Style: Black metal, melodic black metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Emperor, Dissection
Country: Ohio, United States
Release date: 20 June 2025

As a ten-year old kid, I first discovered The Hobbit in my elementary school library. Its charm, characters, call to adventure, and perhaps above all, its meticulously crafted fictional world drew me in like no story ever has—at least in the literary realm. That initial enchantment naturally led to The Lord of the Rings, just in time for Peter Jackson’s films to hit theaters as I was finishing the books. I’ve returned to Tolkien’s saga many times since, and still revisit it now and then. As often happens, a love of Middle-earth opened the door to other high (and low) fantasy realms. Does your book have a map of a fictional world in the opening pages? Then I’ll probably check it out at some point.

Pair the allure of fantasy with my innate love of metal, and it’s no surprise that artists like Blind Guardian and Summoning quickly became favorites—bands whose music is conjured for a Tolkien-bred imagination. A few years ago, I was able to add another group to that cabal: Valdrin. But, unlike those who reinterpret familiar stories or put music to an existing lore, Valdrin have created a mythos all their own—a literary world inscribed upon black metal scrolls. I would be doing their work a disservice trying to summarize the hero’s journey of the titular character and his struggle with the malevolent Nex Animus, but suffice it to say: spiritual warfare, collapsing worlds, and existential dread are just the beginning.

Valdrin’s newest chapter, Apex Violator, continues their long-running saga of mythic chaos with a relentless, oppressive energy. While their previous album, Throne of the Lunar Soul, explored moments of triumph and sorrow amidst celestial fallout, Apex Violator is all sinister fury—a bit melodic, a tad fantastical, but pure scraping black metal cloaked in eldritch atmosphere. Scathing riffs wrapped in dissonant arpeggiation (“Ignite the Murder Shrine,” “The Muttering Derelict”), blistering percussion (“Poison Soul Vents”), and demonic, blood-curdling howls (“Veins of Akasha”) make up the bulk of this EP. We’re forgoing variety in favor of overwhelming force, here.

That dark force is made all the more sinister by various synths, keyboards, and choral chants throughout Apex Violator, lending a bit of flavor to the black metal cacophony. These elements are rarely the primary focus—they instead haunt the soundscape and lend an ominous sense to the EP. A standout in this regard is “Black Imperial Smoke,” whose macabre vocal chants can be nothing but cursed hymns echoing from the halls of a shadowy ruin. Additionally, the bridge in “Poison Soul Vents” has been stuck in my head for the past week, in no small part due to the deep, thrumming piano underneath the ominous guitar riff.

Still, I miss the sadness and grandeur that Throne of the Lunar Soul sprinkled around. Apex Violator is fairly one-note by comparison—little if any acoustic pensiveness, triumphant melody, or interludes for a breather to form those peaks and valleys that help create a truly standout album for me. This EP being a chapter dedicated to Nex Animus, I can understand why the atmosphere of the album is pure evil. I can’t help but wonder what pairing it with an emotionally unraveling latter half might do to elevate it, though.

As a standalone listen, Apex Violator may blur together a little, with little in the way of audible contrast. Yet, fans of the dark majesty of Emperor or the seething, melodic dissonance of Dissection will find much to admire here. Valdrin channels the phantasm of those black metal titans through the lens of their grim cosmology—and for the initiated, the fury of Apex Violator is another book of scripture. Map or not.

Recommended tracks: Black Imperial Smoke, Ignite the Murder Shrine
You may also like: Stormkeep, Caladan Brood, Gallowbraid
Final verdict: 7/10

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

Label: Avantgarde Music – Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | Website | Metal-Archives

Valdrin is:
– Colton Deem (guitars)
– Carter Hicks (vocals, guitars, keyboards)
– James Lewis (bass)
– Ryan Maurmeier (drums)

The post Review: Valdrin – Apex Violator appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Album art by Roi Mercado

Style: Progressive Metal, Djent (Instrumental)
Recommended for fans of: TesseracT, Cloudkicker, The Helix Nebula
Country: United States, Ohio
Release date: 13 May 2025

Djent is a genre (or is it?) that has infiltrated its way into a myriad of neighboring styles within the progressive metal scene, slowly seeping through the cracks in its foundation. What essentially started as Meshuggah worship has undergone a slow and somewhat painful metamorphosis, transcending beyond a simple palm muted, syncopated guitar technique into an expansive musical language all its own. The journey to this point has been rife with failed experimentation, alchemical genre-mixing, and a steadily evolving intervallic language that seems to have come to its logical conclusion in the form of “thall”—another style about which to argue genre legitimacy. The bulk of djent’s growth took place from around 2006 through the mid 2010’s, with bands like Textures, SikTh, TesseracT, Periphery, Uneven Structure, and Vildhjarta all putting their own spin on the core techniques that constitute its sound and superimposing said techniques onto a variety of unique soundscapes, showcasing the style’s versatility, and solidifying its genre status proper.

There were many a branching path that djent explored during its adolescence, some more niche than others, and some seemingly forgotten to the annals of syncopated time. The Bulb demos are perhaps the best representative of a particular niche of one of the genre’s earliest investigative forays: atmosphere-focused instrumental djent. Bulb’s demos are somewhat paradoxical in the sense that, at the time, they were massively popular, single-handedly inspiring a swathe of bedroom guitarists toward their instrumental explorations; at the same time, they were nearly instantly rendered redundant by these same newly empowered musicians as they realized that what they were playing was basically just Meshuggah with more tonality. The end result was a shockingly frantic evolution of sound. Widek, Nemertines, Returning We Hear the Larks, Walking Across Jupiter, Polarization, Cloudkicker, Their Dogs Were Astronauts, Cold Night for Alligators, Sithu Aye, and many other projects like these have been all but forgotten, mere grains of sand in a desert of chugs, yet their influence on djent’s trajectory cannot be denied.

Antediluvian Projekt, solo project of John Heckathorn, nestles within this assemblage of atmosphere-driven instrumental djent, and if I had been told that Atlan Blue was some obscure demo from 2011, I wouldn’t have given it much of a second thought. Atlan Blue shares the inquisitive, probing nature of adolescent djent, haphazardly smashing djent guitar techniques into a bedrock of jazz fusion and drenching atmosphere, and utilizing a jazz noir-esque trumpet as its main gimmick. Antediluvian Projekt, like so many of its genre peers past, brews its influences together to wildly varying degrees of success; there are moments of inspired, meaningful realization, yet so much of Atlan Blue leaves me scratching my head in confusion at its choices. 

After a meandering intro track, “Atlan Blue” starts strong with a bass and piano groove that constantly oscillates between a bar of 5/4 and a bar of 9/8, a roiling sea for the djent guitars to swim within. Clean guitar solos weave between the bass, piano, and distorted guitar groove; trumpet is ever present in the background; and electronic elements further add to the melting pot of texture, resulting in an interestingly varied sonic landscape. “What Does Truth Fear” follows, and is similarly effective in its textural language, switching between a beefy low-tuned guitar rhythm reminiscent of recent Vildhjarta, and a more understated groove that could have been lifted straight from any TesseracT album. Again, trumpet and electronic production elements add depth to the sound, and the revolving structure of the songwriting manages to maintain the listener’s attention while keeping in step with the focus on atmosphere. 

Unfortunately, the remainder of Atlan Blue does not live up to its decent first impressions. “P0W3R” recycles the exact same riffs from “What Does Truth Fear”, slightly changing the trumpet lines and adding an electronic drum beat as an intro that I’m pretty sure is the exact same rhythm as one of the riffs, just played significantly faster. The result is an odd interlude track that could have just been tacked onto the previous song as a climax, but is instead a forced detour into unnecessary bloat. Instead of regaining his footing after the stumble, Heckathorn doubles down with “T3MP0R4L 0SCILLAT0R”, the longest track on the album, and also the one where the least happens. The listener is treated to over seven minutes of meandering shoegaze—still with the ever-present trumpet—and any semblance of momentum that Atlan Blue may have had up to this point is unceremoniously squandered. 

The remaining few tracks are further explorations of the sound initially presented on “Atlan Blue” and “What Does Truth Fear,” though I am hard pressed to even care enough to reach this point of Atlan Blue after a few listens. On the occasions that I do, I am rewarded not so much with an interesting textural melting pot, but more with a clouded beaker of unfocused distillation. Heckathorn’s trumpet playing is competent, and he has the chops to pull off the gimmick of trumpet djent, but the melodies played often have seemingly nothing to do with the rest of the music, and this problem is especially exacerbated on the back half of Atlan Blue. The trumpet is simultaneously the main selling point and seemingly an afterthought in the songwriting, leading to a bizarre feeling of fundamental discontinuity. What remaining actual guitar riffs there are become shadows of their former selves, falling prey to the insidious curse of hackneyed djent stereotypes. The slightly above average drum performance is perhaps Atlan Blue’s biggest saving grace, though it is not nearly enough to fortify the whole structure from falling in on itself by the album’s end. 

Antediluvian Projekt does indeed fit snugly within the old order of atmospheric instrumental djent: quirks, inspirations, and shortcomings all. Atlan Blue reads as a billet-doux to a long-lost lover, one whose familiar memory still lingers in everyday modern scenery, providing comfort and pain in equal measure. Through rose colored glasses, Atlan Blue can be a temporary succor for those plagued by the nostalgic longing for the perceived golden age of djent. With slightly more focus, though, the illusion shatters, and we are left with a stinging reminder of why, perhaps, so many bands become forgotten in the polyrhythmic ebb and flow of time.

Recommended tracks: Atlan Blue, What Does Truth Fear?, BR3AKAWAY
You may also like: Returning We Hear the Larks, Walking Across Jupiter, Bulb, Mouse on the Keys
Final verdict: 5.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram

Antediluvian Projekt is:
– John Heckathorn (Everything)

The post Review: Antediluvian Projekt – Atlan Blue appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: progressive metal (instrumental) 
Recommended for fans of: Plini, Arch Echo, David Maxim Micic
Country: Ohio, USA
Release date: 18 April 2025

“What happened with Legos? They used to be simple. Oh come on, I know you know what I’m talking about. Legos were simple. Something happened out here while I was inside. Harry Potter Legos, Star Wars Legos, complicated kits, tiny little blocks. I mean, I’m not saying it’s bad, I just wanna know what happened.” – Professor Marshall Kane in Community. 

The words of the brooding Michael K. Williams character above may resonate with older readers who remember the days before Lego fascism. The Lego experience used to be one of freedom, of having a box bursting at the seams with mismatched blocks and letting one’s mind run wild to build monstrosities whose awful angularities and obvious structural issues were patched over using the naivety of childhood imagination. In the modern era, Lego is a rigidly enforced building experience complete with instruction manuals that should never be deviated from. One can think of music the same way, with genre tropes, certain instruments, and even effects and tones as a similar set of building blocks that can be utilised to create wondrous new imaginings, or the same thing you’ve heard a thousand times before. 

Lux Terminus’ debut was hailed as something of a gem in the instrumental scene. With piano as the main event, the Ohian trio separate themselves from the bulk of instrudjental acts by reining in the wankery, centring piano and synth and using a much softer production style. Vikram Shankar’s keyboarding is the main driving force, and he’s backed by Brian Craft’s thrumming basscraft, and Matthew Kerschner’s mix of electronic and acoustic drumwork. Sophomore Cinder is opened by the “Jupiter” triptych which sees Lux Terminus accompanied by the melismatic la-ing and ah-ing of backing vocal trio Espera (Paige Phillips, Mathilda Riley, Lynsey Ward). A recurring motif of grand synth textures is interwoven between an irreverent staccato rhythm, spoken word, and some ambient atmospheres. A bog-standard djent rhythm closes out “Jupiter II: To Bend a Comet” in dirging fashion. The third part throws it back to Espera, who boldly diverge from la’s and ah’s, adding some oh-ing to their repertoire with swelling symphonics to really hammer home the grandeur. And… that’s it. We’re twelve minutes into Cinder and all we’ve heard is a two-minute album intro idea grotesquely swollen to a medically concerning length. It’s an inauspicious opening to say the least.

Unfortunately, Cinder continues just as unpromisingly. Across the album, Lux Terminus are plagued by a puzzling adherence to a banal formula which fails to serve the talents of the band members. Drawing from a handful of compositional building blocks—synthwave textures, djent rhythms, a piano or synth solo, restrained atmosphere-led sections—and proceeding in Lego-like fashion to build songs. “Mosaic Mind” offers some intricate piano work in the verses, some eighties synthwave textures and flows through a range of soundscapes until a glorious key change. “Neon Rain” centres the djent, performed both on piano and bass, returning to its main motif ad nauseam. “P.L.O.N.K.” sounds like a Super Mario Galaxy soundtrack on half speed, utilising relatively simple chords for its epic main melody and with the synth lead and piano rhythm playing in counterpoint. The ideas are there but they’re repeated and reiterated in slightly different forms across Cinder; the same few Lego bricks in slightly different configurations. Even a few tracks in, the instruction manual Lux Terminus are cribbing from is readily apparent to all. 

The proof of this comes when people with more imagination join in. Guests Ross Jennings (Haken), Jon Pyres (Threads of Fate), and itinerant sax virtuoso Jørgen Munkeby (Shining) put in an appearance on “Catalyst”, which is the album highlight. Munkeby’s ubiquitous sax provides an engaging hook; Jennings naturally bestows an Affinity-era Haken sensibility to the track; and Pyres is an intriguing melodic foil for him. “Catalyst” is no more interestingly composed than any of the other tracks on Cinder, it just happens to benefit from a saxophonist and two singers playing over the top. And this is Lux Terminus’ problem in a nutshell: rather than composing compelling instrumental music in its own right, Cinder feels like it was composed for a vocalist or other players who never turned up to the recording studio. These are instrumental beds, foundations, the groundwork for something more impressive. But solos come sparingly, rhythms are repeated as though something else, some much-needed focal point, is meant to be happening atop them but was forgotten, meaning the tracks invariably seem rather lacking as a result. Cinder cries out for more guests, talented musicians with their own Lego bricks to creatively complete the constructions.

Almost everything about Cinder is far too reined in. When “P.L.O.N.K.” changes into a calmer gear, it feels completely unearned as the band haven’t done anything to deserve a break. “The Devil’s Eyes” offers some frenetic piano work, but one nevertheless gets the sense Shankar is holding back on us. When solos come along, it’s almost as though they’re merely filling an obligation, and the solo that closes out “Natsukashii” is so buried in the mix as to be disappointing for how ill-tended-for it is. Lux Terminus’ brief sojourns into djent (“Neon Rain”, “Mosaic Mind”, “The Devil’s Eyes”) are invariably their least inspired moments, doling out the most trudging and simplistic of rhythms with little going on over the top to distract the listener. The fact that “Natsukashii” is every bit as dull as the rest of the tracks but decides to be a bit crazy and mix things up with—checks notes—an indistinct shout in the outro, should tell you everything you need to know. Even the production on Kerschner’s drums is so restrained that it does a complete disservice to his talents. While the pads work well in the calmer sections, in heavier moments like those on “Apparent Horizon” he slowly becomes all but washed out. 

In a scene chock full of onanistic guitar performances that all sound the same, the guarantee of more compositionally focused performers, softer production, and an emphasis on piano and synths should be a slam dunk. And yet Lux Terminus do shockingly little with those tools, restraining their clear skill and creativity to the point of banality. Nothing about Cinder is unpleasant to listen to—it would take a genuine creative swing to do that—but it’s also never any better than merely nice. Indeed, it’s the sort of album for which nebulous adjectives like “nice” and “pretty” were devised. Like looking at a friend’s £734.99 Millennium Falcon Lego set, Lux Terminus sound flashy and incredibly well put together, but you’re left wondering, “where’s the imagination?” And then you see the box behind the set that reads: Basic Djent Instrumental, for ages 8+.

Recommended tracks: Catalyst, The Devil’s Eyes
You may also like: The Resonance Project, Etrange, Vipassi
Final verdict: 5/10

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

Label: Independent

Lux Terminus is:
– Vikram A. Shankar (keyboards)
– Matthew Kerschner (drums)
– Brian Craft (bass guitars)

With:
– Paige Phillips, Mathilda Riley, Lynsey Ward (Espera) (backing vocals on “Jupiter”)
– Ross Jennings and Jon Pyres (vocals on “Catalyst”)
– Jørgen Munkeby (saxophone on “Catalyst”)

The post Review: Lux Terminus – Cinder appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: Art Rock, Alternative Rock, Experimental Rock (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Gogol Bordello, The Darkness, Scissor Sisters
Country: Ohio, United States
Release date: 20 March 2025

Fans of heavy, off-kilter, piano-driven rock in the mid aughts needed to look no further than Foxy Shazam to satisfy their cravings. The band exploded onto the scene with a pair of infectious progressive post-hardcore-inspired albums before polishing their sound and breaking into the mainstream with 2010’s arena rock anthem “Unstoppable”: heard in movies and on TV and licensed in some capacity by nearly every major professional sports league in the United States. But the band’s fifth album, Gonzo, marked a drastic change of sound, trading the energy and glam of their earlier work for a mellower flavour of alternative rock. Reception seemed less than stellar – Foxy Shazam released Gonzo for free, cut their promotional tour short, and went on hiatus shortly thereafter.

Since returning in 2020, the band have put out a handful of forgettable albums; their heavy, progressive roots seemed all but shriveled and dead. But in late January of this year, Foxy released the first single from their new album, Animality Opera, “Rhumbatorium”. And let me tell you, dear reader, that irreverent, energetic, experimental single provided a glimmer of hope.  Was it a return to form? Had the erratic, in-your-face Foxy Shazam of days gone by finally returned?

Nope.

The title, Animality Opera, must be purposefully ironic because this latest work is neither operatic nor animalistic. “Pink Sky”, the second single from the album, is reminiscent of their Gonzo era: milquetoast alternative rock that sounds like it was written specifically to be played in grocery stores, save for a spoken word outro featuring sophomoric, nonsensical lines like “nobody wants to be the rock inside of the clown’s sock”. Foxy have done the spoken word shtick before, but it is noticeably more prominent (and irritating) on this latest release. “Karaoke Pain” is a perfect example of the stylistic rut Foxy have found themselves in for the past decade; the pre-chorus begins with the lyrics “this is the part where we can lose control, the place where we can just let that shit go” and leads into… nothing. No soaring vocals, no wild guitar solo, not even a piano slide or a drum fill. Instead, just a sparse, phoned-in vocal performance. Twice we are teased with the possibility of actually losing control and twice we are let down. Fool me once…

Moments of inspired songwriting exist in Animality Opera, but they are few and far between. The piano-driven ballad “Uncreated” is a highlight in this sense: it builds slowly, adding tastefully muted guitar, strings, and horns, building repeatedly to a moderate vocal climax. The lyrics are equal parts truly beautiful (“Take it all away, you can see on forever. Silhouettes of the days we shared hold me together.”) and goofy (“Even in the Starbucks bathroom, this will never change.”). “Uncreated” is a microcosm of the softer side of Foxy Shazam; and is thankfully free of the ill-conceived spoken word sections which mar many of the tracks on this album.

But “Rhumbatorium” is the standout track on Animality. It’s dynamic, energetic, and catchy; but mainly it’s just plain fun. Foxy have been taking themselves too seriously and it’s nice to see them let loose again. Lyrically, “Rhumbatorium” gets straight to the point: “All music is shit and the world is a toilet bowl. Sit down on the throne and push out some rock and roll.” It’s hard to tell if Foxy are having a go at the rest of the music industry or are just being defensive here. The next line is “I don’t know, I just don’t get it. Well then it’s not for you.” More than one track on Animality seems to take aim at the naysayers: earlier on the album “You Don’t Judge The Birds” asks “Why are they so mean? What did I do wrong? … You don’t judge the birds for singing in the morning.” That’s true, but the birds aren’t charging thirty bucks per performance.

Animality is otherwise mostly devoid of the raw energy that characterized Foxy‘s early career and the operatic bombast that came after. “Joseph” and “Dragonfly Chase” would be impressive if they were written by your roommate’s band, but they’re just not up to the (admittedly high) bar Foxy set for themselves with their earlier releases. They push no boundaries. They take no risks. “Jack Tar” is reminiscent of—but less polished than—Arctic Monkeys‘ Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino… and just when you thought you’d gotten away from them, those damned spoken word sections return. They add nothing. They detract from whatever energy these songs are trying to build.

By and large, Animality Opera feels phoned in. Following four other unremarkable albums over the past decade, Foxy seem to be doing everything they can to avoid repeating the success they had in 2010. Is it artistic bankruptcy? Is it laziness? Is it an extended performance art piece where the band are trying to see how many aggressively mediocre albums they can put out in a row while still maintaining some semblance of a fan base? Who’s to say. All I know is that heavy metal sucks and Foxy Shazam’s dead.

R.I.P.

Recommended tracks: Rhumbatorium, Uncreated
You may also like: Jellyfish, The Venetia Fair
Final verdict: 3.5/10

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

Label: EEEOOOAH – Facebook

Foxy Shazam is:
– Eric Nally (vocals)
– Schuyler “Sky” White (keyboards)
– Alex Nauth (horns, backing vocals)
– Teddy Aitkins (drums)
– Existential Youth (formerly known as Trigger Warning and The Persistent Savage) (bass guitar)
– Devin Williams (guitar)

The post Review: Foxy Shazam – Animality Opera appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: progressive-ish black metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Enslaved, Dissection, FromSofware-themed metal
Country: Ohio, United States
Release date: 21 July 2024

Video games are in a bit of a dire state right now. I’m aware this is a music blog, but I rarely get to air my feelings out about these kinds of things to anyone who’s not my unwilling girlfriend or my even-less-willing regular friends. In the world of half-finished, open-world action games with tacked on RPG and crafting mechanics, Elden Ring stands supreme. FromSoftware has under-promised and over-delivered on just about every possible front, and with the expansion (which may as well be a second game) just on the horizon, I figure it would be topical to review a band who are as in love with FromSoft’s masterpiece as I am.

Ogasawara is the one-man project of audio engineer Luke Sackenheim, best known for working on Valdrin’s last two albums. And like the fellow Cinnci black metal dorks, Ogasawara don’t stray that far from that core sound. All the bells, whistles, and synthesized orchestras of high-fantasy flavored black metal are here with a darkly beautiful twist. This album follows the storyline of Ranni the Witch, a major character within the world of Elden Ring, starting with her quest to steal the rune of ‘Destined Death’.

The opener is where Ogasawara gets to show off their sound, a mix of old school Dissection melodies and the occasional prog-isms of acoustic breaks and synths. ‘Empyrean Flesh’ floats along with a haunting piano line befitting of Ranni’s majesty, and ‘Stagnant Constellations’ ups the tempo just to make sure you weren’t resting at a Site of Grace for too long. At an incredibly lean thirty-five minutes, there is little room for fat or filler on The Age of Stars, yet I can’t help but wish it were a bit longer to convey the epic scale of Ranni’s in-game questline.

Don’t get me wrong, what Ogasawara does here is incredibly well done, and it all leads into the explosive, nine-minute title track at The Age of Stars’ end. But I found myself replaying the first two and last song more than anything else. Some uniqueness gets lost on ‘Stagnent’ and ‘Follow the River’ that sees Ogasawara devolve into a standard meloblack band, which he so clearly has the capacity to avoid. ‘Empyrean Flesh’ is especially masterfully composed, with a riff that harkens back to Dissection’s ‘Where Dead Angels Lie’, a perfect homage for our subject matter.

That being said, these are minor weak points. Ogasawara fall into a few of the one-man band pitfalls, such as similar sounding songs and some less than inventive drumming. But for a debut, its exceptionally well crafted. Sackenheim really shows off his audio engineering talent here, as from a production standpoint, the album sounds incredible. The guitar tone combines just enough black metal rawness with polish, and the mix is incredibly clear. I would’ve preferred a louder bass, but I know that’s asking for a lot in black metal. 

That’s truly the worst I can say about Ogasawara: it’s a creative and incredibly enjoyable debut, but its short runtime and lackluster song or two hold it back from being something truly amazing. There’s some expert black metal riff-writing here, enough to cut through all the other standard fantasy-themed meloblack bands, and just a pinch of prog to keep things exciting.  Even if you aren’t an Elden Ring superfan like I am, I believe this is enjoyable for those who like black metal in general; however, if you’re going to be up all weekend playing Shadow of the Erdtree, make this your soundtrack.

Recommended tracks: Destined Death, Empyrean Flesh, The Age of Stars
You may also like: Valdrin
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Metal-Archives page

Label: Indepedent

Ogasawara is:
– Luke Sackenheim (everything)

The post Review: Ogasawara – The Age of Stars 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.

Style: Progressive Black Metal, IDM, Folk (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Enslaved, Opeth, Igorrr, White Ward
Review by: Zach
Country: US-OH
Release date: 26 May, 2023

Last year, I reviewed an absolute disasterpiece of an album. The great Simulacra incident left a permanent stain on The Subway as a whole, and me as a person. The one-hour, forty-minute musical equivalent of a runny shit is quite possibly one of the worst things I’ve ever had to sit through. It made me wary (warier than I already am) of trying an album over an hour and change. So, when I took the rec of a random comment found on a rival blog (you can probably guess who), I decided to check them out. Only to find Amun’s second album is a whole nine minutes longer than Simulacra’s. The trepidation only set in further when I saw the album was a not so measly six songs long.

I did some digging, and found that Amun are relatively local, only two hours away in Columbus, Ohio. I found out they supported IATT in a show that I missed in April, and I unfortunately found that they split up after the release of this album. The choice of the word “unfortunately” may give away what I think of this album already. Short version: this is the anti-Simulacra that cruel fate hid from me for just a little too long. However, much like Spectra itself, let’s get into the lengthier version. 

I started the twenty-minute opener, ‘The Father’s Foundation’, expecting generic, reverb-laden atmoblack that wouldn’t hold my attention, and found myself transfixed for the whole runtime. The vocals are up front, atypical of black metal in general, and they’re immediately understandable. The song has all kinds of swells and dips as I expect of an epic of this size, and each one sent chills down my spine. Think White Ward, with a dash of Igorrr-esque electronic insanity thrown in.

But that was only twenty minutes of this behemoth of an album. One song is great, sure, but how do the others stack up? The answer is, well, surprisingly good. ‘Forevermore and Always’ slows the pace and ‘Watch for Ghosts’ starts as symphonic black metal and ends with just as much grandiosity as it began with. The songs, again, surprisingly, never get boring. There’s always some kind of riff or fantastic drum beat to latch onto. Even the bass doesn’t get neglected in the admittedly shoddy production job.

The title track is what truly elevates this album for me. Starting like something from a later Ulver record, Joseph Snodgrass’s chant-like clean vocals build with the addition of drums. The song masterfully crescendos back into black metal at the four minute mark in a way that makes you hold your breath and wait for the drop.

In a similar way to Opeth, when the songs feel ready for a transition, it comes just as I expected it to. The riffs feel like they never stay too long, and Amun makes sure to squeeze every bit of life out of the sections they write before moving onto the next. It’s what keeps them from being boring, and the sheer talent of every musician in this band is on display at some point during these songs.

I’ve been singing this album’s praises a lot, and all things considered, this is a really good album. Especially for such a small band. However, the production, frankly, sucks. I can hear you say now, “ITS BLACK METAL, JACKASS”. Dodheimsgard came out this year, and has immaculate production, so quite frankly, the only thing that can excuse this is DHG have been at it a lot longer than Amun had. Some parts, especially with the keyboards and noise sections, can be harsh on the ears, which can make Spectra an exhausting listen with its runtime.

And boy howdy does this album have a runtime. This thing is fucking massive. If the production weren’t an issue, I wouldn’t see the runtime as much of a problem as it is. That being said, Amun knew how to write a song, and knew how to write an epic that holds my attention. Now onto the part of my review that I was dreading, because I’ve gone back and forth on a score about twelve times now.

This is probably the most difficult score I’ve given. I would love to slap a 10 on this album, I really would. This has the makings of a 10 in it, and with a third album that will never come, I can only settle on the score I give now. Amun were a special kind of band that doesn’t come around too often that I didn’t know about until they were gone. This album is beautiful and anxiety-inducing all at the same time, but it has blemishes that cannot be ignored. However, Amun should feel proud of this. They’ve left a lasting mark on some random guy in Ohio, and I wish them all success on their next musical endeavors. 

Recommended tracks: The Father’s Foundation, Spectra and Obsession
You may also like: Pensées Nocturnes, IER, Tomarum, Aquilus,
Final verdict: 8/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram | Metal-Archives Page

Label: Independent

Amun is:
– Joseph Neal Snodgrass (Vocals, guitar, bass)
– CJ Yacoub (Drums, vocals)
– Simon James (Electronics, soundscapes, noise)
– Aidan Robinson (Guitars, vocals)
– Johnathan Nunn (Guitars, vocals)

The post Review: Amun – Spectra and Obsession appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Others By No One – Book II: Where Stories Come From (US-OH)
Style: Prog Metal, Rock Opera, Avant-Garde Metal (mixed vocals)
Pick by: Sabrina

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

It seems that every couple of years we get a completely bat-shit insane album out of prog or avant garde metal that teeters on the brink of musical brilliance and over-the-top, incomprehensible chaos. People will usually either hate or love these albums. Even though progressive and avant garde metal have an implicit purpose to subvert the listener’s expectations, there is a thin line between how much a piece of music can subvert expectations without spilling over the edge into musical clutter. This is the kind of stuff that becomes more and more difficult to resonate with unless one puts effort into repeated listens and/or research into the lyrical content. This might be why this album was picked up and dropped weeks later by two of the members from TheProgressiveSubway; this album is marvelous and perplexing, it hits high peaks but is overall somewhat head-scratching. And to this day, I still do not have a firm, stalwart opinion of this album but here are some of my thoughts on Book II: Where Stories Come From.

I think Others By No One can be associated with the lineage of zany prog artists that came out after Between the Buried and Me’s The Parallax II: Future Sequence; these would be Native Construct, The World is Quiet Here, Edge of Reality,and now Others By No One (we might also be able to fit Rototypical into this bunch). I list these artists out not only because all of them are decently influenced by The Parallax II, but because they follow its footsteps in the spirit of making extremely progressive, wacky, and campy concept albums taking “prog” to the next level. Essentially, they take everything that Anthony Fantano hated about The Parallax II and dialed them up. This makes for a product that any reasonable person cannot expect one to fully appreciate on the first few listens. It essentially combines influences from artists across the board, from Pink Floyd to Sikth and everywhere in between. 

Book II: Where Stories Come From is essentially a rock opera with scattered avant garde/progressive metal interludes. It follows a concept album about an author of fictional stories getting overly involved with the characters in his written creation and falling in love with one of the written beings. Because this is a match of unlikely individuals, a small misadventure ensues with the characters in the story. I’m not entirely sure but this might be meant to be a kind of theological allegory. Furthermore, there are more than plenty of effective existential lyrics in this album that remind me of something that Devin Townsend might write.

Speaking of Devin Townsend, he is one of this album’s major influences not just in the lyrical writing but in the vocal songwriting. In general, the vocals in this album usually sound very practiced, polished, and Devin Townsend inspired. They are performed mainly by Max Mobarry who has mad musical talent, along with a gang of 14 other vocalists that help do the main choruses and the various characters in the plot. This album in general is very vocal-centric and would suffer greatly without them. They propel the album’s climactic peaks which are usually in the form of triumphant choruses, for example, in the middle of “A Reverie to Quell the Giants” or the end of “The Plight of Proxy”.

Vocals aside, this album has a stacked lineup of instruments featured; we’ve got a flute, cello, violin, mandolin, 6 and 12 stringed guitars, upright bass, and I kid you not, a kazoo performance. Hearing a kazoo solo in a metal album is definitely a first for me. This album additionally has a broad range of musical styles which span from stuff that sounds like indie-folk, jazz-fusion, progressive rock, SikTh-esque djenty breakdowns, and death metal vocals. This album excels in delivering a variety of sounds that make it almost comparable to that of Empath.

However, I do want to touch on a couple of contentions that I have with Others By No One. One is that the songwriters can get a little bit too involved in the lyrics and concept of the album that it can weaken the quality of the melodies and musical effectiveness. For instance, when I compare this to something like Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a Memory (MP2), I see that Dream Theater gets just about as into the concept of their album with all of their sex scene, car radio, and murder interludes, however in MP2, Dream Theater made sure to write award-winning melodies and intense musical moments in basically every song, scattered indiscriminately throughout the album to keep hold of the listener’s attention span. In comparison, Book II starts out incredibly strong with the first 4 songs then it starts to meander around a little bit afterward in the middle; I doubt there will be many people who say “Foxjune”, “Tomes” or “Tombs” are their favorite tracks. The album picks up again around the last few songs but it is incredibly difficult for a new listener to stay focused and get through this whole 74-minute whale in one sitting. 

And this is less of a criticism as it is a personal preference but when I hear this band advertised as “FFO: BTBAM”, I expect this to be more metal. I’m definitely fine with this album being categorized as a big fusion of genres but I would not consider this a metal album at its core. I hate to become something like the very elitists that block my reviews from Metal-Archives but I want more metal riffs out of this band. The style of Book II is more akin to The Dear Hunter or Pink Floyd than a metal album. Additionally, when the metal moments are present, they do not have much build-up, they often just pop out of nowhere then leave, like the album has AHDH. This contributes to a common criticism this album receives, that it severely lacks cohesion and overall unity.

Because this is a lot more of a preference, my score is not negatively affected by the fact that I wish it were more metal. I know how hard it is for an artist to please everyone and I don’t want to be a thorn in their back for producing a, for the most part, stellar album. I know there are a ton of people out there that would absolutely love Others By No One if they knew the band existed. So, for all of you out there that like progressive, wacky, bouncing-off-the-wall, rock opera, concept albums with a smattering of extreme metal interludes this is something that is right up your alley.

Recommended tracks: A Reverie to Quell the Giants, Right Side of the Brain
Recommended for fans of: Devin Townsend, Native Construct, Pink Floyd, SikTh, Between the Buried and Me
You may also like: Edge of Reality, Artificial Silence, The World is Quiet Here
Final Verdict: 8.5/10

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

Label: Independent

Others by No One is:
– Maxwell Mobarry (vocals, guitar)
– Mike Gregg (guitar, vocals)
– Quique Bucio (bass, vocals)
– Sam Ruff (drums)

The post Review: Others by No One – Book II: Where Stories Come From appeared first on The Progressive Subway.