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.

Genres: Folk metal, progressive rock, post rock (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Eluveitie, Faun, Eivor, Cellar Darling
Country: Germany
Release date: 23 February 2024

If I had a nickel for every time a band with exactly two Eluveitie members in it put out their second album in the second month of 2024, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot but it would make this sentence mention the number two quite a bit. The first, from Fabienne Erni and Jonas Wolf’s Illumishade, is a massive, widescreen blockbuster of unapologetically poppy modern metal with a sprinkle of prog on top. Its counterpart, released only a week later, is a somewhat more subtle affair, a smoky trip through ancient forests and inner vision quests with melodies that aim for gradual enchantment as much as they aim for hooky immediacy.

Tvinna, featuring Eluveitie guitarist and drummer Rafael Fella and Alan Ackermann alongside Faun frontwoman Laura Fella, have just released their sophomore effort Two – Wings of Ember, and it’s a somewhat difficult album to describe sonically. One would expect a straightforward folk-metal approach given its members’ other projects, and it definitely draws from similar Euro-folk influences— there are some archaic-language lyrics here, a bit of bukkehorn and hurdy gurdy there, and the occasional bit of mountain forest ambience to keep the vibes in place. Despite this, much of the album strays far from this beaten alpine path, creating cresting, post-rock influenced soundscapes out of layered guitars and a surprisingly sizable serving of synths. There is a palpable sense of experimentation, as if the band is taking a bit of a step outside their comfort zone—fitting given the album’s thematic focus upon the life stages of childhood and adolescence. But, as anyone who’s ever been a teenager knows, such times are as awkward as they are exciting, and Wings of Ember is no exception.

Like many a panicked youth on the first day of school, Wings of Ember doesn’t exactly put its best foot forward. Intro “Nénuphar” is serviceable if a bit overlong, crafting an ambience of synths, strings, and distant birdsong as Laura dramatically recites the titular Rainer Maria Rilke poem. But as we transition into proper opener “Dawn of Mine”, there’s a slight feeling of disappointment. Sure, they’re clearly going for a dynamic buildup here, with guitars beefing up the verse the second time through as Laura shifts from a delicate croon to a big, belty chorus that’s evidently meant to arrive with a bang, For whatever reason, though, it doesn’t quite stick. Rafael’s guitar is loud, sure, but a lack of motion makes it come off as a perfunctory wall of noise with precious little to actually do beyond serving as more background sound for Laura’s vocals. Speaking of vocals, while she is overall a strong singer whose tone is lovely most of the time, the belting here sounds oddly strained and awkward, which combined with the bland guitars makes the would-be climax land with the force of a soggy pool noodle.

Despite this rough start, though, Wings of Ember quickly gets back on its feet with “Louga”. The most straightforwardly “folk metal” track on here, it exudes a sense of vitality that the previous track lacked, centered around a simple yet incredibly hooky chant that’ll have even the 99.9% of their audience that doesn’t speak Old High German singing along. The guest features do some heavy lifting here, with Maria Graf’s bukkehorn sounding the charge over pounding drumbeats and Fabienne Erni’s strident, belty guest vocals effortlessly taking the lead over Laura’s softer tones. It’s not perfect or anything- it feels like a verse has gone missing somewhere, and having a toddler recite the lyrics in parts is a bit of a misstep, no matter how thematically appropriate it may be- but it’s a fun tune nonetheless, and the biggest earworm here.

As the album winds on, Tvinna take a slower, more measured approach to subsequent songs. Like with “Louga”, the songs often feel more like ritualistic chants than verse-chorus pop tunes, but they start taking their time more, basking in the warm, twilit atmospherics and layers instead of feeling the need to hammer their hooks into your brain. There’s a clear effort being made to keep things from feeling too repetitive, and most every song follows an identifiable dynamic arc in its own way. Sonically, though the overall approach remains consistent, there’s a good deal of variety here, from the brooding, doom-influenced riffs on “Two Staves” to the way the effervescent guitars and synths bounce off of each other and buzz like a hive of bees in “Fortress”. There are even a couple of musical left turns in the longer songs, such as “Somnia”, which shifts from soft, measured post-rock to a powerful buildup led by Ackermann beating the living daylights out of his kit’s toms.

Of course, sometimes the shifts in arrangement aren’t quite enough to make up for the repetition in the melody (“Irwahhên”), and some of their experiments don’t quite land, such as the weird Tom Morello-esque guitar solo in “Arma” or the heavy breathing and spoken word that takes up the intro to “The Fall”. But when Tvinna are on, they’re on, and the best example comes with the title track, “Wings of Ember”. Laura and co-vocalist Sascha van der Meer harmonize gorgeously over sparse yet insistent synth lines, ratcheting up the volume and octave alike as Ackermann taps out a tricky counter-rhythm with some excellent fills. And then, in a shocking twist for an album not particularly focused on showy performances, an absolutely lights-out solo from Faun‘s Stephan Groth (on hurdy-gurdy, though drenched in enough effects to make it sound like a synth on first listen) crashes its way into the song like the goddamn Kool-Aid Man, and it’s the highlight of the entire album. 

Tvinna are a band in flux, with two founding members departing in recent years, and this album reflects that uncertain reality by boldly striding into unexplored musical frontiers. The path they walk isn’t without its pitfalls, but I feel confident that in seeking out the sounds that work for them and finding the sounds that don’t, the band have undergone their own sonic adolescence, with all the incandescent glory and awkward cringe that comes with it. Though this particular endeavor may have been somewhat hit-and-miss, I have a feeling that it will open the door to a subsequent release that captures the band at the peak of self-actualized adulthood.

Recommended tracks: Louga, Wings of Ember, Two Staves, Fortress
You may also like: Adaya, Albion
Final verdict: 6.5/10

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

Tvinna is:
– Laura Fella (vocals, synths, shaman drum, electronics)
– Rafael Fella (guitars, bass, electronics)
– Alain Ackermann (drums)
– Sascha van der Meer (backing vocals)

with:
Fabienne Erni (vocals on “Louga”)
Maria Graf (bukkehorn on “Louga” and “Der Weg”)
Stephan Groth (FX Hurdy Gurdy on “Wings of Ember”, vocals on “The Fall”)
Fiona Rüggeberg (vocals on “Nénuphar“, electronics on “Dawn Of Mine“ and “Irwahhên“)
Fieke van den Hurk (synths on “Nénuphar“, FX accordion on “Fortress”)

The post Review: Tvinna – II: Wings of Ember appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: Post-Metal, Post-Rock (instrumental)
Recommended for fans of: Lost in Kiev, God Is An Astronaut, If These Trees Could Talk
Country: Virginia, United States
Release date: 26 May, 2023

Since joining the blog, I haven’t gotten to write much about post-metal (and especially not in a positive context), which is a damn shame. In the absence of a uniquely standout instrumental post-rock or -metal release in 2023 (or the year prior, to be honest), I can at least take a little time to call attention to this strong EP from the punctuationally challenging band Shy, Low. I hope you’ll forgive my latency in doing so. In comparison to Snake Behind The Sun, their debut with Pelagic Records in 2021, this EP may not be quite so complex in composition and instrumentation, nor so progressive in its presentation, but the quality of musicianship remains undiminished.

Shy, Low fall pretty much exactly into the tonal sweet spot between post-rock and post-metal that I so love, with enough metal substance to their music that you won’t find yourself falling asleep in the first half of a song while waiting for the infamous crescendo to kick in, but also still holding on to that crystalline, echoey quality that exemplifies post-rock. The delicious, crunchy tone of the lower, more metal guitar parts offers a contrast against those light reverberations, surrounding and adorning them with delightfully bristly and fuzzy insulation. In the fusion of those two disciplines, Shy, Low achieve aesthetic harmony, an enticing and entrancing hybrid sound to satisfy the needs for both intensity and reflection. One minor potential criticism is that I can find little to distinguish between the two main tracks, “The Salix” and “Instinctual Estrangement.” Both are excellent, and their uniformity benefits the Babylonica’s cohesive feeling, but I can’t easily tell you what aspects each one excels at or which is the stronger piece. With only three tracks to begin with, the middle one being a much less substantial interlude, this leaves the EP feeling shorter than it is, even if that limited time gets spent efficiently on compelling music.

With post-rock, where emptiness and sparsity are sort of the end goal, it’s all too common for a track’s development to flounder and stagnate while keeping the audience waiting for the ultimate climax to hit. For Shy, Low, this is no issue: they easily sidestep such structural issues and direct the flow of energy within their compositions better than most bands I can think of, with never a dull moment nor a halt in their forward progression. Whether keeping quiet and subtle or bursting out into hefty, driving phrases, their music never stops feeling lively, while likewise not becoming overbearing. Babylonica also falls into that hallowed category of instrumental music that doesn’t just feel like the vocalist missed the studio dates and got left off the record. The equivalent primary melodies have instead been handed out to the lead guitar parts, supported by percussion working overtime to fill the background spaces in ways that are interesting in and of themselves.

Despite the short runtime, Babylonica packs itself with emotive moments, skillfully weaving the bleak yet expressive soundscapes of post-metal into memorable scenes that make the most of their brief time in the spotlight. I admit I felt some small disappointment at the EP not including any of the brass features which made Snake Behind The Sun feel so unique among post-metal albums. I should not have worried, as this follow-up nevertheless upholds Shy, Low’s legacy for expert blending of distinct post-whatever sensibilities into texturally pleasing instrumental music.

Recommended tracks: The ones that aren’t just an inscrutable set of geographic coordinates
You may also like: Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster, Catacombe, Molecules to Minds, jeffk
Final verdict: 8/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram
Label: Pelagic Records – Bandcamp | Website | Facebook | YouTube

Shy, Low is:
– Dylan Partridge (drums)
– Gregg Peterson (guitars)
– Drew Storcks (bass)
– Zak Bryant (guitars)

The post Missed Album Review: Shy, Low – Babylonica appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: fado, dark folk, gothic doom metal (mixed vocals, Portuguese/English lyrics)
Recommended for fans of: Empyrium, Wardruna, Moonspell, Agalloch
Review by: Sam
Country: Portugal
Release date: 31 October, 2023

“Magical.” One of those words we often use to describe art or experiences of which everyone knows what it means but a concrete description for the word is often difficult. The literal concept of magic is used in fiction and mythology, seen as either a force of good or a force of evil, depending on the intentions of its user. In real life, however, the word’s usage is almost strictly positive, and not just that, but one of the highest attainable states of euphoria: attained through chance or skill, it’s a perfect combination of beauty and a floating detachment from our daily struggles—the perfect escapism, if you will. 

Earning this descriptor for your music is seldom achieved, but I believe that the atmosphere Thragedium conjure on Lisboa Depois de Morta is worthy of such praise. From the very first moment it is clear that something special is going on here. A single bass chord and a plodding ritualistic drum beat alone may not sound impressive, but the weight and spacious reverb given to them in the mix resonates deeply in my body, and when traditional Portuguese acoustic guitar melodies (fado), deep choral chants, and all sorts of bells and traditional percussive instruments come in a few moments later, I find myself transported to another dimension. Whispered vocals join in soon after, and then harrowing gothic doom lead guitar melodies hammer in the melancholy. By the time the band introduces breathy harsh vocals, I am completely enthralled and have left our world of today behind entirely. Clearly magic is not lost in this world.  

Lisboa Depois de Morta—literally translating to “Lisbon After Death”—is a play on the concept of timelessness, a concept evoked musically by mixing traditional and contemporary styles. The album details the cultural death of the Portugal of old (Lusitania), conveyed through references to ancient Portuguese myths, tales, and legends, as well as historical events dating back to the days before the Roman occupation of the Iberian peninsula. What makes the lyrics fascinating, though, is that despite the practice of the culture of old being gone, the band hints at its essence remaining deeply entrenched through time—just because the traditions of old are gone doesn’t mean they haven’t shaped the culture and live on in new ways. “Lucifécit,” for example, mentions Christianity overtaking the Endovelico cult through a reference to the tale of Salúquia; a girl jumped off her tower to prevent becoming a slave under Christian rule but also proclaims the cult’s spirit to live on as the song quotes an inscription on the cult’s only remaining temple: “EX IMPERATO AVERNO,” a reference to how steam would emanate from the earths below and grant clairvoyance. The following verse, “I am above you, I am beneath, I am within” then solidifies this spirit. Other songs tale mourning, betrayal, but also accepting cultural change instead of letting its ties bind you. Safe to say, I highly recommend immersing yourself in the lyrics. The band put a ton of thought into them. Let’s talk music now, though.

The various elements I mentioned earlier form the basis of Thragedium’s sound. Lisboa plays much like an exploration of a mood more than a collection of songs, each track emphasizing different aspects: the opener, “Desagregação,” highlights the band’s gothic side by its harrowing leads and longing vocals; “Lucifécit” revolves around a bright fado melody; “O Pacto” is a percussion-driven song; “Nations Fall” is as doomy as the song title suggests, among several other examples. On a macro level, this variety keeps Lisboa engaging, yet on a micro level, this results in rather static compositions lacking in payoff. Especially in the middle of the album songs like “Nations Fall” or “Pretérito Imperfeito” either lack resolution, barely develop their themes, or both. The best tracks are those that give a sense of story and attempt to build to a satisfying conclusion like “Lucifécit” and “Trimarkisia,” unexpectedly going into double time near the climax (the latter even incorporating an electric guitar solo to top it all off), or the closing track “The Old Oak and the Mandrake Root,” which continually builds the atmosphere around its comfy acoustic ‘lighters out’ main melody. Out of the dozen times I listened to Lisboa, I found myself utterly engrossed in the beginning, zoning out in the middle, and then pulled back in for the final three tracks—there is definitely some fat to be trimmed here.

Nevertheless, Lisboa Depois de Morte is an album I will recommend wholeheartedly. I spent the last three months trying to piece together this review because of how incredibly elusive Thragedium’s music is to describe. Some issues with length and static songwriting notwithstanding, this is a unique, immersive portrait of an ancient Portugal and an exceptional showcase of what makes folk music such a compelling genre. Magical, indeed.

Recommended tracks: Desagregação, Lucefécit, Trimarkisia, The Old Oak and the Mandrake Root
You may also like: October Falls, Tenhi, Nechochwen, Nytt Land
Final verdict: 8/10

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

Label: Alma Mater Records – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Thragedium is:
– Nuno Cruz (vocals, lyrics)
– João Paulo Farinha (guitars, keyboards, percussion, vocals, lyrics, songwriting)
– José Bonito (bass, vocals)

With guests:
– Marie Beatriz Lúcio (vocals on track 6 & 11)
– Hugo Ribeiro (drums)
– Pedro Oliveira (vocals on track 8)

The post Missed Album Review: Thragedium – Lisboa Depois de Morta appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: Progressive rock (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Neal Morse, The Flower Kings, Marillion, Renaissance, Steven Wilson (Raven era)
Review by: Ian
Country: New Jersey, United States
Release Date: 12 December 2023

Anyone else remember Transatlantic? Evidently not a lot of folks do since they’ve dropped below our 20k monthly Spotify listener cap, but for a while the retro-prog supergroup of Neal Morse (Spock’s Beard), Roine Stolt (The Flower Kings), Pete Trewavas (Marillion), and Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater) were absolute titans of the genre. By taking a maximalist, noodly approach that harkened back to prog’s ’70s roots and blending it with Morse and Stolt’s unapologetically optimistic melodies and lyrics as well as a dose of Beatlesque vocal harmony, they crafted some of the absolute best long-form suites around, including their seventy-eight-minute magnum opus The Whirlwind.

I ask this because The Cycle Undone, the second outing from New Jersey prog collective The Twenty Committee, has the now-defunct band’s scent all over it. From the sprawling suites to the gleefully retro sonic palette to the major key sing-along choruses laden with harmonies, it’s all here. To be fair, the band does cite other influences beyond Morse, including Steven Wilson (they likely have The Raven That Refused to Sing on repeat), Chick Corea (There is a touch of fusion-y flavor on some of those keyboard solos) and, uh… “tabletop gaming” (my sessions tend to involve less weedly synths and more hour-long discussions on how to break the local economy, but hey, every group’s different). Still, for the most part, this is music for dusting off the ol’ airship and taking a flight to Europe across the ocean. It’s far from original, but hey, neither were their inspirations, and these old prog tropes are tropes for a reason after all. 

After a brief atmospheric intro, twelve-minute opener “Recodified” kicks into high gear and makes it clear that these guys can really play. Bandleader Geoffrey Langley’s keyboards take turns with Jeff Bishop’s dexterous lead guitar as they charge through everything from relaxed jam-band grooves to explosive blasts of classic prog organ. Four and a half minutes in, the music calms to a slow ballad and Langley’s vocals finally enter. Though his voice bears a certain resemblance to Neal Morse‘s smooth, mid-placed tenor, he does make an effort to be more versatile with his falsetto, and soon enough the other band members add warm-sounding layers of backing vocals that intertwine with Langley’s nicely. After that, there’s a gradual buildup of instrumentation, a cool odd-meter guitar solo from Bishop, and a reprise of some of the instrumentals at the beginning to close out the tune- overall, a well-structured thesis statement for the album as a whole.

Much of the rest of the album continues in the same general sonic territory, though the next few tracks are a bit more straightforward and less structurally adventurous. You’ve got your spacey synthscapes and pensive acoustic strumming (“A Star in the Eye”), sunny major key “ba-ba-ba” harmonies (“Sparks in the Mind”, “Forevermore”), and the heartstring-tugging ballad (“Embers”) complete with a big, climactic David Gilmour-influenced guitar solo that’s sure to blow them all away, if you catch my drift. Yet, despite me being able to draw a direct line from pretty much every single synth tone, guitar line, and melodic flourish to music I’ve heard before, I couldn’t keep a silly grin from spreading across my face as I listened. These choruses may be cheesy, the instrumentation derivative, but god damn does it all feel great to listen to.

And that’s where The Twenty Committee latch onto a fundamental truth of music making— there’s no point reinventing the wheel so long as you can make it spin, and you better believe The Cycle Undone spins harder than a Category 5. Geoffrey Langley puts on an absolute keyboard masterclass throughout the entire album, from the absolutely nutty synth solo at the climax of “Forevermore” that goes weedly-weedly enough to make Jordan Rudess blush, to the dynamic, tasteful minute and a half of solitary piano that opens the album’s lengthy title track. He’s also a solid singer with a soft, warm-sounding timbre perfect for conveying hopeful croons and melancholic laments alike. True, he’s no powerhouse belter, but he seems aware enough of this fact to let the instrumentals do the talking during the more energetic passages. In a way, his relative vocal conservatism works in his favor, making the Broadway-tinged melodrama that suffuses each chorus come across as genuine and emotive rather than overblown and goofy. 

The other band members are no slouches either. Jeff Bishop’s guitar heroics have already been mentioned, but Justin Carlton’s rhythm guitar work is a key driver of the album’s dynamics, shifting from plucked acoustics and shimmering cleans to big, brawny riffs that provide a rock-solid backing for the solo pyrotechnics going on around him. Speaking of rock-solid, Richmond Carlton and Joe Henderson are a tight rhythm section, adding intricate layers of accented beats to songs like “Sparks in the Mind” that reward close listens. Carlton even adds in a few fun little fretless leads at points, though he never gets to cut loose with a full-on solo. The most notable name here, though, is Renaissance‘s Annie Haslam, who graces the title track with a vocal feature. Her distinctive soprano has aged slightly since the ’70s but has lost none of its power, busting out wailing, witchy high notes in a great contrast to Langley’s more reserved range.

Though the Bandcamp upload unfortunately lacks lyrics, what I could glean from my listens and the band’s own statements is that The Cycle Undone tells a dystopian, sci-fi story of a morally flawed society dealing with rapid technological growth and the rise of increasingly-advanced robots, a world in which everything changes, yet somehow remains the same. It’s hard for me not to see the album in a similar frame- like an automaton that has achieved true sapience, it is, on the surface, just another assembly-line product, well-made and highly functional but soulless. Yet within that manufactured frame lies an entity as nuanced and emotionally-driven as any one of us beings of flesh, and as (non-outro) closer “Robot Death” moves from its lighter-in-the-air “la-na-na-na” refrain to one last pair of soaring solos, I finally realize that just because something is made from old, familiar parts doesn’t make it any less human.

Recommended tracks: Recodified, Embers, Forevermore, The Cycle Undone
You may also like: Transatlantic, Karmakanic, Magic Pie, Moon Safari
Final Verdict: 8/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook

Label: Independent

The Twenty Committee is:
– Geoffrey Langley (lead vocals, keyboards)
– Justin Carlton (acoustic and electric guitars, backing vocals, additional keyboards on tracks 1, 2, and 5)
– Joe Henderson (drums, backing vocals, percussion on track 7)
– Jeff Bishop (lead guitar, additional backing vocals on tracks 3, 4, and 6)
– Richmond Carlton (bass, harp on track 4, additional backing vocals on tracks 2 and 4)

with:

– Laura Langley (autoharp on track 4)
– Annie Haslam (vocals on track 6)

The post Review: The Twenty Committee – The Cycle Undone appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Genres: brutal prog, avant-garde jazz, mathcore (occasional harsh vocals, mostly instrumental)
Recommended for fans of: John Zorn, Car Bomb, The Dillinger Escape Plan
Country: France
Release date: 1 December 2023

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not well versed in brutal prog. Before I listened to this album, I would not have been able to even define the sound of the genre, and I’m still not certain that I’d be able to after listening to Ni’s recent output Fol Naïs which sees the band weave together the aforementioned genre of brutal prog, inflections of avant-garde jazz, as well as a very healthy helping of mathcore, the genre which served as my main point of reference as I attempted to comprehend all that Ni had to offer on their recent release.

As soon as the first riff of opening track “Zerkon” kicked into gear, I was reminded rhythmically of bands like Car Bomb and The Dillinger Escape Plan. Each subsequent flurry of notes is an off-kilter snapshot of some unidentifiable object from a seemingly impossible angle; try as I may to piece the images together, the result is always more puzzling than when I started. Ni then supplement this rhythmic intensity with equally chaotic melodic choices that see squealing guitars and groaning bass precariously juggled about yet always landing in a place that makes sense, at least within this album’s internal logic. This approach of rhythmic and melodic chaos takes up a large portion of the sound on Fol Naïs, but it is not the only trick Ni has up their sleeve. If it were, you’d be reading a much more negative review, instead you get to hear about just how hard Ni can groove.

Once again just like my favorite mathcore band Car Bomb, Ni are consistently able to find ways to take the chaos that they have crafted and meticulously yet efficiently pare it down to something that actually gets my head moving. To continue my example with “Zerkon”, after the tumultuous intro, the song steadily shifts into a pulsing polyrhythmic drum and bass groove whereupon the guitars are free to explore more textural sonic spaces, which mostly end up being spacey shrieks and wails. Moments like this where I could actually somewhat wrap my head around what I was hearing were what kept me coming back to Fol Naïs; these were the moments that elevated this album from technically impressive to actually somewhat enjoyable.

I also shouldn’t forget to mention the electronic elements that, while rare, were another contributor to my enjoyment. As soon as they were introduced in “Brusquet”, the unique way in which they mesh with the incessant drumming attack provided a clever way of simultaneously temporally locking in this album’s sound and providing some textural diversity, something I desperately needed, especially as the album stretched into its back half. 

You may find that I found this album a bit of a slog slightly surprising; after all, it’s only forty-eight minutes, about as ideal of an album length as I could imagine, but there is just so much technical wankery constantly being thrown at me that I inevitably check out during my listening. Although Ni themselves do seem self-aware of this fact–the album art does depict two men huffing each others’ farts–it doesn’t change the fact that my favorite moments are when I could just actually comprehend what I was hearing. I do suspect that if I were to listen dozens of times over, I would perhaps get my bearings, alleviating this issue for me as it did for many mathcore bands prior, but as of now I find Fol Naïs a slog, only broken up by a few moments of groovy genius.

Recommended tracks: Brusquet, Zerkon, Cathelot
You may also like: PoiL, Seven Impale
Final verdict: 6/10

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

Label: Dur et Doux – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Ni is:
– Anthony Béard (guitar, scream)
– François Mignot (guitar)
– Nicolas Bernollin (drums)
– Benoit Lecomte (bass)
– Simon Drouhin (boite à bourdon on Cathelot)

The post Review: Ni – Fol Naïs appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: Jazz Fusion, IDM (instrumental)
Recommended for fans of: Cynic, Aphex Twin, Animals as Leaders
Review by: Dave
Country: Hungary
Release date: 26 February 2023

One of the defining facets of the modern age is the 24-hour news cycle and the cultural inclination to always be “tuned in” to current events. Reading any news source is a quick way to learn about current suffering, both nearby and internationally. For some of us, losing two hours doom-scrolling through garbage news that serves no purpose but to make you feel bad is easy. For studio and session drummer Oliver Zisko, however, it’s a motivator to write music with the ultimate goal of bringing us all together to solve the issues we see at home and abroad.
And that’s what Zisko’s most recent album, Global Warning, is all about: it’s a space he has created to get his thoughts about current events out of his head and to help him make sense of the world. Global Warning is an ambitious fusion album about a laundry list of international issues including pollution, hyper-commercialism, and the consequences of these phenomena on culture and the individual. A bevy of guest musicians join Zisko as he explores a new-to-him IDM influence that augments well with his fusion base, as if the guys in Exivious gave their best shot at making an Aphex Twin album.

Where previous work by Zisko can come across as scattered, Global Warning proves to be Zisko’s most consistent album yet: each song feels like it sits comfortably within the central ideas of the album, retaining a futuristic atmosphere across its runtime. Songs really shine when Zisko is able to show off his drumming skills: he comes up with some truly excellent drum grooves, notable examples being the manic intensity found on “Carnival of Abundance,” the irreverent and quirky grooves on “Plastic,” and the impersonal yet enticing “Rise Up to the Mid-Alpha Level.” Zisko is careful to pace the album appropriately, gently introducing the listener to this new sound on “Renewal” before absolutely losing his mind on the following two tracks. Calmer tracks are intermixed between more energetic songs, making for a great album flow.

The real star of this album is “Plastic,” a track where Zisko leans fully into IDM influences, reveling in its playfulness and irreverence with a strange, wobbly, acidy synth sound that oscillates around an aggressively funky drum line. Even though the drumming isn’t as intense or technically showcasing as on other tracks, “Plastic” exemplifies Zisko’s ability to stay in the pocket with even the strangest of musical backdrops.

However, the playfulness and quirky irreverence on songs like “Plastic” and “Ghost Notes” betray one of the biggest issues with Global Warning: there is a disconnect between the issues presented by Zisko and their manifestation as songs. Included with the album is a booklet that describes Zisko’s thoughts regarding the ideas he wants to explore on each track, and while the songs themselves are usually fun and enjoyable, without the booklet it is very difficult to figure out what exactly Zisko is trying to say on each song. This is disappointing because there was lots of potential for a thematically interesting and ambitious album, but these ambitions unfortunately fall a bit flat. While I agree with Zisko on virtually all of his takes and appreciate their presence, I have a hard time relating them to the music and their presence begins to feel more like an afterthought. Moreover, the way these messages are conveyed is a bit impersonal, and this makes them unlikely to change the hearts of people who don’t already agree with him. I would have loved to have felt the urgency and unease in the topics manifested in the music, along with perhaps some personal relationship that Zisko has with these issues. Without these personal connections, I just feel like I’m doom-scrolling again.

Finally, I think the album could have benefited from a bit of editing. The album goes a bit long, and tracks like “21st Century Shock”, “Hoax”, and “Rise and Fall” lack the interesting drum grooves that make Zisko fun to listen to. The electronic experimentation is fun on its own but it’s really brought together when Zisko can incorporate the electronic backdrops with his unique vision as a drummer.

Global Warning is a competent and fun album with excellent drum work that ultimately could have been edited for a more lean runtime. While I appreciate Zisko’s ambition in trying to raise awareness of important international issues, the messages fall a bit flat in the end due to the disconnect from the music and, by extension, the artist. Even though the overall message did not come across well for me, I found Zisko’s exploration of IDM in a jazz fusion context to be interesting and enjoyable.

Recommended tracks: Renewal, Carnival of Abundance, Plastic
You may also like: Venetian Snares, Vospi (the “Video Out” series in particular), Exivious, any number of 80’s Japanese fusion albums
Final verdict: 6.5/10

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

Label: Independent

Oliver Zisko is:

• Oliver Zisko (drums)
• Derek Sherinian (keyboards)
• Anthony Crawford (bass)
• Marius Pop (guitar) 
• Mike Gotthard (guitar)
• Zsolt Kaltenecker (keyboards) 
• Szabolcs Prieger (keyboards)
• Tibba Kovats (keyboards)
• Peter Erdei (bass)
• Peter Papesch (bass) 
• Martin Gudics (bass)

The post Missed Album Review: Oliver Zisko – Global Warning appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Genres: melodic black metal, symphonic black metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Emperor, Dissection
Country: Ohio, United States
Release date: 24 November, 2023

Andy is wrong about many things, but he is especially wrong about one thing in particular. Black metal is not at its peak when it’s dissonant, noisy, and invoking “the sublime” or whatever. Black metal is at its peak when it makes me feel like I’m a Black Rider, crossing from Minas Morgul into the Shire in search of the One Ring. Riffs that evoke the feeling of being a Witcher hunting for the next monster to slay. An atmosphere that transports me from my apartment couch to the Lands Between in the middle of Godfrey’s boss fight. Black metal has, and always will be, for the nerds.

This year’s Night Crowned had the title of best nerd black metal on lock, and while they still put up a valiant effort, there was a bigger fish on the horizon. Valdrin waited in their towering, evil lair, scheming and concocting their newest alchemized abomination to unleash upon the world. Hailing from only two hours away in the kingdom of Cincinnati, these dark lords of the riff and synth decided to make their mark on my AOTY list right when I was at my most vulnerable.

Valdrin play a very easily described style of black metal. If you’ve heard Stormkeep, then you can safely imagine how our black metal champions of the month sound. However, Valdrin’s sound lies much more on the less whimsical side of things. There are prevalent synths, plentiful riffs, and lyrics that all evoke the atmosphere of being the dark lord of this world, unleashing armies of eldritch abominations across the land.

Like the plodding steps of an Oliphaunt, ‘Neverafter’’s first riff crashes through the quiet, synth-y intro, setting the stage for our long journey ahead. The song moves with furious speed, accentuated by Carter Hicks’s rasps of necromancy and the afterlife. It’s at the song’s end where I began to realize why this activated my neurons so much. Valdrin are not afraid to have a little fun with their black metal. Is the short-spoken word section cheesy as hell? Yes, but it adds to the album’s hokey, in a good way, nature.

See, if less competent musicians were at the helm of this album, it would be a messy storm of cliches. However, this album moves quite fast for a 70+ minute affair. Valdrin keeps things interesting with an array of punishing, folk-y riffs, synth swirls and the rare appearance of some clean vocals. The cleans deserve some special praise, as they’re unexpectedly quite good and not just shoehorned in. Their infrequent appearance sprinkled throughout the album really elevates the songs they appear on as a great contrast against constant black metal rasps.

More special praise goes to the title track, which is the obvious standout of the whole album. The inclusion of choral elements and an absolutely beautiful, tasteful guitar solo overlaid makes it feel as though the epic journey Valdrin took us on is about to come to an end. Rounding off with ‘Two Carrion Talismans’, Valdrin gives one of the best band name-drops I’ve ever heard, as well as a previous album title-drop as the very last set of lyrics on the album.

I’ve sung this album’s praises, and it’s been in constant rotation since the first listen, but there is a glaring flaw. This album is long, way too long. There seems to be a running theme this year of incredible albums trapped inside very, very good ones that need some editing. However, I can’t tell you what I’d leave out. Sure, there could be a few minutes shaved off of some songs, but I can’t pinpoint what I’d shave off.

This makes Throne a confusing rating for me. I’d love to give it a much higher score on the basis of sheer enjoyment, and like many things I rate, the score has a chance to fluctuate. That being said, Valdrin has made a triumph. Length aside, there’s some real talent to behold in how Valdrin makes basic symphoblack interesting for 73 minutes straight. It’s a bit self-indulgent, sure, but makes up for it in spades in terms of execution. Well done, Valdrin, now come to Cleveland.

Recommended tracks: Neverafter, Seven Swords (In the Arsenal of Steel), Sojourner Wolf, The Heirophant, Holy Matricide, Throne of the Lunar Soul 
You may also like: Caladan Brood, Stormkeep
Final verdict: 8.5/10

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

Label: Blood Harvest – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Band in question is:
– Carter Hicks (vocals, guitars, keyboards)
– James Lewis (bass)
– Ryan Maurmeier (drums)
– Colten Deem (guitars)

The post Missed Album Review: Valdrin – Throne of the Lunar Soul appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Andy

Selections:

1. Misericorde (Part 1), Ne Obliviscarius
2. Misericorde (Part 2), Ne Obliviscarius
3. The Cambrian Explosion, The Ocean
4. Harbingers, Fires In The Distance
5. Polygon, Galya Bisengalieva
6. From the Start, Laufey
7. Enduring the Snow Drought, Panopticon
8. Metacognitive, Einar Solberg
9. Throne of the Lunar Soul, Valdrin
10. The Revelation, Stortregn

Christopher

Selections:

1. Spore, Omnerod
2. Departure, Sermon
3. Threnody to a Dying Star, Rannoch
4. Through the Sands of Time, Temic
5. Out of Sight, Ions
6. Kapitel I – Freiheit, Finsterforst
7. Esoterica, Kyros
8. Staircase, Steven Wilson
9. The Night Inside, Pressure Points
10. Thick Skull, Paramore

If you want your bones rattled, Sermon’s “Departure” is where it’s at; Him, the anonymous vocalist gives his most bracing vocal performance amidst thick riffs, a stunning lead motif, and the crushing drum performance of James Stewart. Meanwhile, Pressure Points delivered an Amorphis-esque prog bop with “The Night Inside”, catchy yet Opethian with a fantastic climax. Finsterforst’s “Kapitel I – Freiheit” brings the epic: glistening symphonics, thunderous vocals, and beautiful folk-inspired sections over the most epic German blackened progressive folk metal you’ll hear. But if you want even more epic than that, Rannoch’s “Threnody to a Dying Star” is seventeen minutes of the coolest progressive death metal this year

It was a great year for electro-prog: Temic’s sublime debut Terror Management Theory centred the sound design and keys of Diego Tejeida, and the blend of elements reaches its zenith on “Through the Sands of Time” with a drop dead gorgeous solo section and catchy chorus. Ions’ synthy djent proved a refreshing sound, too, and those swollen vocal harmonies on the chorus of “Out of Sight” made it the winning pick from Counterintuitive, an album replete with bangers. Prog legend Steven Wilson returned with his most electronica influenced solo work yet, and “Staircase” is a beautiful sojourn through a variety of soundscapes, prog to its core. We’re just getting poppier here, huh? I may as well mention Paramore then, “Thick Skull” was the highlight on the unexpectedly mature and melodic This is Why. 2024 will continue the electro-prog trend: “Esoterica” from Kyros’ forthcoming album Mannequin, a sublime fusion of lascivious synth pop and maximalist prog rock, like if Haken and Gunship collaborated, was easily the best single this year heralding an incredible album to come.

But the song of the year has to go to “Spore” from my favourite album of this year, The Amensal Rise. Omnerod start with serene vocals and eerie harmonica, journey through twelve minutes of pummelling riffs, godly vocal performances and earth-shattering solos, easily making for this year’s most astonishing track on an album of unhinged Devin-esque prog death.

Cooper

Selections:

1. pillar of salt (feat. dylan walker & iRis.EXE), The Acacia Strain
2. Aphelion, The World Is Quiet Here
3. Prof. Arronax’ Descent into the Vast Oceans (Feat Ultha), Ahab
4. Chrysopoeia (The Archaeology of the Dawn), Horrendous
5. The Bad Luck That Saved You From Worse Luck, 夢遊病者

Doug

Selections:

1. Grey, Enoch Root
2. Back, Yet Forward, Nospūn
3. Sempiternal Beings, Haken
4. …Of Ruins, Course of Fate
5. True Friendship, Ions
6. Desert Eagle, Bend the Future
7. Bear the Weight, Exploring Birdsong
8. A Cosmic Laughter, Karma Rassa
9. Prophecy, The Resonance Project
10. Detonator Gauntlet, East Of The Wall

2023 was a great year for debut concept albums. Between Enoch Root’s Delusion and Nospūn’s Opus, those of us yearning for more Metropolis imitators – or more favorably, companions and inheritors – have spent the year with much to chew on. Of course I have to throw in a track from Haken as well – although not within the normal underground purview of this site, it would be unfair not to mention alongside these other bands who have drawn so much inspiration from them. Plus, if you’ll allow me a hot take, it might be their best song in roughly a decade. Two sophomore album picks from Course of Fate and Ions round out my batch of traditional prog offerings before we dive into the more arcane.

In both Bend the Future and Exploring Birdsong we explore bits of the eclectic influences which inevitably find their way into prog. The former collect everything from jazz to post-rock, featuring saxophone wailing away atop a sparse backing of percussion and smoothed-out rhythm guitar. With the latter’s guitarless approach, they echo that jazz influence again, but also feelings of pop singer-songwriter aesthetics, settling into a cheery and upbeat mood that’s not especially common among progressive music.

I’ll round out the list with a bit of a grab bag. Taking an especially jazz-forward stand on djent, The Resonance Project mix mystery with thrills, simultaneously developing their wind-instrument-heavy melody lines alongside crunchy, intense rhythm guitar more befitting expectations of the genre. Meanwhile, both Karma Rassa and East Of The Wall jointly show off post- and alternative metal sensibilities, ramping up the distortion and haze without shying away from the driving, emotional moments that provide a strong core for their music.

Sam

Selections:

1. 1st Movement – Animabilis, Günter Werno
2. Banana Split, Pleasures
3. Currents: Severance, Vedalia
4. Neptunian (As Trident Strikes the Ice), Winterhorde
5. Bard of the Hell-Bent Ages, Oak Pantheon
6. Interference, Anubis Gate
7. Towers of Gold, Sacred Outcry
8. Lumen, Nebulae Come Sweet
9. In The Mood For Love, Ali
10. Congelia, Enslaved

Will

Selections:

1. Austerity, Katatonia
2. The Scavenger, Enoch Root
3. Instill, Humanity’s Last Breath
4. Poisoned and Shadowmad, Crawl
5. Gila Monster, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
6. Path of Forlorn, Deposed King

Having been a bit unplugged from the Subway this year, my list is both short and maybe more mainstream than my colleagues. I’ve built my (albeit short) list by going back through my most played songs on Spotify over the last year – on the understanding that a great song is one that demands to be listened to on repeat. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

• Alkaloid
• Fires in the Distance
• Galya Bisenglieva
• Stortregn
• Omnerod
• Sermon
• Ronnoch
• Temic
• Ions
• Finsterforst
• Pressure Points
• The World Is Quiet Here
• Horrendous
• 夢遊病者
• Enoch Root
• Nospūn
• Course of Fate
• Bend the Future
• Exploring Birdsong
• Karma Rassa
• The Resonance Project
• East of the Wall
• Günter Werno
• Pleasures
• Vedalia
• Winterhorde
• Oak Pantheon
• Anubis Gate
• Sacred Outcry
• Nebulae Come Sweet

The post Playlist – Top Songs of 2023 appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Genres: pagan black metal (mixed vocals, Icelandic lyrics)
Recommended for fans of: Moonsorrow, Kampfar, Winterfylleth, Panopticon
Country: international (Iceland, Germany)
Release date: 21 December 2023

In the midst of black metal’s violence, there is beauty. For every pummeling blast beat, gnarled guitar, and eviscerating shriek, an inkling of magnificent power overwhelms the senses. Cathartic and sublime, the best black metal mimics nature—standing atop a large mountain, being punished by a stormy sea, hearing the colossal groans of a glacier, growing delirious in the desert’s scorching heat. Hailing from Iceland and Germany, Árstíðir Lífsins use longform song structures and beautiful Norse poetry in order to invoke the power of nature.

Only two tracks long, Hermalausaz seems like a short EP until you notice that both tracks are over twenty minutes… only nominally an EP, though perhaps it makes sense considering the band’s LPs typically run well over sixty-five minutes. On this new EP, both tracks are pleasantly adventurous, venturing between archaic folkloric passages and icier second wave black metal influences, taking me from place to place on epic Scandinavian adventures. Altogether, Hermalausaz is closest in sound to pagan black metal acts like Moonsorrow, and just like Moonsorrow, the epic form of Árstíðir Lífsins’s songs amplifies their quality, allowing for the tracks to tell complete tales at once rather than less expressive, sprawling traditional songs.

The first track, “Ýrr,” has everything I want from pagan black metal: gentle acoustic passages, pummeling black metal, varied mixed vocals, and surprisingly good production. Most unique to Árstíðir Lífsins’s sound is the sonorous clean vocals of Marsél whose rich bass voice wonderfully contrasts with his shrieks, especially when harmonized with others chorally. The production is certainly impactful for Marsél’s voice, emphasizing the low end of the band’s sound unlike most black metal which feels particularly treble heavy. On Hermalausaz, we can hear the bass strings, the blasting of the bass drum, and the booming deep cleans just as clearly as the higher registers—the production is rich and appropriate. 

Between the stellar clean vocal and acoustic sections, however, is a relentless black metal that focused listening deems fairly uninspired. Árstíðir Lífsins write music for daydreaming of Viking raids or sledding down glaciers, and while zoning out you only notice the overall swells of the song, a rich, adventurous storytelling arc; yet when trying to focus on each moment, Árstíðir Lífsins devolves into sounding quite standard, the same as any other atmospheric black metal band in a hail of tremeloes, shrieks, and blast beats. These extended sections of black metal are technically quite proficient, especially the drumming, but they sound less inspired than the folkier—dare I say proggy—bits. With that step backwards to view the whole thing, Hermalausaz is a cathartic adventure across fields, fjords, and seas, but in most of the individual moments it’s just your everyday atmoblack. 

The other track, “Þistill,” adds in some more prominent viola as a timbral change that works quite well to stave off some of the black metal’s textural monotony, but shortly after, the black metal returns to increasingly uninteresting modern atmoblack. However, the nonlinearity of the songwriting is a storytelling strength, and the difficulty of predicting when a folk section will appear staves off some of the predictability of the black metal sections, allowing me to continue to dream of what inspired the Icelandic band.

Indeed, for once I wish I could understand the lyrics. As the Bandcamp blurb describes, “The lyrics are written in Old Norse poetic form and are highly inspired by the cryptic runic inscription of the western Norwegian Eggja rune stone, as well as selected Skaldic poetry.” I’m sure knowing more about Norse poetry would dramatically increase my enjoyment, but alas, they’re just a fitting musical background sound. I thought I’d love this EP more than I did, but it’s still wonderful to get lost in, especially as the snow starts coming in these winter months.

Recommended tracks: Þistill
You may also like: Finsterforst, Auðn, Helrunar
Final verdict: 7/10

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

Label: Ván Records – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Árstíðir Lífsins is:
– Árni (drums, guitars, bass, string instruments, effects, vocals)
– Stefán (guitars, bass, vocals)
– Marsél (vocals, narration)

The post Review: Árstíðir Lífsins – Hermalausaz appeared first on The Progressive Subway.