Style: dissonant sludge metal, noisecore (mostly harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Nails, Thou, Plebeian Grandstand, Black Tongue
Country: United States-IL
Release date: 2 February 2024

They say Catholic schools are atheist factories. It would have been had I not already disavowed my Catholic upbringing before high school. My dad still forced me through the Confirmation process—I held up my end of the deal that I wouldn’t fight my parents on it if they watched the entire seventy-two minute music video for Warforged’s instant classic I: Voice.¹ I largely despise the Church and most organized religion (although I’m a bit more private with it than an r/atheism subscriber), so I can strongly empathize with meth.’s vocalist Seb Alvarez on Shame. He screams in your face about residual harm from the Church in his adult life, namely alcoholism, Catholicism’s culture of guilt, and of humiliation—heavy stuff.

Each member of the five-piece is vital to the minimalist approach meth. takes to noisy, vitriolic sludge metal. Frontman and lyricist Seb Alvarez is a special talent and spits his vulnerable lyrics in a mix of scream and wail, throat-ripping and rather terrifying. Unlike a deathcore vocalist or Chip King (The Body), the monstrousness isn’t that his vocals sound inhuman; no, Alvarez sounds like he’s ripping his soul out of his body through his mouth with each line, like he’s sacrificing his larynx to force each word out in a display of raw emotion. His clean vocals, styled like Pyrrhon’s Doug Moore—in fact, the title track “Shame,” which has the majority of the clean vocals, sounds like it would be in place on Exhaust—also rip, chastising the Church and full of negative feelings.

Alvarez’s style of vitriolic hardcore vocals can only reach their emotional zenith when the lyrics match their intensity, and Shame’s lyrics are stunningly dark. I’m left haunted by several lines, but moments of repeated refrains like ‘I AM PRAYER’ in “Compulsion” and  ‘I AM SHAME’ in “Shame” hit hardest. There are a dozen such direct metaphors for the self, each one hard hitting and scathing. “Shame” features the heavy hitter ‘I am the weight of my hands, I am the knots in your voice… I am the guilt that feeds you,’ as well as the titular chant. Other tracks like “Blush” open up about Alvarez’s mental health problems like alcoholism. He truly spills his being onto this record. 

If anything, Shame is even more weighty musically than lyrically if such a thing is possible. From the first second of opener “Doubt,” Shame suffocates with a hugely oppressive opening chord—Meshuggah and Gojira wish they could be this heavy with their chugs. The open power chord repeats ad nauseam and while guitarists Zack Farrar and Michael McDonald do little on the track besides provide an absolute wall of sound, their performance is perfect. The tracklist is uniformly hypnotically repetitive and minimalist compositionally, but the destructive riffs are usually all the more powerful for it, creating a sense of claustrophobia as each repeated distortion presses down on your throat. Shame is monolithic, a fortress built of revilement. Nathan Spainhower on bass provides necessary opposition to the two guitarists, his instrument often taking the melodic lead of tracks—see “Blush,” “Shame,” and “Blackmail.” Similar to Alvarez’s Moore-like shouts, Spainhower also feels like he could be on a Pyrrhon album, although one significantly slowed down to a sludgy doom-crawl. Other riffs like the main riff of “Compulsion” which trembles and shivers down the scale with flurries of blast beats sound like they’d be at home on a Plebeian Grandstand album, disgusting and putrid yet coldly calculated. I am tempted to blow out my speakers and eardrums every time I spin Shame.

Finally, skin-beater (drummer) Andrew Smith completes the auditory assault with a stellar performance of his own. His cascading beats in “Compulsion” remind me of Sermon, and the tribalistic feel of the percussion on the slowest track “Give In” is fascinating although the minute-long drone fadeout on the song is superfluous. He fully dictates the pace of the album, and the varying tempos are often the most important differentiator on tracks (since unfortunately all seven can feel a bit too similar in their abrasive, dissonant assault). He never is too flashy for a song, but when he switches from sludgier sections to blast beats, he certainly stands out from the noise as well as helping create it.

Even at a reasonable forty-four minutes, Shame’s pure hatred and weightiness makes it feel longer, and that’s certainly exacerbated by lengthy sections of the same unremitting riff causing me to feel like I’m crammed into a small space cornered by a priest. I hardly even mentioned the glorious spinose dissonance: the album is ugly, too, profoundly uncomfortable to listen to. Shame is among the most grave records I’ve ever spun and achieves the highest recommendation to any lovers of music that makes you feel like you were force fed your own bile. I have become addicted to meth., and there’s no shame in that.

Recommended tracks: Doubt, Compulsion, Shame
You may also like: Knoll, Ken Mode, Glassing, Cave Sermon, Scarcity, LLNN, Pyrrhon
Final verdict: 8.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Prosthetic Records – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

meth. is:
– Seb Alvarez (vocals)
–  Zack Farrar (guitars)
– Michael McDonald (guitars, vocals)
– Andrew Smith (drums)
– Nathan Spainhower (bass)

1. This really did happen and they really didn’t enjoy it. My dad doesn’t do much heavier than Dream Theater; my mom taps out around modern Leprous. ︎

The post Missed Album: Meth. – Shame appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: folk black metal, atmospheric black metal, trance, drum’n’bass, jungle (mostly harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Kaatayra, Fishmans (Long Season)
Country: Brazil
Release date: 11 October 2024

October 11th 2024 was a big day for me. My girlfriend and I got up bright and early to travel four hundred miles to see Opeth live. Two hours before the show, however, I got an email from Bandcamp that Caio Lemos’ solo project Bríi had released his next album Camaradagem Póstuma with his usual lack of prior announcement. That I didn’t know if I was more excited for an Opeth concert or the newest album from Lemos should say enough about how much I love Bríi’s music. Halfway through the decade, and each year a Lemos project—Bríi, Kaatayra, and Vestígio—has been at or near the top of my end-of-year list. At this point, dangling this paragraph with some rhetorical “it can’t possibly live up to expectations, can it?!” is a sleight to your intelligence: we all know Camaradagem Póstuma is another masterpiece. 

Bríi has the distinct Caio Lemos sound—a vitalistic rhythmic pulse, blackened rasps, magical, tropical synths—yet like with every new iteration, the beast has evolved, incorporating new and refined elements into the formulae of previous projects. Like last year’s (disappointing) Último Ancestral Comum, Camaradagem is transitory and fuzzy, as if recorded from a dream. There’s an evanescent detachment that’s charming and intriguing but also profoundly eerie, compounded with the vocals being produced almost as if they were ghosts in the background. The rasps are delicate, quietly buried in the mix, and the recorded screams that start the album on “Médium” are haunting. On the other hand, the clean vocals, although uncommon in Camaradagem’s thirty minute runtime, showcase one of Serafim’s¹ greatest improvements, with his voice much more rich and assured.

As always on a Lemos project, rhythm is king, and on Camaradagem Póstuma it primarily functions in the nebulous space between jungle and drum’n’bass, Serafim’s obsession with percussion manifested in the intricately syncopated breakbeats of electronic music. He continually exchanges the breakbeats for blast beats with transitions so smooth there’s hardly a noticeable change in the percussive brilliance, and he makes the combination seem so natural it’s hard to believe that other artists don’t do it more. Alternating between these two modes—ephemerally coalescing and diverging in complex rhythmic dynamics—Bríi finds an electrifying groove early on in opener “Médium” and builds the album outward from it, as he did on my 2022 album of the year, Corpos Transparentes. Even though the drumming seems cyclically repetitive, Serafim almost always mixes each variation up—the frighteningly complex cymbal patterns, which beat is rhythmically accented, or even the inclusion of little easter eggs like the Amen break at the end of “Aparecidos.” 

From the illusion of hypnotic repetition, the album’s melodic contours blossom into a near limitless diversity of musical texture. First, various synths flower underneath the drums like perennials, continually and ephemerally blooming and wilting. Guitars dazzle in brief leads (4:21 “Médium,” 4:07 “Aparecidos,” and the riffs throughout “Baile Fantasma”), breathy flutes dance (5:00 “Médium”), and synthesized choirs (“Enlutados” opening²) create breathtakingly surreal atmospheres. The only track which doesn’t excel at creatively evolving is penultimate and shortest song, “Entre Mundos,” which stagnates in the same jungle/DnB beat throughout. However, the best melodic embellishment throughout Camaradagem Póstuma is undoubtedly the acoustic guitar parts which are a direct callback to my 2020 album of the year and fully acoustic black metal album Só Quem Viu o Relâmpago à Sua Direita Sabe. The trem-picked acoustic is a unique sound, vibrant but frail, as if it could collapse in on itself at any moment. 

Nobody else could craft an album quite like Camaradagem Póstuma. This seamless mix between acoustic guitar, enveloping black metal, and atmospheric rave music just works; it’s Caio Lemos’ magic. The hypnagogic black metal is unsettling yet comforting, surprising yet instinctive, low-key yet sublime. You’ll see this on my list as is annual tradition.

Recommended tracks: Médium, Aparecidos, Baile Fantasma
You may also like: Bakt, Déhà, Vauruvã, Rasha, Wreche, Plague Orphan, Oksät, Vestígio
Final verdict: 8.5/10

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

Label: independent

Bríi is:
– Serafim (everything)

1. The pseudonym Lemos uses as instrumentalist and vocalist for the Bríi project on Bandcamp ︎
2.  Which, fun fact, is the exact same choir synth that Mechina uses lol ︎

The post Missed album: Bríi – Camaradagem Póstuma appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: Progressive death metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Death, Atheist
Review by: Zach
Country: Pennsylvania/South Carolina, United States
Release date: 18 August, 2023

The line between a copycat and showing influence on your sleeve is razor thin. Take Cowboy Bebop for example, which has shot-for-shot references of old westerns that Shinichiro Watanabe enjoyed when he was growing up. Is the finished product one of the most original pieces of media I’ve ever seen? On the surface, not really. Bounty hunters in space, big whoop. It’s the theming and narrative structure of Bebop that make it special. Watanabe examined his influences, took note of what made them work, and translated that into his own writing. Point is, you don’t have to make original to make good.

Horrendous are, on the surface, not that original. A progressive death metal band influenced by the likes of Death and Atheist. That sure narrows it down, doesn’t it? They could easily be written off as another Schuldiner wannabe if not for the absolutely ridiculous track record they have. Five albums deep, and Horrendous have yet to release an album that I wouldn’t at least call good, with most of them landing closer to great. Why are they so good you may ask? Because these boys have examined the great titans of old prog-death, and they’ve clearly figured something out that us mortals haven’t caught onto yet.

Let’s start off with my favorite aspect of every Horrendous album. Damian Herring, one half of this band’s riff factory, is probably one of the best producers working right now. Every record sounds nothing short of stellar, and Ontological is no exception. Not only is every instrument perfectly balanced, everything sounds so organic. Clicky kicks and computerized guitar tones have never been Horrendous’s shtick, and they’re better off for it. The fact that this may be the best sounding record Herring has ever produced says a ton about his talent and Ontological Mysterium.

However, a polished turd is still a turd. All the production in the world can’t hide blemishes, and thankfully this album has practically none. ‘Chrysopoeia (The Archeology of Dawn)’ showcases Horrendous at their most proggy, including the best riff I’ve heard all year that they thankfully use a few times. Right off the bat, this song sets up everything you’re about to experience summarized in seven minutes: Clean vocals, fretless bass straight from the school of DiGiorgio, and a sheer sense of badassery emanating from every pore.

Herring’s characteristic shrieks have never sounded better than on ‘Neon Leviathan’, which should’ve been called ‘The Second Coming of Atheist’. I’ve seen many bands try to impersonate this style of 90s prog-death songwriting, and nobody’s got it this right on. Ever. The jazzy, chaotic songwriting is such a great contrast to the more melodic opener, and an even better contrast to chilled out fourth song ‘Aurora Neoterica’.

The songwriting on this album is crazy diverse for death metal. Horrendous even dip their toes into what’s probably the only prog-death ballad I’ve ever heard in ‘Preterition Hymn’. The rock-esque riffs on this song meld perfectly with the noodly bass and complete lack of double kicks. But they make sure you don’t get too comfortable as the last four songs all pummel you back down to hell. When the final bell tolled on closer, ‘The Death Knell Ringeth,’ I started Ontological Mysterium right back from the beginning.

Horrendous continue to cement themselves straight into the death metal hall of fame with each release. They are, without a single doubt in my mind, the current kings of old school, Schuldiner-esque prog-death. Nobody since Sweven has gotten this style so dead on, and so fresh at the same time. Horrendous are far, far more than a copycat, they have breathed life into the genre that hasn’t been seen since the 90s. Don’t sleep on this one, I promise it’s worth it. 

Recommended tracks: Neon Leviathan, Chrysopoeia (The Archaeology of Dawn), Cult of Shaad’oah, The Death Knell Ringeth, Preterition Hymn
You may also like: Ulthar, Hooded Menace, Skyglow
Final verdict: 10/10

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

Label: Season of Mist – Facebook | Official Website

Horrendous is:
– Jamie Knox (drums)
– Matt Knox (guitars, vocals)
– Damian Herring (guitars, vocals)
– Alex Kulick (bass)

The post Missed Album Review: Horrendous – Ontological Mysterium appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: US power metal, progressive metal, epic doom (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Iced Earth, Atlantean Kodex, Gamma Ray, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Review by: Sam
Country: Greece
Release date: 20 March 2023

One of my favorite things in music is when power metal vocalists go AAAAAAA. It tickles something special in my brain as a singer does away with all logic and belts out the most insane notes at unbelievable volume. Daniel Heiman’s ludicrousness turned Lost Horizon into legend and also adds a whopping two points to any album he sings on; hence, when Sacred Outcry released Towers of Gold earlier this year and had Heiman singing at full potentiAAAAAl, I thought power metal peaked in 2023—heck, maybe even in the entire decade. But little did I know that there was another band on the horizon to blow me the fuck awAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY this year. Enter Triumpher.

Holy hell, I mean, what a singer! Antonis Vailas has a ginormous range and reinforces that with Dragon Ball Z levels of power and grit. I am not being hyperbolic when I say that he reaches a level near comparable to the god Daniel Heiman himself as he belts out his high notes, and the grit he displays in aggressive parts is similarly impressive, evoking other power metal gods such as Matt Barlow (Iced Earth) at his best or Russell Allen (Symphony X) in general. The guy is vicious in his delivery and a huge aspect of what makes Storming the Walls so appealing. 

And Vailas is not the only one, the rest of the band also engages in plenty of savagery. Whereas Sacred Outcry was at times let down by middling riffs and plodding drumming, Triumpher suffer from no such ailments: we get power metal riffs so nasty they border on death metal, gargantuan epic doom riffs with thundering drumming underneath and majestic synths on top, spidering technical prog riffs as they transition, black metal influenced tremolo picking and high octane drumming – the creativity and variety simply don’t let up. Contrast is provided too – classic campfire acoustic sections frequently rear their heads – and Triumpher perform them every bit as magically as the 80s power metal greats. On the other side of the spectrum, did I mention the harsh vocals yet? Yeah, I don’t know who does them since they seem to be backing vocals and no one’s listed for that in the credits, but whoever’s responsible sounds massive.

So the performances are all through the roof, but how is the songwriting? Rather meandering, which is both a strength and a weakness. In a genre often bound by rigid form – even in its progressive variations – Triumpher’s approach is refreshing, but conventions also typically exist because they work on some level, and without big central hooks to latch onto the songs are at risk of becoming a formless stream of theatrics. While no song on its own becomes aimless or lacking in distinctive elements, as a whole Storming the Walls does blend together a little by the end of it, something which is exacerbated by the vocal melody writing. Instead of singing conventional melodies, Valias frequently engages in what I like to call “power talking” – a style common in epic metal born to theatrically convey the band’s epic tales to the listener. The downside of this style is that it lacks catchiness, which doesn’t help with the aforementioned homogeneity aspect.

But criticism aside, I must also mention the highlights. The opening combo is ridiculously strong, setting the stage first in “Journey/Europa Victrix” with those magical acoustics I mentioned earlier, giving full space for Valias to display his insane range as he belts out AAAAAs of legend, and then marching into “The Thunderer” which does exactly as the track title prescribes by unleashing a maniacal riff and vocal assault. The title track – though losing itself a little bit in the middle – leans fully into epic doom and sounds incredibly imposing. “Esoteric Church of Dagon” is another riff assault but even more intense than “The Thunderer,” strongly bringing Manticora’s latest album to mind for its extreme and progressive metal influences, and “The Blazing Circle” shines for its triumphant, AAAAA-pilled, chorus, although its poor transition into an acoustic outro makes for a disappointingly anti-climactic end to the album.

When I first heard Storming the Walls, I legitimately thought I had an all-time power metal classic on my hands. That turned out to be not quite the case as the band has some hiccups with the songwriting, but either way this is incredible for a debut and I must applaud them for their playing. Even on tracks that lose direction or lack melodies to latch onto I find myself blown away by every other riff, vocal burst, or maniacal piece of drumming. Triumpher have something special in them, and I desperately hope they one day reach their full potential.

Recommended tracks: The Thunderer, Esoteric Church of Dagon, Divus de Mortuus
You may also like: Sacred Outcry, Starborn, Hunted, Manticora
Final verdict: 8/10

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

Label: No Remorse Records – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Triumpher is:
– Antonis “Mars Triumph” Valias (vocals, bass, lyrics)
– Apostolos Papadimitriou (guitars)
– Christopher Tsakiropoulos (guitars)
– John “Maelstrom” Votsis (drums)

The post Missed Albums Review: Triumpher – Storming the Walls appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: melodic death metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Insomnium, Shylmagaghnor, Be’Lakor, Swallow the Sun, Countless Skies
Review by: Andy
Country: Connecticut, United States
Release date: 28 April 2023

In days of yore, melodic death metal gave young Andrew—yes, so long ago he didn’t yet go by Andy—a glimmer in his eye, and Amon Amarth was surely the soundtrack for his first chest hair sprouting out while he yelped out the most masculine warrior bellow ever heard. Drawn toward the strange dichotomy of pretty melodies and gruff harsh vocals—and ideally some blast beats as the cherry on top—he could never possibly grow sick of the style: music had surely peaked with Be’Lakor. Many years later, and jaded Andy scoffs at melody. I have transcended such remedial musical needs as being “pleasant”; I snort up “unlistenable” avant-garde black metal and whatever freaky noise Tim sends my way like the bear in Cocaine Bear snorts cocaine; I shirk away from that which once seemed to be the unarguable pinnacle of music. Occasionally, though, an album has such euphonic melodiousness that I am forced to remember how superior a dulcet guitar lead can be.

Fires in the Distance filled Air Not Meant for Us chock full of sonorous, mellifluous leads which saturate each song with more ear candy than the surgeon general recommends for a month; however, the rich rhythm section and somber, rainy-day atmosphere prevent the whole thing from being too saccharine for my taste. I crave the melodies across Air Not Meant for Us like I’m fourteen years old just getting into metal for the first time. Skip to any part of the album, and the odds are overwhelmingly in favor of hearing a bombastic guitar part, a cute little piano lead while the guitars chug a bit more death-y in riffage style, or a heart-wrenching, harmonized guitar solo.

The opener, “Harbingers,” is on the song o’ the year shortlist precisely because of its scrumptious, euphoric melodies and harmonies. From its rainy piano intro and first humongous guitar swell to solos like those at 7:40, Yegor Savonin and Kristian Grimaldi show they aren’t the flashiest guitar players in the world, but their sense for what sounds appropriate both apart and together is absolutely astounding. I have listened to this song on repeat to be re-baptized in melodic guitar parts and darling piano bridges each time.

Many an album has had a stellar instrumental highlight without being cohesive as a full sound, but Fires in the Distance expertly add some heft to ground the soaring guitars and piano. Breathable, airy production of the treble parts allows the more mid and bass heavy instruments to boast a deep, doom-y weight. The drumming, bass, and rhythm guitar all chug along as a perfect accompaniment for the higher pitch solo instruments to shine, neither too distracting nor too bland. Craig Breitsprecher and Kristian Grimaldi’s harsh vocals are suited extremely well for the music, too, a crystal clear deep growl reminiscent of Geroge Kosmas (Be’Lakor). Along with the powerful, reverberant depths of sound from the low end, Fires in the Distance have really struck a fantastic balance between heft and lightness for melodeath with their formula and production. 

While Air Not Meant for Us endlessly throws enchanting moments at the listener, I think a bit of variation would go a long way. “Adrift, Beneath the Listless Waves” picks up the pace from a doomier crawl into a more traditional melodeath gallop, and the tracks change up the song structure a bit among themselves, but for the most part, Air Not Meant for Us is a lot of a band knowing what works well and exhausting the idea. Their schtick is done convincingly enough that I hardly care, but adding in occasional cleans a lá Countless Skies or perhaps some other appropriately honeyed instrument like the cello could elevate them to dizzying heights.

Of course my intro is playing into the bit a tad; I still understand the intrinsic power of a perfect melody, but I have grown tired of the genre, finding the vast majority of albums to be pitifully uninspired. Fires in the Distance have transcended that to create a wonderful listening experience that’s appropriate for 2023’s final breaths and the new year fast approaching.

Recommended tracks: Harbingers, Crumbling Pillars of a Tranquil Mind
You may also like: Hinayana, Atavistia, Ocean of Grief, Enshine, Cold Insight, Slumber
Final verdict: 8.5/10

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

Label: Prosthetic Records – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Fires in the Distance is:
– Craig Breitsprecher (vocals, bass)
– Jordan Rippe (drums)
– Yegor Savonin (guitars, synths)
– Kristian Grimaldi (guitars, vocals)

The post Missed Album Review: Fires in the Distance – Air Not Meant for Us appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: progressive metal, melodic black metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Ne Obliviscaris, Dissection, Moonsorrow
Review by: Zach
Country: Belarus
Release date: 25 August, 2023

[EDITOR’S NOTE: now that it’s December and releases become less frequent, we’re going to start with covering cool things that slipped past us. As much as we want to be, we are not nearly omnipotent. This is the first review of many in an attempt to make up for that.]

The coveted seal of Hyperfixation Album is not to be taken lightly. This is something I love so much, I’m willing to not only order it on vinyl, but also play it through excessively. When a band’s album enters this exclusive club, they’re amongst the likes of Opeth, Disillusion, and newly coveted Afterbirth. With such great power, they now have a chokehold over me for well over a month, and if you’re Ne Obliviscaris, I’ve basically set aside my entire year for you. These albums need to appeal to all my musical sensibilities, and give me new ones I didn’t even know I had.

This year has been a good year for these kinds of albums, some coming from bands who I’ve heard before and others who are up and coming. Massen is one of the few prog bands I’d never heard of before joining the Subway, and I quickly took a liking to 2021’s Contraesthetic. But as time has gone on, I find it’s a record with a lot of good ideas, plenty of Zach-bait with the violin and folk-esque melodies, but medium-rare execution overall. Marred by brickwalled production, and just barely 35 minutes of runtime, I was ready to write off Massen as a band who wasted huge potential.

So much so that when Gentle Brutality came out, I said “oh, cool”, and didn’t take much notice until about a whole month later. In the time between these two albums, Massen went down from a four piece to just two (and now back to four): Alex, who handles all instruments and harsh vocals, and Kara, who handles violin. Now, usually this is a bad sign, but clearly these two have such writing prowess that they’ve made a Massive leap forward since 2021.

Gentle Brutality starts out with the best song Massen have ever written. ‘Energy System’ slaps really fucking hard, as the kids say.. The startling brutality of the opening screams, the mournful main riff that gives way to an explosive female vocal chorus. Not to mention the catchiest use of a song’s title I’ve seen all year—just look at the comments on the band’s Bandcamp page to see what I mean. In fact, my biggest flaw with Gentle Brutality is that it never quite recovers from how incredible this first song is. Every other song is great, while the opener is firmly excellent. 

Massen makes up for this by writing a bit more adventurously this time around. ‘Corps de ballet’ starts with a riff that sounds almost grindcore-adjacent before leading into a violin filled chorus. ‘Together Alone’ is their first attempt at writing the closest thing to a ballad with absolutely no harsh vocals. For the most part, this really works in their favor, as it keeps the album from sounding like Contraesthetic with better production. The melodic, blackened core is still very much there, but with a bit more focus on creating interplay between violin and guitars this time.

Kara’s violin is without a doubt the highlight of the entire album. I always thought it was a bit of a waste that she wasn’t more prevalent on Contraesthetic, so I’m glad to see that rectified. ‘Energy System’’s verse riff would not sound nearly as massive without it, and it serves most of the riffs so well. However, I would like to see the next album giving her more lead parts, especially seeing how well Ne Obliviscaris’s Tim Charles uses his violin to create vocal melodies and solo around punishing riffs. Letting her shine through  in leads, as she does on the closer,  would help their songwriting even further, but the other instrumentals are truly nothing to scoff at here either. 

People named Alex are clearly really good at making prog, as we’ve already seen in Dessiderium. I had no idea that Massen moved down to just a two piece after 2022, and that’s clearly indicative of Alex’s (not Haddad) talent. I’m unsure if the two other members who came back after 2022 had a hand in writing the album, but if they didn’t, hats off to Alex for his performances. Guest vocalist Nastya Kozel also deserves extra props for how she makes me wish I spoke Belarussian to sing along with her.

This album is pretty fantastic, and pushes Massen straight into the forefront of a band whose next release I’ll eagerly look out for. Sure, it never reaches the heights of ‘Energy System’, but it’s a consistently well-written and overall breezy album to listen to thanks to the runtime. Frankly, after the first song, it was an easy entry into the Hyperfixation Album  ranks. 

Recommended tracks: ENERGY SYSTEM, Disgusted, Together Alone, Our Melody is Not Dead
You may also like: Windfaerer, Winterhorde
Final verdict: 8/10

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

Label: Apostasy Records – Bandcamp | Facebook

Massen is:
– Alex (vocals, guitars, bass, drums)
– Kara (violin)

The post Missed Album Review: Massen – Gentle Brutality appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: Black Metal, Progressive Metal, Heavy Metal (“clean” vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Bathory (Blood Fire Death era), Arcturus, Iron Maiden, Immortal
Review by: Sam
Country: Finland
Release date: 28 October, 2022

It’s always nice to review a band you’ve reviewed before. Three years ago, I found out about Antipope through Apostle of Infinite Joy which, well, gave me quite a lot of joy. It had a unique combination of black metal riffs, prog metal drumming and song structures, and heavy metal-infested melodic leads and hook-based songwriting. All while having vocals that sounded like Dave Mustaine tried black metal, which strangely enough worked better for me than the Megadeth-man himself. I tried digging into their decently extensive catalog at the time, but sadly none of it was up to the standard that Apostle had set. It was as if after years of experimentation the band finally found their own sound. So now we finally have another album. Does it live up to the standard they set last time, or will the band fall back into mediocrity? 

It’s a hard question to answer. The band changed up their approach significantly from last time. There is less emphasis on the progressive and black metal aspects and a lot more on the heavy metal side of things. The arrangements have become remarkably more straightforward, using less intricate passages with creative drumming and more adrenaline-fueled arrangements to move your head back and forth. The atmosphere also changed significantly thanks to the newly acquired epic doom influences, making it now sound big and triumphant. This shows up in the lead work especially, which is now more atmosphere focused. Whether these changes are a good thing is largely up to preference. I greatly enjoy most of the songs on here and the compositions are still all very strong, but I can’t deny I’m bummed by the loss of complexity in the drumming as that was one of my favorite aspects about their previous album. 

So let’s dive into the songs. Right off the bat, I’m a little disappointed as the band trigger a pet peeve of mine. I mentioned epic doom influences, which unfortunately they also took the annoying minute-long intro track idea from. It’s a symphonic piece that leads into the actual opener nicely, but given that symphonics rarely show up elsewhere in the album it feels like false pretenses. The song works well in a vacuum but honestly I could have done without it. Fortunately, the actual opener “Rex Mundi Aeternum” delivers in spades. It flaunts the epic doom influences tastefully and quickly descends into a maelstrom of furious black metal riffage, captivating vocal lines (which are now sung instead of growled – more on that later), and epic leads that twists and turns through many different sections until it all comes together for an epic climax. It’s easily one of, if not the best song(s) the band has written yet and sets a super high bar for the rest of the album to follow. 

The next three tracks are of similar quality. “Eye of the Storm” especially highlights one of Antipope’s premier qualities, and that is genre bending. It easily incorporates half a dozen metal genres, yet it at all times sounds unmistakably Antipope. There’s the black metal, symphonic metal touches to increase the epic factor, the epic doom style emotive leads and slower passages, heavy metal gallops, a power metal chorus, and progressive metal structuring and odd-time parts. All of these elements show up throughout the album. And as if that wasn’t enough, there are also thrash and Gothenburg elements interwoven in the mix at times. If the FFO looks like a clusterfuck to you, that’s because this band is all over the place in all the best ways possible. In the words of our fellow reviewer Cristopher, “it sounds like a lot of things, but not particularly like anything.”

I mentioned the band switching to clean vocals earlier, well, I’d like for you to take a step back and pause. Take a deep breath. Ok, ready? Now imagine Dave Mustaine attempting a power metal chorus, but somehow, it works. That is what they achieved in “Eye of the Storm”. If that doesn’t blow your mind, I don’t know what does. But let’s not overdo the references to the Megadeth front man. The guy here has his own name. Mikko Myllykangas does vocals, guitars, and bass. His voice is certainly out there. He’s high-pitched and extremely nasal. I imagine for most reason it’ll be a make-or-break factor with this album, but I enjoyed him for the most part. The nasal aspect brings a high level of grit to his voice that works really well in the faster, more aggressive sections. However, that same nasal aspect can also really hurt during the slower, more emotional sections. “Twilight of the Grey Gods” in particular has a chorus that puts a little too much spotlight on his voice in a way that brings out the worst, making him sound painfully strained. “Hell on Earth” also has a few lines where he sounds out of his depth. I think he’d do really well to improve upon the softer, more vulnerable side of his voice. This drop-off in vocal performance ended up hurting the songs in the second half of the album a lot. 

I also found the album structuring to be rather odd. They start with a 10 minute song, but never attempt anything of that length again. Especially given the weaker, slower songs in the second half I’d have preferred it if they cut a couple of tracks in favor of one or two longer ones. This is also what makes the symphonic opening piece feel out of place. Only the initial epic justifies that much build-up. At 56 minutes, the songs end up blending together thanks to the lack of structural variety. Had they kept more of the progressive aspects like in the epic title track, maybe it’d have worked, but their current approach I find a little too straightforward for such a length. 

So to come back to the question in the introduction, did the band fall back into mediocrity? Not quite. But I don’t think they quite reached the level of Apostle of Infinite Joy either. It’s a step forward in some ways. The increased epic factor was great and made for peaks higher than on their previous album, but the cutting back in progressive elements and occasionally painful clean vocals made the overall experience a bit tiring and it ended up feeling like a slight step back. I think if they tune in a little more on the ambitious aspect and the vocals improve, we could be in for a real banger, but for now, we’ll just have to be content with what we got here.  

Recommended tracks: Rex Mundi Aeternum, Eye of the Storm, Church of Wolves
You may also like: Zemial, Articulus
Final verdict: 7/10

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

Label: Moribund Records – Website | Facebook

Antipope is:
– Mikko Myllykangas (vocals, guitars, bass)
– Antti J. Karjalainen (guitars)
– Joni Tauriainen (bass)
– Tuska E. (drums)

The post Missed Albums Review: Antipope – Rex Mundi appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: Avant-garde Black Metal, Drone, Modern Classical (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Blut Aus Nord, The Ruins of Beverast, Sunn O))
Review by: Andy
Country: United States-NY
Release date: 15 July, 2022

Desolate droning pulses echo outward from the preceding calm before Aveilut; the guitar immediately invokes the haunting airhorn of The Lighthouse’s psychological horror. Drums materialize to provide locomotion as soon as the creeping microtonal guitars–which occasionally meet to form hideously unsettling chords but more often than not counteract all logical sense of melody–begin to stagnate. These blaring melodies at the start of “I” are a nuclear alarm, a presaging omen of imminent, cataclysmic disaster as uncomfortable to listen to as the grief and desolation in Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima. Just as Blut Aus Nord unraveled chthonic tendrils around listeners’ throats in their suffocating opus Disharmonium: Undreamable Abysses earlier this year, so the unwieldy, indecipherable guitars of Aveilut also strangle unprepared listeners–without the need for conceptual prompting. Soon after the initial musical prophesying of doom, Doug Moore (Pyrrhon), among the best lyricists in metal, unleashes sinister snarls of his blunt poetry, rejecting the permanence of death. These distressing soundscapes and messages do not cease for the first three movements of Aveilut, but the vocals–despite the wickedly pitiless harshes–improbably provide some of the only moments of respite in the ferocious, forward-marching assault of Scarcity’s guitars and drums. 

Scarcity is inescapable. Staccato blast beats and the microtonal tremeloes turn into a bass-led pulse as “I” seamlessly transitions into “II”: the flow is a direct result of Brendon Randall-Myers’ musical pedigree as a composer of experimental modern classical. As an experienced composer, he contributes true classical sensibility and aplomb to metal. The technical crescendos and microtonal progressions contribute to a superstructure as indecipherable as the most inhuman of Moore’s vocals. Aveilut additionally has endless replay value owing to the intense, strident performances that never undermine the high-mindedness of the artform. Appreciating the seamless shifting cycles of microtonality and dramatic overarching progressions is like a game once one–after multiple listens–can disentangle themselves from the grip of the more momentary struggle to comprehend what’s happening. 

Returning to the bass of “II,” Aveilut is the sound of an experienced composer grappling with death–understandable at a primal level but altogether too sophisticated to fully wrap your head around without serious thinking. And this album isn’t merely conveying sadness nor sage acceptance like Dessiderium; this is unbridled anger, especially prominent in movements “II” and “III.” As Randall-Myers battles against these furious, challenging-to-comprehend concepts, the tremelos erupt out of the scorched earth and sizzle dazzilingly until they burn away–leaving room for another to burn anew–such that anytime a sense of complacency with the discordant riffs occurs, he tears the carpet out from under you. If he can’t come to terms with death, you can’t grasp his music easily. The vocals in these movements are the deranged wailing of souls gone, bursting out of cracks in the ground while simultaneously crazed riffs serve to obfuscate and confuse–successfully. Aveilut is a fortress of horror and loss using classical and metal alike to buttress itself from any attempts at understanding its deeper structures. The lyrics, shouted above the increasingly intensifying din, propose: “Bе without fear when your lungs fail to draw air” just as the movement ironically reaches its new zenith of asphyxiating anxiety. This climactic audial onslaught is far too powerful to be a natural disaster–this is anthropogenic destruction; akin to Chernobyl or Nagasaki.  

Constant blasts and blaring guitars continue on in their journey to come to terms with disaster–or perhaps they are the disaster. I’ve never heard something this sophisticated be quite so terrifying: Aveilut is Warforged matured to the compositional level of Schoenberg. “III” leaves the listener to smolder in the gaze of Scarcity, who explode to whole new levels of uncompromisability at the culmination of the movement’s crescendo: Everything turns to noise as the bomb foretold in “I” is actually dropped. And it isn’t detonated once; no, the bomb explodes again and again like Ashenspire setting Grenfell aflame. Thus, “IV” functions as the true fallout. Aveilut devolves–or is incinerated–into a drone as powerful as standing in front of a huge amp. Eventually, explorative guitar lines peek out of the low end along with disgustingly deep vocals, the only remaining survivors–holy god, the vocals at 6:15 are demonic with just the distorted electronica holding up the demented screams. 

“V” brings the black metal back with ungodly levels of counterpoint, the advanced chord progressions a vile reminder of the compositional skill on display. Parts of the movement may well be the harmonic zenith of metal as too many guitars to count all merge and play together for a terrifying moment at 4:55 before all hell breaks loose again into a SkyThala-lite ascending riff. Finally, the lyrics indicate some sort of coming to terms with death, getting over the apparent thanatophobia running through the work; likewise, the music tells a complicated story of that same ending. Every disconcerting piece finds another discordant line to overwhelm the senses with their euphoric polyphonic bliss. The guitars shift and fall away and give birth to new parts over and over, and Randall-Myers/Moore reach a near understanding with the scream: “Sempiternal, perfected forever, your shadow lingers on, on, on.” Afterward, all that remains is an ultimate haunting orchestration. 

Reckoning with existential mortality remains one of the largest hurdles to human life–time has not changed that. I applaud Scarcity for the authentic and heart-wrenching take on the topic; moreover, beyond reminiscence on life-altering experiences and death, Aveilut is one of the most terrifying and sublime metal compositions I’ve heard, marrying the best of multiple challenging music scenes together. While Aveilut may not be able to bring people back to life, the album is a triumphant artistic attempt at reconciling with deep internal unrest. 

Recommended tracks: Aveilut (it flows too well as one track)
You may also like: Pyrrhon, Xenoglyph, Jute Gyte, SkyThala, Warforged
Final verdict: 9/10

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

Label: The Flenser – Bandcamp | Website | Facebook

Scarcity is:
– Brendon Randall-Myers (all instruments)
– Doug Moore (vocals)

The post Missed Album Review: Scarcity – Aveilut appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: traditional progressive metal, symphonic metal (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Ayreon, Epica, Dream Theater
Review by: Sam
Country: The Netherlands
Release date: 26 November 2021

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This review was originally published in the Missed Albums 2021 issue of The Progressive Subway.]

Once upon a time, we covered a Dutch symphonic prog metal band on this blog called Dreamwalkers Inc. They caught my attention for the fact that they had five fucking vocalists listed as full-time band members (and I guess also the music was pretty good). It was only later that I learned that the project was actually the brainchild of just one fellow Dutchman by the name of Tom de Wit, and that the record in question – First Re-Draft – was not just the first, but the second reimagining of his debut solo album First Draft (should have called it Second Re-Draft SMH my head). By the time I learned of the existence of his solo project TDW, it was already too late to cover his latest outing The Day the Clock Stopped (research is not my strong suit, as you can tell). But luckily for me, there was an upcoming album I could cover in Fountains. I asked the man for a promo, and two months later… here we are. Yeah. I should apologize for how late this review came out. I got a major writing burn-out, and this was an unfortunate casualty of that.

On the bright side though, the lateness of this review gave me the time to listen to his entire discography before I heard this. It was a fun, albeit inconsistent experience. He has a very peculiar style of symphonic arrangements, that for unknown reasons, feel very Dutch to me (maybe it’s the cheese?). I wouldn’t be able to tell you anything about the details, but they were always vibrant and had plenty of variety. The songwriting fluctuated pretty heavily between mind-blowing brilliance and clunky filler parts. And for the life of him, the man could not trim his albums, which were often a solid twenty minutes longer than they needed to be, if not more (looking at you, Scrapbook). The early albums also suffered heavily from basement production and a god-awful drum machine. Overall though, his sense of melody and composition made it mostly a pleasure to sit through. And lucky for me, Fountains has a very manageable length of 56 minutes, so it looks like we have another win on our hands!

For a large part, I indeed see Fountains as a win. There are a couple of excellent cuts on the disc. The first two songs in particular are great, rather straightforward tracks that show you what the record is all about. Nifty synth lines, large symphonic backing, hard riffs, lots of tempo changes, and a full fucking choir backing Tom’s largely soaring vocals. There’s even a couple of harsh vocal parts. It has a general chaotic element that is just strong enough to keep you on your toes, but weak enough not to make it feel like he’s throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. Another strong cut in this regard is the hilariously whacky upbeat rocker “Graveyard Boogey” in the back half of the album, which shifts between over the top dramatism and circus sounds over a hyperactive drumbeat at the drop of hat. On the more introverted side, there’s mostly laid back passages here and there, but “Anthracite” stands out as a very moving power ballad. It slowly climbs out of ominous electronics with whispered call and response vocals into blast beats and growls to an eventual full choir reprise of the main melody, giving a satisfying payoff to all the build-up. “Hope Song I” is also a great, moving breather track, albeit it functions more like an interlude. Its sequel is the epic closing of the album. It’s easily the most symphonic song on the record and gives it a good finale. I also definitely recommend listening to both “Hope Songs” in a row as a bonus because it’s a treat.

There’s a couple of aspects about Fountains that I found hard to connect to – things which also appeared in Tom’s previous work. Maybe it’s solely my cringing at a fellow native’s accent, but in a lot of the aggressive, powerful moments Tom’s delivery sounds rather stiff (or “wooden” as we Dutchies like to say), and I find myself more appreciating the emotion he’s trying to convey rather than his singing actually makes me feel said emotion. In short, the cheese is too strong. His softer parts were very moving, but it seemed like the more power he put in, the less I connected to it. I was also iffy on some of the slower riffs, which sounded clunky, and some of the lyrics were blunt to a fault and took me out of it (“If I shout louder than you, does that make me right?”). (Damn I really am just roasting my own country here aren’t I? FFS)

On the whole, I liked Fountains. There are certain aspects I didn’t like as much, and some songs were stronger than others, but the overall experience was thoroughly enjoyable. If anything, TDW has an unmistakable character in terms of writing and production, and that’s worth a lot. If you enjoy what you hear in this album, definitely explore the rest of his discography (and Dreamwalkers Inc!) as well. It’s a lot of fun.

Recommended tracks: Inner Energy, Anthracite, Graveyard Boogey
You may also like: Course of Fate, Beyond the Bridge
Final verdict: 6/10

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

Label: Layered Reality Productions – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

TDW is:
– Tom de Wit (vocals, keyboards, guitars, percussion, drum programming)
– Rich Gray (bass)
– Fabio Alessandrini (drums)

The post Review: TDW – Fountains appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: Avant-Garde Metal, Prog Metal, Avant-Garde Jazz (instrumental)
Review by: Dan
Country: US-CA
Release date: 27 April, 2021

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

Few albums have the balls to truly stand out from the crowd and secure an indelible place on the hierarchy of bands to know, but I’d argue that Wax People have achieved one of the higher spots on my personal list. This unconventional 25-minute EP is not for the faint of heart, but is a delight that doesn’t overstay its welcome, leading the listener through an onslaught of groovy, mathy unison noodles that reward repeated listens and are tight as all fuck. 

The riffs don’t frequently repeat, and transitions can become journeys of their own – shapeshifting beasts that never quite reveal themselves, demanding your full, undivided attention. Once in a while, though, things coalesce into repetitive psychedelic hypnosis, leveraging massive dynamics for huge, swaggering payoffs. The balance between these elements is impeccable, and executed with perfect precision. The drumming stays laser focused on the goings-on, such that the eclectic rhythms drive themselves into your subconscious.

This self-titled scratches an itch I didn’t fully understand until I found myself unable to extract its indecipherable hooks from me. I’d been itching for a heavy, woodwinds-focused album, more metal than jazz, that truly connected with me deeply. I’ve finally found it.

Years ago I went to see a tour with Gorguts and Intronaut, and will never forget that the opening three-piece comprised a drummer, a bassist, and a baritone saxophone player. It was a really engaging performance with some exceptionally cool moments, but I found myself struggling to connect fully with their recordings. Something was missing, despite the fact that I so desperately wanted it to work for me – I’m a complete sucker for woodwinds in heavy music.

Wax People, by contrast, is a four-piece: bass, drums, guitar, and bass clarinet. The guitar adds that missing element, distorted and gritty, thickening the mix and adding a bit more depth to the compositions. The guitar and clarinet, in perfect unison, play mind-numbingly complex patterns and streams of notes, joined in a flawless, yet lively synchronization by the rest of the band. The grooves are heavy, and very real – this isn’t quantized to lifelessness – and the songs are fun and engaging. It’s everything I’ve hoped to find from a lineup like this. Not to mention, the cover art by Caroline Harrison is just jaw-dropping. It’s not necessarily everyone’s cup of tea, but do yourself a favor and check it out – it’s at the very least one of the most memorable releases of 2021.

Recommended tracks: All of ‘em, there’s only five
Recommended for fans of: Brain Tentacles, Merkabah, Panzerballett, Trioscapes
You may also like: Papangu, Burial in the Sky, Impure Wilhelmina
Final Verdict: 9/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Independent

Wax People is:
– Michael Mull (bass clarinet)
– Rajan Davis (guitar)
– Jacob Richards (drums)
– Rusty Kennedy (bass)

The post Review: Wax People – Wax People appeared first on The Progressive Subway.