Welcome to the top half of The Elite Extremophile’s Top Prog Albums of 2025. Part One can be found here.
Continue reading “Best of 2025: Top 50 Prog Albums Part 2: 25-1”Best of 2025: Top 50 Prog Albums Part 2: 25-1
Tag: chile
Best of 2025: Top 50 Prog Albums Part 1: 50-26
Welcome to The Elite Extremophile’s Top Prog Albums of 2025! As usual, this is a two-part list of 50 total entries. Part two is here.
As a reminder, the music on this list spans December 2024 through November 2025. Music from December 2025 will be on the 2026 list. I’m sure there is plenty of good music I missed, but when it comes to the reviewing, this is a one-man operation. (My proofreaders/editors, Kelci and Dan, have been very helpful, as always.) There are also certain trends and styles I simply don’t like very much.
2025 was a fantastic year for progressive rock and related genres. I was spoiled for choice with this list, and this may be the overall-strongest batch of recommendations I’ve given to date.
Continue reading “Best of 2025: Top 50 Prog Albums Part 1: 50-26”Odds & Ends: December 15, 2025
Artist: Gianni Carlin | Album: In nessun luogo | Genre: Progressive rock | Bandcamp
In nessun luogo features a mildly-lo-fi sound, but it works well. Flute is always prominent, providing some great, breathy contrast to the fat and rubbery bass that underpins much of the music. The songwriting is overall solid, though the 21-minute album opener is a bit unfocused at moments. There are some surprisingly catchy passages mixed in, and with the occasional dash of jazz and blues, it makes for a well-balanced record.
Score: 73/100
Band: Hesse Kassel | Album: La Brea | Genre: Post-rock | Bandcamp
The debut record from this Chilean ensemble features intricately structured epics that unfold slowly. Delicate moments contrast heavier passages. Post-punk and art rock influences abound, and there is also clearly a deep debt to Windmill scene bands like black midi and Squid. While I overall like this record, it does have one glaring flaw, and that it is way too damn long. 78 minutes across eight songs leaves a lot of fat to trim, even when taking into account the fact that this is a post-rock record. This band is at their best during their heavier moments, like on “A. Latur”.
Score: 75/100
Continue reading “Odds & Ends: December 15, 2025”Odds & Ends: December 11, 2025
Band: Ábrete Gandul | Album: Suciedad Contemporánea | Genre: Progressive rock | Listen
This instrumental release heavily incorporates jazz and classical elements into its compositions. Reed and wind instruments can be found among the many slinking themes present here. Things swell and retreat fluidly, and there are a lot of great tonal and textural choices. While I enjoy it overall, this isn’t the most distinctive record. It’s solid, jazzy instrumental prog, if that’s what you’re looking for.
Score: 74/100
Band: An Abstract Illusion | Album: The Sleeping City | Genre: Progressive metal | Bandcamp
An Abstract Illusion’s latest record is a noticeable step down from their last release, 2022’s excellent Woe. The Sleeping City isn’t a bad record, by any means, but it’s unimpressive. The biggest problem for me on this record is the production. Everything is very clean and clear in a way that robs the band’s death metal of its impact. The clean parts of this record also come off as overly glossy and sterile, with many of the synth tones sounding out of place. There are still good ideas in the compositions, but the sound of the album itself is lacking.
Score: 68/100
Continue reading “Odds & Ends: December 11, 2025”Album Review: Chercán – Chercán
Band: Chercán | Album: Chercán | Genre: Progressive rock | Year: 2025
From: Valdivia, Chile | Label: Independent
For fans of: Tool, The Mars Volta
Chercán is a Chilean quintet that plays a lush, complex, and engaging variety of progressive rock. Things are densely layered and smartly composed, and the band incorporates jazz and sounds from their homeland. Everything about this record really impresses me.
Continue reading “Album Review: Chercán – Chercán”Odds & Ends: November 4, 2024
Band: Arcane Atlas | Album: Constellation Plus | Genre: Progressive rock, Art rock | Bandcamp
Arcane Atlas plays a relatively light and relaxing variety of prog. Expansive atmospheres and lush textures have a calming effect, and there are some really enchanting passages here. ‘90s Rush and ‘90s Yes are the most obvious influences to my ear. This album’s instrumental moments are its best. This duo does a great job at establishing a mood and toying around with drama. Not everything here is a winner (“Sample”, in particular, was a tough listen for me), but this band’s occasional veers into soft rock are forgivable in the end. If you’re looking for something intelligent but soothing, Constellation Plus is a good choice.
Score: 76/100
Band: Bent Knee | Album: Twenty Pills Without Water | Genre: Art rock | Bandcamp
This is a welcome return to form for Bent Knee after their unimpressive last outing. Smart pop hooks are mixed in amidst creative and surprising arrangements. The textures are lush, and the vocals are strong, as usual. Parts of this record can veer into less-distinctive sorta-art-poppy-type stuff every now and then, but overall, Bent Knee does a great job at weaving together accessible and inventive elements.
Score: 79/100
Continue reading “Odds & Ends: November 4, 2024”Odds & Ends: December 18, 2023
Band: Hashshashin | Album: Śaraṇaṃ | Genre: Post-rock, Afghan folk | Bandcamp
The latest release from this Australian act draws upon the Central Asian folk-meets-progressive metal flavors of their last release and hones them even more. Here, much of the focus is on an Afghan instrument, the rubab. It lends a distinct folky and esoteric character to these three songs. This EP is both meditative and impactful, drawing from Afghan folk traditions and modern progressive and post-rock scenes.
Score: 74/100
Band: Mellow Beast | Album: Reactor | Genre: Space rock, Progressive rock | Bandcamp
Mellow Beast’s third release of the year is their strongest of the bunch. Many of this band’s releases are interconnected and tell the story of the land of Hyperion. As such, this release focuses on the story of a gnome trying to save Hyperion after a great cataclysm. The music is psychedelic and awash in effects-laden guitar lines. There’s a fine line being tread here between tight, focused, melodic passages and a desire to stretch things out and jam. It all works together excellently, and I love the way musical themes are occasionally repeated to give everything a sense of continuity.
Score: 83/100
Continue reading “Odds & Ends: December 18, 2023”Top 50 Prog Albums of 2022, Part 1: 50-26
Welcome to the first half of The Elite Extremophile’s Top 50 Prog Albums of 2022. This article covers spots 50-26, and the top 25 can be found here!
Full disclosure: the label of “2022” is not entirely accurate. The music featured here covers December 2021 through November 2022. Trying to find new music in the month of December is a fool’s errand, as much of my time during that month is occupied with writing and editing this list.
As I always say, I’m sure there are some excellent albums not included in my list. This site is a one-man operation (in relation to reviewing, that is; my editors, Kelci and Dan, have been tremendously helpful), and I simply cannot listen to everything that gets released. I also have my personal biases against some rather popular trends in prog, which affects the composition of this list. But if you’ve got recommendations, do not hesitate to shoot them my way.
2022 wound up being a decent overall year for prog. It felt as if the year started off slowly, and there definitely were fewer albums that truly knocked my socks off, as compared to other years. However, there was still a lot of super-solid prog, psych, and otherwise-weird and experimental music to be heard. And I listened to more albums than ever before, which allowed me to draw from a larger pool. That meant I had to make some tough decisions about the final composition of this list, and deciding on the final order was challenging. Outside of the top 7 or 8, most of these albums could have easily been placed several spots higher or lower, depending on my mood.
Now, let’s get to it!
Continue reading “Top 50 Prog Albums of 2022, Part 1: 50-26”Album Review: Humanotone – A Flourishing Fall in a Grain of Sand
Band: Humanotone | Album: A Flourishing Fall in a Grain of Sand | Genre: Progressive metal, Heavy psych, Stoner metal | Year: 2022
From: Coquimbo, Chile | Label: Independent
For fans of: Elder, Howling Giant, Avandra
Searching “progressive rock” or “progressive metal” on Bandcamp (my primary means of finding new music) will yield an abundance of stoner acts labeling themselves as prog. Most are nothing special. Songs running 19 minutes does not a prog record make. To be sure, though, there are examples of bands that take the stylistic trappings of stoner rock and successfully meld it with the technical skill and structural ambition of progressive rock. Elder is probably the best-known example, but I’ve covered others, such as Howling Giant and Little Jimi.
Humanotone, a project based out of Chile devised by sole member Jorge Cist, is another strong example of a stoner metal-based act that makes complex, intelligent music. Compared to their rough-around-the-edges 2017 debut, A Flourishing Fall in a Grain of Sand is much more refined. The songs are put together well, and the individual elements of these long compositions flow together smoothly.
Continue reading “Album Review: Humanotone – A Flourishing Fall in a Grain of Sand”
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