PROGRESSIVE METAL

It is no surprise to hear that Thrailkill have toured with Haken, as here we have complex prog metal which is being taken to new heights. Animals as Leaders are another obvious influence while Protest The Hero also get a look in alongside Steve Vai. This is guitar-driven instrumental music with weird and strange time signatures which sees them take influences like Allan Holdsworth and ram them into a totally different mash-up. Unlike some bands, their take on mathcore is also highly melodic and they don't shred just for the sheer sake of it but when it makes musical sense, which means this is an album which is highly enjoyable and listenable to on the very first playthrough. Apparently, the trio first met when studying at Musician's Institute in Los Angeles back in 2013 and have played hundreds of shows together over the years, and it shows. They can be going down one musical path and then suddenly turn, and it feels like we are listening to a totally different outfit altogether, yet while Wes is dominating out front it is the work of Chase and Aliyar which provide the foundation for the twists and directions the band are undertaking. I am somewhat surprised to have not come across these guys before, and the lack of reviews on PA demonstrates that these guys are flying well under the radar ? hopefully that will soon be corrected and they get the attention they deserve, as this is some album.

And in an attempt to craft a more rough-sounding album, Riverside had apparently focused on a more guitar-driven riff-based writing, as opposed to the more organic sounds of their debut album, resulting in a less-thrilling experience. The 15-minute title track is arguably the highlight of the album, a fine presentation of the various aspects of Riverside's music, when they successfully integrate their melodic choruses into the dense nature of their often-drab songs. 'Volte-Face' is another good example of how their heavier inclinations may lead to pleasant results, together with the shorter track 'Conceiving You', reminiscent of the band's previous album. Nevertheless, there are many uninteresting moments here (examples would include the opening and closing tracks, 'Artificial Smile', 'I Turned You Down', and 'Dance with the Shadow'), as the band tends to drift away from their focused songwriting into a more technical style of play that does not complement the songs but instead makes up for a much colder delivery. As good as the album is, it has a more monotonous presentation, derivative of the sound of the band's debut album, as mentioned previously and definitely colder and more contrived in execution. Even if the main Riverside ingredients are present, the album is less atmospheric, less organic, or in a word, good but nothing more.

'Mind Flayer' title gets into it with the riff, the prog metal atmosphere making reference; a catchy high voice, choirs, the metal riff, Ayreon's vintage keyboards, the intermezzo with Maciej's percussions and this guitar taken from the famous 'Seven son' by Maiden. A single with the dark outro leading to 'Black Sky: Final Frontier' in 6 parts, epic sequel to the previous album. Instrumental prog metal for 4 minutes with Exodus, an oriental atmosphere with a solo reminiscent of John Petrucci's on Arrival, a play between energetic vocals and explosive instrumentation on Architects, a magnificent cello resting in Lament seconding Markus with an ethereal voice; a thunderous muscular break to listen to, indescribable in Zero with the return of the millimetered growl and a grandiloquent cinematic finale slightly conventional on Rayons de lumière. A stack of drawers, cascading harmonies, tempo changes, effective solos and an imposing rhythmic fluidity for the epic title.

Seventh Dimension signs a major album of progressive metal eyeing Dream Theater, Symphony X, Andromeda, Opeth, Circus Maximus, Forgotten Suns and Ayreon, that makes 7. Social texts, musical images on the hope of dreaming, of traveling thanks to this immortal current. An essential album for anyone who loves progressive metal, which I didn't know before this review, shame on me. Excellent. (4.5). Originally on Progcensor.

Being the band's fifth album, the sound and production of 'Last Fair Deal Gone Down' are apparently more mature and professional and while Katatonia had been toying with alternative metal on preceding albums, it is this one that truly encapsulated and portrays their new direction. The result is an incredibly solid, diverse and intricate album, much more streamlined and experimental in a way, too, marking what would become the first really solid lineup of the Swedish metal act. The personal themes of the album, linked naturally to band leader Jonas Renkse's experience in life, further allow each song to have a more distinct character as each track becomes a little story on its own, either fictional or reflecting Renkse's personal problems. All this results in an incredibly intense and melancholic album, a cathartic experience that could rarely be replicated by another album or artist. On an album where each track is a highlight by itself, particularly strong and memorable pieces include the opening track 'Dispossession', 'We Must Bury You', 'Teargas', 'Tonight's Music', 'The Future of Speech' and 'Sweet Nurse'. A powerful and emotive release by Katatonia that stands as one of their finest moments.

Containing two long tracks and having a total of eleven songs is definitely not a sign of an album that was supposed to be commercially acceptable and more easily marketable in my view. Amidst the difficult and transitory musical climate (for what concerns heavy music) in the late 1990s, the album really positions itself as mere entry in the band's catalogue, a placeholder even. However, despite the difficulties the band had supposedly faced, there are several fine moments on 'Falling Into Infinity' like 'Peruvian Skies', the heavier track 'Burning My Soul', the sole instrumental on the album titled 'Hell's Kicthen' as well as the album closer 'Trial of Tears', sitting at thirteen minutes of playtime. I also tend to enjoy the commercial sound of 'You Not Me', which seems to be an indicator that the band is quite good at writing radio-friendly material. The rest of the album sounds timid and uninspired as well as quite forgettable - unsurprisingly perhaps, most of the songs on here have seemingly not been able to break into the "Dream Theater pantheon".

As mentioned before, the band's music is a mixture of progressive metal with hard rock writing, the result of which is a satisfactory collection of songs that would be able to excite anyone interested in this kind of music (which resembles what Deep Purple would attempt to compose if they were pretending to be Dream Theater). Initially impressive and memorable, repeated listens seem to wear out some of the songs (and riffs), however, which ultimately render the album a bit too predictable and one that may be seen as mediocre when compared to the music Portnoy and Sherinian have been involved in over the years. Still, one could not dismiss the fact that the entire thing is consistent, engaging, powerful and technically impressive, with some great highlights in the face of 'Signs of the Time', 'Alive', 'Lost in Oblivion', or the straightforward hard-rocker 'Divine Addiction'. Furthermore, the album is framed by two mini-epics, the closing one of which is entirely instrumental, which is a fine way for the band to honor their progressive backgrounds and interests.

The entire record takes the technical skill of the band's previous album and attempts to tone it down for the sake of songwriting, for example, as the songs are generally shorter here. Album opener '6:00' is one of the more memorable and recognizable DT numbers, vivid, raw, and exposing the band's taste for heavier sounds, while 'Caught in a Web' surprises with its melodic character and catchy chorus. 'Innocence Faded' has a more commercially-driven sound that falls into a particular category of Dream Theater songs the reviewer is not necessarily too fond of. A three-part suite called 'A Man Beside Itself' follows this one, including the fantastic instrumental 'Erotomania', a piece that is powerful and driven, technically acute and entirely reminiscent of the great instrumental explorations of the classic prog bands of the 70s. The 10-minute long second part of that suite called 'Voices' is a very strong entry as well, while the following two tracks 'The Mirror' and 'Lie' are straightforward metal numbers with a lot of speed and energy, great attempts by the band to write more "radio-acceptable" metal numbers. Another longer piece is seen in the face of the 11-minute epic 'Scarred', followed by the album closer, a melancholic piece written by Kevin Moore, 'Space-Dye Vest', a peculiar piece for DT but a strong entry on one of their very diverse albums.

All in all, 'Awake' is an excellent follow-up to 'Images and Words', it is a complex album that is also very definitive for the production values of the nineties, while it develops further sides of the band's musical interests that might not have been as prevalent previously. A demanding but worthy listen by all means.

There are times when the metal is bombastic and massively over the top, others where it is far more restrained and containing acoustic elements. The album commences with some throat singing and a feeling of monks undertaking dark works as we crunch into Judas Priest-style riffs with great percussion before the vocals move us in a different direction ? the keyboards here have a very important part to play, adding real finesses. Due to a mistake in downloading on my part, this is the album I have played a great deal, far more than the first, and there is something here which demonstrates more polish, while also somehow having more aggression. As with the first album in this pairing, there is a real risk that both proggers and metalheads will pass this by saying one genre has been too infected by the other, but I actually believe there is something quiet special in their approach, and the result is something which those who are prepared to give genre mash-ups a try will get a great deal from. I have not heard their earlier releases, but they may indeed deserve investigation if these are anything to go by. This is definitely a band am going to keep an eye on.

They have already released three albums prior to this, but I don't know if they have come to prog from a traditional atmospheric black metal approach, or if the other albums also sound like this, but this is the first time I have come across black metal quite like this. I have seen them likened to Negura Bunget, but that is more in approach of challenging the norms than it is in style, as here we have a band who can be full on BM with the expected gruff vocals at one point, or mixing into a more of a power metal approach with lush harmonies, or bringing in keyboards here, mixing time signatures with a rhythm section who rarely settle into a traditional black metal mode but who can deliver that when the need arises. The result is an album which is all over the place when it comes to musical style, yet at the same time when it is being played it all makes perfect sense, just that no-one knows where the journey is going to lead as what we have here is not a band playing songs which are different to each other in terms of style but rather they are mixing and blending within.

The risk, which is quite real, is that people into black metal will not enjoy what they are doing to the genre, while progheads, even those into prog metal, will find there is too much of here of a style they do not enjoy or understand. Then you have the weirdos like me who enjoy being challenged and feel this has great commercial elements to lighten the black metallic atmosphere, which ensures we get plenty of light and shade and enjoy hearing music being deployed in new ways.