Band: Anarchÿ | Album: Xenötech and the Cosmic Anarchÿ | Genre: Progressive thrash metal | Bandcamp
Anarchÿ’s third full-length release sees this St. Louis-based thrash duo both stay in their usual niche and also push some sonic boundaries. Verbose sci-fi storytelling, blazing guitar lines, and more umlauts than any reasonable person would ever use all abound here. Synth pads do a great job at adding richness and lushness to the music, and the occasional acoustic interlude helps to keep this record varied and interesting. There is even a splash of sitar for some truly unexpected sonic variance.
Score: 83/100
Band: Avneya | Album: Road to I | Genre: Progressive death metal | Bandcamp
Avneya’s debut record is a great example of progressive death metal. There’s a strong focus on contrasts between delicate, melodic passages and moments of crushing heaviness. Dashes of strings here and there add some nice contrast, and folk motifs from the band’s native Israel also add to this record’s distinctiveness.
Score: 79/100
Band: Azure | Album: Fym | Genre: Progressive rock, Progressive metal | Bandcamp
Azure’s brand of “metal” doesn’t really meet modern definitions, but had this album been released in 1988, it’d be considered one of the major works of early prog metal. Fym’s sound is definitely a throwback, but it’s a lesser-heard variety, and I can appreciate that a lot more than the umpteenth ‘90s Dream Theater clone. It’s highly melodic and dramatic, and there’s a pretty thick layer of cheese here. Azure embraces it, however, and pulls it off pretty well. There’s a sunniness to this record that isn’t heard in a lot of modern metal, and that further helps it stand out more in the modern metal landscape. My main hesitation about Fym is its sheer length. At over 77 minutes, this is a big album, and it absolutely would have benefitted from some trimming.
Score: 76/100
Band: Baldruin | Album: Mosaike der Imagination | Genre: Krautrock, Progressive electronic, Progressive folk | Bandcamp
Mosaike der Imagination is a record that blends German folk music with electronic sounds and forward-thinking songwriting to create something that simultaneously sounds baroque and modern. The record ebbs and flows, and the mood is often dreamlike. This is an inventive record that falls somewhat outside my usual wheelhouse, but it’s nonetheless enchanting. This is like if an electronic krautrock act decided to make a folk album.
Score: 73/100
Band: The Swell Fellas | Album: Residuum Unknown | Genre: Progressive metal | Bandcamp
I last covered The Swell Fellas back in 2020. I enjoyed that album but was ultimately a bit unimpressed with it. I missed their 2022 release, but this new album is pretty solid. They’ve taken a strongly Tool-ish turn, and there are a lot of inventive riffs and melodies on Residuum Unknown. Some of their stoner roots are still apparent, but the overall sound is decidedly more progressive. Song structures are unpredictable yet cohesive, and the playing is dynamic, skillful, and fun. Some songs are a bit longer than they need to be, but this issue isn’t too bad overall.
Score: 79/100
Band: Vokonis | Album: Transitions | Genre: Progressive metal | Bandcamp
Vokonis’s sludgy prog calls to mind other greats of this niche, like Mastodon and Baroness in their respective heydays. Riffs are heavy and gnarled, but amid all that are melodic throughlines and impassioned vocals that lend this work a palpable humanity. The two epic songs which end this album are especially powerful musical statements.
Score: 82/100
The Elite Extremophile 