Earthside

Earthside have released their first album "A Dream in Static" under that name recently and it is shaping up to be one of the stronger prog albums of the year to me.

Given the quality, I was a little surprised to not find it listed here yet, so I would like to humbly suggest that the band would be moved to "suggested artists" as "Progressive Metal".

This is my first post here, so forgive me if I'm doing this wrong, but I will proceed according to the guidelines for band/album suggestions.

The album gets a glowing review on "The Prog Mind", which alerted me to this band. It has line-up and bio info as well as official images. Their website is earthsideband.com. If they had a press kit, I would post some images here, but I couldn't find one.

The entire album can be listened to on the band's Youtube and Bandcamp pages. The following info comes from the Youtube page linked:

Track listing:
0:00 The Closest I've Come
8:02 Mob Mentality (feat. Lajon Witherspoon and The Moscow Studio Symphony Orchestra)
17:56 A Dream In Static (feat. Daniel Tompkins)
25:35 Entering The Light (feat. Max ZT and The Moscow Studio Symphony Orchestra)
31:00 Skyline
40:27 Crater (feat. Björn Strid)
46:31 The Ungrounding
52:06 Contemplation Of The Beautiful (feat. Eric Zirlinger)
1:03:57 Album Credits

Earthside is:
Ben Shanbrom – Drums, Backing vocals
Frank Sacramone – Keyboards, Programming, Additional Guitars, Additional Percussion
Ryan Griffin – Bass
Jamie van Dyck – Guitars, Backing vocals, Programming, Additional Keyboards


Earthside's musical style sounds fairly unique. Their sound is intricate, emotional, atmospherically tense and sometimes bombastic. I'm tempted to describe it as modern symphonic prog metal. Frequently I hear a spacey sound and rhythm, with down-tuned guitars, that is reminiscent of many djent bands, but the biggest difference to your typical djent offering would be the non-growling vocals, several calmer or longer instrumental sections, and their more varied and intricate style. In that mix, I occasionally hear some sonic similarities to Riverside's earlier days at times, to Dream Theater's at others, or to Haken. I sense some post metal influences as well. The final song almost sounds like a mix of Green Carnation with Muse. Another curious similarity that I at times hear in the sound, i.e. the vocals, the guitars and rhythm, is one to Nu Metal. By that I imagine a calmer, guitar-driven P.O.D. piece, except without the rap, and with decidedly progressive compositions. Call me crazy!

Their website has a nice bio:
"Earthside is a New England-based creative collective that plays an absorbing style of modern progressive music they call “cinematic rock.” Across their forthcoming debut work, A Dream In Static, the seasoned group displays a wild stylistic diversity and creative hunger that jams the mental machinery of comparison. Through organic layers of living, breathing orchestra (courtesy of the Moscow Studio Symphony Orchestra), and an eclectic arsenal of world music-influenced instrumentation, Earthside fashions an ever-changing sound that is equally engrossing alongside a work of cinematic art as it is resonating throughout a densely packed concert venue. A Dream In Static, the group’s conceptual mission statement, is a story of purposeful sacrifice and existential yearning told across sweeping instrumental movements, interwoven with adventurous vocal compositions featuring guest performances from premier voices across the rock and metal worlds. The inherently collaborative cross-continental project was recorded in Stockholm, Sweden under the watch of renowned producer and mix engineer David Castillo (Opeth, Katatonia, Bloodbath) and additional mix and mastering engineer Jens Bogren (Opeth, Soilwork, The Ocean, Devin Townsend)."

My conclusion: It is definitely prog, it is is definitely metal, it's flirting with the Djent and Nu Metal sides of 21 century metal (again, call me crazy...), and it is definitely closer to Progressive Metal than to Tech/Extreme Prog Metal, and probably to Experimental/Post Metal as well.


Edited by alvanx - November 15 2015 at 14:27

Glad we agree! I am indebted to you for introducing their album. After I posted this, I went back over your review and admired just how much better you described their sound. Yes, Alternative Metal might be a better description than Nu Metal.

How did you get the images for your post? Could they be used here?

So what do we have to do to get this ball rolling? Is there still anybody who could move the band/album as per the forum guidelines? Or would it make more sense to open a new thread in the proper forum?