this album to cover everything. I’ve yet to mention the horns sections, the triple bass tracking, the steel banjo, swedish songs, and much more. The core instrumental band members on guitar, bass, and drums do a fantastic job throughout the album as well. I chose to mention the moments I did because moments like those are the ones that elevate Technatura to a status few albums we review reach. If you are a fan of Karnivool, The Mars Volta, and/or Tool you can’t miss this album. It’s just too damn good. Spoiler alert, you’ll be hearing about this album from us again in our year end AOTY write up.

Recommended tracks: Bewildering Concept Of Truth, Blinding Ornaments, The Royal Fallacy, The Madness Sees No End, just… all of the album.
You may also like: Sermon, Riviẽre, Lucid Planet
Final verdict: 10/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | RYM page

Label: Independent

Vulkan is:
– Jimmy Lindblad (vocals)
– Christian Fredriksson (guitars)
– Olle Edberg (keyboard)
– Oscar Pettersson (bass)
– Johan Norbäck (drums)

The post Missed Album Review: Vulkan – Technatura appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: progressive metal/rock (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Troldhaugen, Ziltoid
Review by: Stephen
Country: Australia
Release date: 4 September 2020

Mr. Mills is at it again with Toehider‘s newest album I Like It. This has been one of my most anticipated releases of the year, personally. I listen to What Kind of Creature Am I? and Good constantly, so needless to say my expectations were set high for this release. Did I Like It live up to the high expectations? Spoiler alert, no it exceeded them.

Right off the bat I will tell you that my favorite two tracks are “wellgivit” and “Died of Dancing”. I really don’t think those two tracks could be any more fun. Not to say the rest of the album isn’t great as well, because it is, but these two have been on repeat for me since the album dropped. If you are familiar with Toehider, you know how strong the 80s influence is and “wellgivit” takes that 80s influence in a different direction. It has lush and fun synths with a catchy hook and I’d argue that it would be extremely difficult to stay still while this track is playing. Moving on, if you like bass guitar, “Died of Dancing” is another track you cannot miss. Much like “wellgivit”, this track is very upbeat and with catchy vocal melodies. These two tracks give the genre something that few prog bands deliver on, and that’s fun.

As I said previously, the rest of the album is great outside of the two songs mentioned. “GO FULL BORE!” kicks the album off with a slap in the face to buckle up for a wild ride. It even has a moment where it switches to a black-metal-parody, then transitions to a heavy guitar breakdown that slowly dissolves into an 80s inspired synth and guitar lead groove. I find myself creating all these hyphenated words describing this album, but it really is it’s own unique style start to finish.

What makes I Like It great is the same thing that makes Toehider great, tons of variety. The album features fun danceable songs, power-prog-esque songs, songs that feature a banjo, songs with huge harsh vocals, soaring clean vocals, tasty guitar riffs, and much more. The album even throws a dash of punk rock in a few times. I could go on and on about each track on this album, but I’ll keep this short and sweet so you, the reader, can check this album out if you haven’t yet.

All in all, this album exceeded my high expectations and will go right up with my other favorite Toehider albums. I’ve mentioned “fun” numerous times and that’s exactly what this album is, pure fun. If you like bands like Troldhaugen or Cheeto’s Magazine don’t miss this album. Lastly, you will see this album popping up at the end of the year on our 2020 albums of the year list.

Recommended tracks: wellgivit, Died of Dancing, GO FULL BORE!, Moon and Moron, Bats Aren’t Birds, …screw it just listen to it all
You may also like: Cheeto’s Magazine
Final verdict: 9.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Label: Independent

Toehider is:
– Mike Mills (music)

The post Review: Toehider – I LIKE IT! appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: progressive rock, alternative rock (clean vocals)
Review by: Stephen
Country: Australia
Release date: 21 August, 2020

Glass Ocean’s latest release, The Remnants of Losing Yourself in Someone Else, first sparked my interest when Caligula’s Horse gave them a shout-out on social media. After keeping up with Caligula’s Horse for a while now, I know they don’t just shout-out any ole band. Needless to say, I listened to Glass Ocean quickly after seeing this with decently high expectations set. 

Right off the bat you can tell that the production is top notch and the sound is pretty atmospheric. The album starts with the track “Voyage” which immerses you in an ocean-like atmosphere with a very relaxed feel, and the album pretty much maintains the same feel and mood start to finish. Some albums that keep the same mood throughout can start to fall flat as you approach the end of the album, but not The Remnants of Losing Yourself in Someone Else. Each track seems to introduce something slightly different and new. For example the crystal clean guitar tone on “A Dream From Which I May Not Wake”, which is absolutely awesome. It almost sounds as if the guitarist is slapping the guitar like a bass. Whatever it is, it works very well. 

As I mentioned before, this album keeps a very consistent mood. I think the reason why this album works so well despite the fact that it does sometimes feel “samey” at times, is because Glass Ocean knows what they do well and they want aren’t scared to stick to it. If you specifically look at the tracks “Burn” and “Soul Slumber”, I’d argue that these two tracks are the most “samey” sounding. Is that a problem? Nope. “Soul Slumber” feels like the natural progression of “Burn” and the fact that they are back to back on the album just feels so, so right. I know there will be some listeners out there that might have an issue with the album never taking it to the next level in terms of heaviness, but with the album being under 40 minutes I didn’t really have any issue with this.

Moving on a bit, let’s talk about this vocalist, and his very unique voice. I don’t know who I would compare his voice to, but he has a very unique timbre and delivery. His performance on the album definitely adds a lot to the overall enjoyment. So if you are like me, where vocals make or break the album, don’t worry. Glass Ocean has you covered.

Overall, I really enjoyed this album. If you forced me to compare Glass Ocean to another band, I’d say they are something like a more mellow Voyager. My only minor complaint is that it would be nice to hear Glass Ocean bump up the heaviness a few times on their next album, but as I’ve said before, this album is very enjoyable as is. I can tell you right now, someone is going to catch this album in the right mood and it’s really going to hit the spot. Reader beware, don’t miss The Remnants of Losing Yourself in Someone Else.

Recommended tracks: A Dream From Which I May Not Wake, Soul Slumber
Recommended for fans of: Voyager, Effuse
Final verdict: 8/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | RYM | Twitter

Label: Independent

Glass Ocean is:
– Tobias Atkins (vocals)
– Nguyen Phambam (guitar)
– Julian Dobric (guitar)
– Eamonn Wooster (bass)
– Patrick Smith (drums)

The post Review: Glass Ocean – The Remnants of Losing Yourself in Someone Else appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: Progressive metal, djent (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: (late) Voyager, The Contortionist, VOLA
Country: Georgia, United States
Release date: 20 December, 2019

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This review was originally published in the December 2019 issue of The Progressive Subway.]

The timing of this review is funny. I am reviewing one of our own reviewer’s (Chris) bands the same month he joined. Lucky for me the album is a solid one. Contextual Noise is a shorter EP, but don’t let that fool you, there is some good stuff on here. 

Right away I noticed the production was on point, and being able to go directly to the source I learned that Jamie King mastered the album. The second thing I noticed was there is a bit of a combination of heavy riffing and ambient synths. The album starts off atmospheric and heavy with “Overgrowth”, and reminded me a bit of Voyager. The next track “Kill Castle” was one I was instantly drawn to, but after listening to the album a few times, it really grew on me. The track very much takes you on a journey. There are killer riffs, tasty dissonance, cool callbacks, and catchy melodies. If you only check out one song from this album, make sure it’s this one. The last individual track I’ll highlight is “The Silent Push.” There are some huge riffs on this one as well as some lush synths. Like “Kill Castle” it also takes you on a journey. 

At a high level, there isn’t a weak performance on the album. Drums, vocals, and guitar are all on point. The bass is pushed a little down in the mix for my liking, but hey that’s just a preference thing. The only really negative I can find on the album is there were a few times where the melodies were a bit similar between a couple songs. It wasn’t a big problem in my opinion, but on a shorter EP, it did stick out a bit more. Overall, Contextual Noise was a short but sweet EP. Give this album a spin if you like bands like Voyager, The Contortionist, or VOLA; I don’t see how you wouldn’t enjoy this. 

Recommended tracks: Kill Castle, The Silent Push
You may also like: Ihlo
Final verdict: 8/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Independent

Effuse is:
– Chris Deese: (vocals, drums, guitars, synth)
– Jarrod Blanton: (guitars)
– Greg Hendler (bass, guitars)

The post Review: Effuse – Contextual Noise appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: progressive rock, jazz fusion, djent (clean vocals)
Review by: Stephen
Recommended for fans of: Native Construct, Tigran Hamasyan
Country: France
Release date: 6 May, 2019

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This review was originally published in the Missed Albums of Jan-Jun 2019 issue of The Progressive Subway.]

Patience was recommended to me out of the blue on the I&W discord, and I really didn’t know what to  expect. The album art peaked my interest, so I decided to bump this album to the top of my list. Just 30 seconds into track one, and I have been whisked away to the beautiful landscape that the album artwork displays, and am wondering where else the album would take me. 2019 has been an absolutely stellar year for releases, and Patience by Clement Belio is one of the reasons why.

I’ll try to keep this brief, because there is a lot to unpack here. Let’s start with the genres featured on this album. It’s a blend of prog, metal, jazz, soul, djent, orchestral, classical, and electronic elements that work together to deliver something truly beautiful. It also features a wide variety of instruments, including some that I have never heard before in prog or metal. “Take Your Time” (along with the one-minute “Dive In”) really sets the mood for the rest of the album. It’s bright, beautiful, unique, and manages to make an 8:30 runtime feel short. 

Then steps in “Chromatic Curtain,” which is one of my favorites. There is a beautiful heaviness to it, and Clement Belio uses djent in a way that I haven’t heard before. “Chromatic Curtain” is followed by “La Danse Macabre,” the only track of the album that is completely in French. This song has a very unique feel to it. It’s  a French-waltz-prog-metal concoction that I enjoyed so much, that I had to start over on my first listen. Each and every track that follows is great. The last track I will highlight is “Trampoline.” What beautiful piano work this track has, wow. 

The only minor complaint I have on the album is that the middle section of the album didn’t have vocals, and I was really enjoying the vocal work on the album. If you enjoy prog that is both heavy and beautiful at the same time, do yourself a favor and bump this album to the top of your list. For me personally, this album is in the AOTY running. 

Recommended tracks: Chromatic Curtain, La Danse Macabre, Trampoline, and all the rest.
You may also like: Edge of Reality, Umpfel, Artificial Silence, Ihlo
Final verdict: 9.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | RYM page

Label: Independent

Clément Belio is:
– Clément Belio of course! (all arrangements)

The post Review: Clément Belio – Patience appeared first on The Progressive Subway.