Band: Ancient Death | Album: Ego Dissolution | Genre: Progressive metal, Death metal | Bandcamp
Ego Dissolution is an exciting record that deftly weaves progressive and cosmic elements into a solid death metal base. This album is somewhat comparable to Blood Incantation’s recent work, minus the overt Floydianisms. There are pummeling, stormy riffs and gut-rattling bass and drums, but the occasional pared-back moment (like on “Breathe”) really helps this album shine.
Score: 83/100
Band: Cosmic Cathedral | Album: Deep Water | Genre: Progressive rock | Bandcamp
The latest Neal Morse project certainly sounds like a Neal Morse project. And as usual, where Neal is the creative lead on a project, he has one question for you: “Do you have a moment to talk about our Lord and Savior: Jesus Christ?”
The music is fine. Do you like early Spock’s Beard? Do you like Transatlantic? Do you have enough lactase in your system to handle the staggering amount of cheese here? Then you’re probably going to enjoy this, especially if you like (or at least don’t mind) the overt religiosity. There are some genuinely fun passages, and for all my quibbles, Morse is a very talented arranger. He’s got his signature sound, and he’s good at varying it enough between releases to (mostly) stay interesting on a musical level.
That said, this does suffer from some ills endemic to his other works. First and foremost is the album’s length. Deep Water is 71 minutes long, and it is absolutely not deserving of that length. The most obvious culprits here are the 13-minute opener and the 9-part, 38-minute title track. There’s simply an immense amount of bloat and music that doesn’t really lead to or add anything.
Secondly, it’s Jesus. Like, I get it, Neal. You found God. Now find something else to write about. Or at least be less obvious about it. If I, an avowed lyric-zone-outer, am noticing how thoroughly you’re beating a dead horse, try shifting topics. Or at least pick some obscure Bible stories. There’s a lot of material there.
Score: 70/100
Band: Dione | Album: Astrolatry | Genre: Black metal, Progressive metal | Bandcamp
This one-man act from Poland plays a lightly-dissonant variety of black metal. The songs go on intriguing interstellar journeys, often evoking the cold vastness of space. Many passages here remind me of acts like Mare Cognitum or Spectral Lore, but the overall experience is unique of those acts. Black metal is a genre that is oversaturated with bands that sound similar, but Dione manages to stand out among them.
Score: 79/100
Band: Happy Family | Album: 4037 | Genre: Progressive rock | Bandcamp
Happy Family is generally considered to be one of the forefathers of the Japanese zeuhl scene. I don’t think I’d necessarily call them a full-on zeuhl act in the same way as Koenjihyakkei or Bondage Fruit, but they’ve got some zeuhlish moments. This EP is their first release in 11 years, and it’s celebrating both Cuneiform Recording’s 40th anniversary, as well the band’s 37th. The four instrumental cuts here are full of jazzy licks, wonky themes, and surprising twists. “Pygmalion” is punchy and peppy, and “Hypocrisy” sees the band dip their toes into something noisy and metallic. “The Flying Man” features jagged guitar and piano riffing in odd meters, and the album-closing “Itchu” leans the most into their avant-garde influences.
Score: 89/100
Band: King Garcia | Album: Hamelin | Genre: Progressive rock | Bandcamp
The debut album from this Greek instrumental act is cinematic and dramatic, with plenty of twists and turns. Some sort of reed instrument (a clarinet, maybe) is a prominent element of this band’s sound, and brass is deployed on occasion, too. Elements of post-rock and metal are woven in effortlessly. Despite being an instrumental release, the band maintains their focus well, and the moments of bloat or excess are kept to a minimum.
Score: 80/100
Band: Sykofant | Album: Red Sun EP | Genre: Progressive rock | Bandcamp
Following their groove-laden debut album last year, Norway’s Sykofant have returned with 23 minutes of new music. It continues in a vein similar to Sykofant but with obvious development and artistic growth. Space rock, stoner rock, jazz, and blues all get moments in the spotlight here, and solos are included at fun moments. Early ‘70s Pink Floyd is an especially obvious influence on this release, and it borders on distracting on the title track. Overall, though, Red Sun is a solid release, and Sykofant does a great job of threading the needle of evoking classic prog sounds and tropes without coming off as hacky or derivative.
Score: 83/100
The Elite Extremophile 