Hello. Bonjour. Bonsoir. Bon-whatever-time-it-is-for-you-now! Today you are reading The Progressive Subway. Perhaps it’s the dozenth time, or maybe your first, but it doesn’t matter. There’s another month that went by, and we are here to tell you about its best albums. Only those we reviewed of course, because otherwise it’d be weird (speaking of which, do check out Enslaved‘s new album Utgard in case you missed it). October was a very fruitful month, both musically, and for our blog’s staff. As I mentioned in the September post, we got some new writers! We were suddenly very understaffed in September and went out to recruit some new reviewers. We put up a whole test reviewing selection procedure (when did we become so formal??), and got four new writers from it. From October onward they’ve been fully operational in our team. So say hello to Mike, Callum, Evan and Sebastian. I hope you’ve been enjoying their reviews as I know I have been. Due to this boon in staff, the amount of music we covered increased quite drastically as well. And hence this edition is a lot larger than the last one. So plenty of music for you to enjoy! And with that I’ll be off, enjoy reading!
White Walls – Grandeur (Romania)
Style: Progressive/Alternative/Melodic Metal (mixed vocals)
Pick by: Mike
Grandeur is a sleek, modern sounding album that packs a punch both sonically and melodically. It blurs the lines between rock and metal with it’s dynamic range and shifting vocal styles. The production is top-notch and really gives life to the album as a whole. Highly recommended for those that prefer clean vocals but enjoy a well placed harsh section for contrast.
You can read the original review here.
Recommended tracks: Eye for an I, Starfish Crown, Marche Funèbre
Recommended for fans of: The Contortionist, Voyager, Textures
IER – 妖怪 (Argentina)
Style: DSBM/Experimental/Prog (mixed, Spanish vocals)
Pick by: Dylan
Honestly, I would have dismissed this album if it weren’t from Argentina. It’s 95 minutes long and is categorized as DSBM on Metal-Archives. That however, would’ve been a massive mistake.
IER doesn’t just make black metal. He (it’s a one-man project) adds layers of multiple genres and styles all over the album, following a structure of intensity and atmosphere similar to Opeth or later era Enslaved. Alongside the genre variance, samples from japanese horror movies are used all over the place which give it an extra touch of atmosphere. This, alongside a pristine production, makes the album surprisingly easy to get through in one sitting. It just flows through you whilst absorbing you into this unique vibe which is hard to get out of in the middle of it all.
If black metal has always been your kryptonite, or you feel that 90+ minutes is far too much for your time, please try to challenge those thoughts with this album. I’d find it extremely difficult to conceive that any fan of progressive music wouldn’t find something to love about this album. My AOTY so far.
You can read the original review here.
Recommended tracks: 仄暗い水の底, 楔 〜紅い蝶〜, 東海道四谷怪談
Recommended for fans of: Schammasch, Opeth, Ne Obliviscaris, Enslaved
Scaphoid – Absent Passages (US-TX)
Style: Prog Metal/Post-Rock (instrumental)
Pick by: Sebastian
It is not easy to make an instrumental album that is so atmospheric, yet so catchy and melodic. This is why the musical talent that went into this album is not one that should be passed up. Absent Passages is an album that is surprisingly unknown for how well it is able to grab you with its well sharpened hooks, and its songwriting that sounds like it was made by someone who has been in the business for decades. Scaphoid presents a deep introspective journey through its countless guitar melodies, which are able to build to massive emotional climaxes and smooth, tranquil transitions all without the need for vocals. This is one of the most underrated instrumental albums of the past few years and if you are a fan of Opethian style riffs and post-rock/post-metal build ups, you need to check this album out.
You can read the original review here.
Recommended tracks: Marauder, Shores of Ruin, Celestial Ego
Recommended for fans of: Cloudkicker, Opeth, Soen
Greg Puciato – Child Soldier: Creator of God (US-CA)
Style: Mathcore, Doom Metal, Grunge, Industrial, Synthpop (Mixed Vocals)
Pick by: Anthony
I don’t usually do the reviews here but I felt pretty compelled to step up for Greg Puciato and two months on, I honestly cannot recommend it enough. It brings with it a coherence and tonal resonance that many albums can’t achieve even without boundless genre hopping. Put sax in a standard prog metal album and everyone loses their minds, but this album effortlessly pulls off industrial music, synthpop, grunge and doom among other genres without batting an eye. But it all feels consistent – it all feels like it deserves to be there. If you’ve ever checked out any of Greg’s work before, in Dillinger or The Black Queen or anywhere else, check this out. If you haven’t, also do that. Basically, if you like music, you have no excuse not to listen to this.
You can read the original review here.
Recommended tracks: Deep Set, Temporary Object, Do You Need Me to Remind You?, A Pair of Questions, Evacuation, Heartfree
Recommended for fans of: All other Puciato projects, Alice in Chains, Drab Majesty
Gargoyl – Gargoyl (US-MA)
Style: Grunge/Avant-garde (clean vocals)
Pick by: Callum
Masterminded by guitarists from Revocation and Ayahuasca, Gargoyl is a bizarre mix of grunge and new-era Opeth. Its dissonant guitar riffs and jazz-inspired drumming dance around sporadic tempos, timing, and scales effortlessly. The often harmonised vocals are reminiscent of the Staley-Cantrell vocals from Alice in Chains. Despite being centered around gothic and dystopian themes that can be overplayed in progressive music, this is a very refreshing and ambitious blending of genres that bring a uniquely dark character to the music.
You can read the original review here.
Recommended tracks: Electrical Sickness,Nightmare Conspiracy, Waltz Dystopia
Recommended for fans of: Voivod, Opeth, Alice in Chains
Ba’al – Ellipsism (United Kingdom)
Style: Blackend Post-Metal (harsh vocals)
Pick by: Callum
Blackened post-metal, postened black metal, whatever you want to call it, this is it. Sometimes groovy, mostly aggressive, but always innovative riffs give way to huge walls of noise. For a second album, Ellipsism is remarkably polished from a song-writing and structural point of view, and incredibly well produced. Think Alcest but doomier and angrier.
You can read the original review here.
Recommended tracks: Long Live, An Orchestra of Flies, Rosalia
Recommended for fans of: Sumac, Inter Arma, Alcest
Empress – Premonition (Canada)
Style: Doom/Post-Metal (mixed vocals)
Pick by: Evan
Satisfying builds, catchy doom inspired riffs, competent post-metal atmosphere… this album has all the positive tenants of these genres. This record is a fantastic lesson in dynamics with a great balance of wallowing post-atmospheres and doomy punchiness, all of which is equally evocative. The great songwriting and riff writing make this surely a worthwhile listen for any fans of doom or post metal.
You can read the original review here.
Recommended tracks: A Pale Wanderer, Sepulchre, Lion’s Blood
Recommended for fans of: Elder, Isis, Mastodon
Coexistence – Collateral Dimension (Italy)
Style: Prog/Tech Death (harsh vocals)
Pick by: Chris
Unlike some of their contemporaries, Coexistence trades in some of the pure filth and muck and instead brings a sense of poise and grace to their compositions, creating a much more smooth feeling work than most stuff in the genre. A very natural feeling tech-death album with a great sense of melody and manages at times to feel uplifting and unlike the normal trend for the genre.
You can read the original review here.
Recommended tracks: Symbiosis of Creation, Collateral Dimension, Revert
Recommended for fans of: Beyond Creation, Obscura, Scale the Summit
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