Band: Asceta | Album: The Fool Leading the Blind | Genre: Progressive rock, Avant-prog | Bandcamp
The new album from this Chilean instrumental ensemble features some daring and exciting music. Chamber music plays a major part in Asceta’s sound, with the band frequently channeling early RIO acts. The 21-minute title track is often tense. Reed instruments, tinkling piano, and wobbly, wonky rhythms constantly keep the listener on unsure footing. I also really like the 10-minute closing song, which is relatively guitar-forward by this band’s standards. The three songs in between are good compositions, as well, but they feel less necessary. Maybe they could have been shortened, or maybe one could have been left out altogether. Despite that, The Fool Leading the Blind is an engaging and creative record.
Score: 80/100
Band: Dreadnought | Album: Wars of Spirit // Wards of Light | Genre: Progressive metal, Post-metal | Bandcamp
Dreadnought‘s newest album sees some rare churn in the band’s lineup. Longtime keyboardist and co-vocalist Lauren Vieira has left the band, with guitarist/flutist/lead vocalist Kelly Schilling taking over key duties. Coming four years after The Endless–an album I initially gave a very positive review to, but which hasn’t quite held up over the ensuing years–WoS//WoL features a pretty daring evolution in their sound.
Gothic metal–most notably Tiamat–is a huge influence on this record. The synth tones are both lush and airy, but Dreadnought still manages to retain a lot of their powerful doom metal riffage. The occasional folk and jazz flourish shows up here and there for some nice contrast. Dreadnought was never shy about including minimal, ethereal moments on their records, and this one is no exception. If anything, that ethereal quality is more pervasive than ever. The band also dips their toes into electronic music on “Aeonwar”, to mixed results. And the closing “The Twilight Protectorate” features some wonderful, victorious-sounding sci-fi synth tones. I really respect Dreadnought for switching things up on this album and evolving their sound. The end result is pretty solid, overall, though there are some mild stumbles here and there.
Score: 78/100
Band: fling ii | Album: 3 | Genre: Krautrock | Bandcamp
This Michigan-based krautrock act plays a spaced-out, synthy style of music that evokes early proto-electronic pioneers like Tangerine Dream and Vangelis. Sequenced patterns shimmer and wobble as sweeping pads swipe across the soundscape. The closing epic “mago” is especially interesting. It has some moments where guitar is relatively prominent, lending it a dusty, Western feel.
Score: 78/100
Band: Modula Nation | Album: The Rift | Genre: Progressive rock, Funk rock | Bandcamp
It’s a little strange that both progressive funk rock bands I’ve covered (the other one being Mother’s Cake) are from Austria. And they don’t even share any personnel! Modula Nation’s debut LP is a punchy, fuzzy collection of impactful prog-funk compositions. Influences from Rage Against the Machine and Red Hot Chili Peppers get filtered through the legacies of modern prog acts like The Mars Volta and Leprous to create something that stands out in the progosphere. Irregular rhythms somehow retain funk’s grooviness, and some of the synthier moments on the record blur the line between Parliament-Funkadelic’s synth-funk and space rock. The closing epic “Soul Fever” is especially impressive.
Score: 82/100
Band: Namu | Album: Wretched Spawns of Iniquitous Orders | Genre: Progressive metal, Post-metal | Bandcamp
Hell yeah, it’s another extreme metal album with spaceships on the cover, one of my favorite micro-genres! This one-man project based out of London plays an aggressive, celestial brand of prog rooted in black metal. The haziness of tremolo picking evokes nebula clouds, and the drumming is as propulsive as any rocket. When the music slows down, the vastness of space is apparent. When those two threads merge and grand melodies play out atop more aggressive backdrops, that’s when the majesty of this music is most apparent.
Score: 81/100
Band: רוקפור (Rockfour) | Album: בחזרה לשבלול – צד נוסף (Bechzara Leshablul – Tzed Nosef | Back to the Snail – Another Side) | Genre: Psychedelic rock | Bandcamp
(Note: It’s unclear to me if this is a wholly new album, or possibly a collection of B-sides or outtakes. This band put out an album called Return to the Snail in 1996, but none of these songs are on it. Unless new information comes out, I’ll treat this as a new release.)
This is an album where the star of the show is the holistic songwriting. There’s nothing too groundbreaking or exceptionally forward-thinking here, but the six songs on this EP are clever and complete compositions. The band leans heavily upon sounds from about 1967-72, channeling bright pop hooks mixed with psychedelic textures and some progressive ideas. I love the instrumental tones and the vocal harmonies, and there are certain echoes of turn-of-the-century Porcupine Tree, as well.
Score: 82/100
