The Progressive Metal Thread
For this week's top ten list I decided to go with my Top Ten Progressive Metal Releases of All Time. Check it out & feel free to post your own:
01. Leprous – “Live at Rockefeller Music Hall” (2016)
02. Lucid Planet – “Lucid Planet II” (2020)
03. Cynic – “Focus” (1993)
04. Opeth – “The Roundhouse Tapes” (2007)
05. Gojira – “From Mars To Sirius” (2005)
06. Dream Theater – “Images & Words” (1992)
07. Opeth – “Deliverance” (2002)
08. Devin Townsend - "Ocean Machine – Biomech” (1997)
09. Dream Theater – “Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory” (1999)
10. Nevermore – “Dreaming Neon Black” (1999)
"Leviathan" would have been high up in my list if I allowed it to qualify.
石渡太輔 [Daisuke Ishiwatari] - "Guilty Gear -STRIVE- Original Sound Track Vol. 1" (2021)
A 90 minute progressive metal outing from a South African video game soundtrack producer that's beautifully executed & is quite ambitious as far as the song-writing & composition go. It's been tagged as a heavy/power metal release on RYM but this is first & foremost a progressive metal release in my opinion. You'll get bits & pieces of a whole slew of melodic metal subgenres from the traditional Judas Priest brand of heavy metal to the thrashier groove metal infused style of Nevermore to the funky alternative metal of Faith No More to the progressive metal of Devin Townsend. And yes there's even a touch of power metal, pop metal & thrash metal thrown in for good measure but it all sounds surprisingly fluent given the genre-hopping nature of the video game soundtrack format. In fact, you could easily overlook the fact that it's a soundtrack release if you weren't made aware of it. The cheesier, more theatrical & cinematic moments aren't to my taste but there can be no denying the talent on display, particularly the powerful Devin Townsend style vocals which even pay tribute to Mike Patton on occasions. I found myself really digging the chunkier, groovier metal material & was also partial to bopping along to the funkier stuff a lot of the time too. It's not a bad release overall & I think Andi, Xephyr & Saxy will likely get more out of it than I do.
3.5/5
I play the game Daniel! I'm a big fighting game player in general, I wasn't big on the addition of vocals into most of the tracks since Guilty Gear has had an amazing soundtrack for almost 2 decades now, but it's a bold direction that worked out in the end I think. GG has always had Rock/Metal influences with most of the characters having pretty blatant references, like Ky Kiske being a mashup of 2 Helloween member's names. Millia's theme (the character I play) is great and there are only a few tracks that work on my nerves during matches.
An amazing metal video game soundtrack, with some slight struggle that I've managed to overcome. Cheers for the rec, Daniel! 4.5/5.
What are your thoughts on the genre-tagging of this release Andi? Do you agree with my thoughts?
Oh yeah, I agree, Daniel. There are a few Priest-inspired heavy metal/power metal/hard rock tracks, but the majority of the album has the complexity, time changes, and heavy intrinsic riffing that can be found in progressive metal. Probably one of the most progressive soundtracks I've heard today!
Enslaved - "Below The Lights" (2003)
The Norwegian black metallers seventh album saw them mastering the more progressive brand of black metal they'd been developing over the previous couple of albums with a muscular & creative display full of ambition. It's certainly not a perfect record as there are certainly sections that don't work as well as others but it's always interesting & it's great to see a band stretching itself into exciting new territories. Grutle Kjellson's gutteral vocals are always a highlight, as are the shredding guitar solos of Arve Isdal. As is usually the case with me, I tend to find the less popular tracks to be the strongest with Enslaved leaving their highlights right until the album's climax. The most brutal track on offer is the blasting "Ridicule Swarm" & I can't help but find it the most appealing inclusion however the super-progressive seven minute closer "A Darker Place" gives it a good run for its money with a tremendously catchy chorus & a beautifully melodic prog rock outro. "Below The Lights" was a resounding success for a band that clearly still had something to prove & I'd suggest that you'll struggle to find a more impressive example of the progressive black metal sound.
4/5
Extol - "The Blueprint Dives" (2005)
Ben recently recommended the fourth full-length album from Norwegian progressive metallers Extol to me as he feels that it's not received the credit it's due & I have to agree with him. I was familiar with Extol's 1998-2003 work but had never attempted their later material for some reason, potentially being put off by news of the band's move away from extreme metal. In hindsight this was clearly a mistake as "The Blueprint Dives" is a classy release that's built on both ambition & technique in equal measure. Extol's sound here is lightyears away from their death & thrash metal past, instead using alternative metal as it's basis with a dash of post-hardcore thrown in here & there. In fact, I pick up a fair bit of Deftones influence across the tracklisting with At The Drive-In making the odd appearance as well. I'd actually be surprised if front man Peter Espevoll hasn't listened to his fair share of Björk too given the unusual phrasing he attempts at times too. The instrumentation is consistently complex with the vocals utilizing a combination of clean & screamed tones to good effect. There are no weak tracks included & I get the feeling that the band aren't really capable of it at this point in their career. The highlight of the album is clearly the longest & heaviest piece of the record in "The Things I Found" but the short single "Pearl" has a wonderful hook to it too. I also love it when Extol build tension by borrowing from post-rock song structures like they do on closer "The Death Sedative". I have to say that they potentially missed a trick by not including the bonus track "Riding for a Fall" on the proper album as it's clearly stronger than some of the less impressive tracks like "From the Everyday Mountain Top", "Another Adam's Escape" & "Lost in Dismay". Sometimes us extreme metallers have to accept that artists have more to say than simply blasting away at full throttle & "The Blueprint Dives" is a fine example of that. As Ben suggested, it certainly deserves more attention than it's received over the years & I'd be surprised if it didn't offer plenty of appeal for fans of bands like Leprous & members of The Infinite in general.
4/5
Mastodon - "Blood Mountain" (2006)
Don't ask me why but despite being a hhhuuugggeee fan of the records either side of it for many years now I'd never gotten around to checking out the highly celebrated 2006 third album "Blood Mountain" from Atlanta-based progressive sludge masters Mastodon until yesterday. Mastodon have always been a class act so I didn't expect anything other than a polished & accomplished piece of art & there's no question that that's exactly what they've delivered here too. This album appears to be the point in which the band took a turn away from their sludge metal roots & pointed their ship directly towards the progressive metal stratosphere as it's a lot more technical & complex than I remember their earlier material being & I don't think it technically qualifies for sludge status any more either as that's only a small portion of the holistic direction that "Blood Mountain" sees the band taking with stoner elements popping up almost as often. The album offers the usual highlights from drummer Brann Dailor who was a complete phenomenon at this point while it also falls victim to Mastodon's obvious Achilles heal in the vocal department which places a cap on the album's potential to reach the upper eschalons of my affection. In order to make a genuinely classic record you need to be able to write classic hooks &, for all it's splendour in the instrumental department, I'm just not sure "Blood Mountain" offers enough catchiness & memorability to be able to stand toe-to-toe with amazing records like "Leviathan" & "Crack The Skye" in that department. Brent & Troy do their best with the tools at their disposal however neither have the vocal chops to make this consistently solid outing into a truly special one. Still... there are few that can match Mastodon for ambition & execution in the instrumental department & the effortlessness with which they perform complex melodic acrobatics is beyond criticism. You can't really go wrong here if you're a fan of professionally produced & performed progressive metal music.
For fans of Baroness, Dvne & Intronaut.
4/5
Gojira - "The Way Of All Flesh" (2008)
I wasn't the biggest fan of French metal megastars Gojira's fourth album when I first encountered it back in 2009. Perhaps it just sounded a little flat in comparison with the band's classic 2005 record "From Mars To Sirius" but it would seem that my opinion has changed significantly over the years as I now find "The Way Of All Flesh" to be a very enjoyable metal release indeed. It's probably a little more straight forward than I remember from the band as it isn't their most progressive release but it's definitely hard to categorize. I'd suggest that it sits somewhere in the grey area between progressive metal, death metal & groove metal although neither of those labels is really all that reflective of the music it contains. If pushed I'd suggest that progressive metal is probably the closest description of the three but this era of Gojira kinda sounds like Strapping Young Lad meets "Domination"-period Morbid Angel with the vocals sitting very much in that Devin Townsend space. There aren't the quantity of genuine classics to see this record pushing for elite status but there are rarely weak moments either (with the exception of the clear low point "A Sight to Behold" which I have very little time for). Interestingly though, the two most impressive moments are left right to the end with the closing title track being the pinnacle of the Gojira sound at the time & the untitled hidden post-metal track being the best thing on the entire album.
"The Way Of All Flesh" is a very solid release in it's own right. It may represent the band going through the motions to an extent but if that was the case then it's proof that even Gojira's less inspired work is top shelf metal music.
For fans of Hacride, Mastodon & Devin Townsend Project.
4/5
Listening to Images and Words. Am I the only one who notices how it occasionally sounds like 80's pop music? I mean, Another Day has a sax solo that sounds exactly like Kenny G, and Take the Time's first verse has a funky bass solo and the 80's synths you'd get in all those later disco albums or even Prince songs. And let's be honest, the guitar tones of Surrounded belong in an AOR song.
Gojira - "L'enfant sauvage" (2012)
When Gojira's fifth album landed in 2012 I got really hot under the collar & started claiming it to be somewhat of a classic. In hindsight that isn't the case but it's certainly a very solid piece of progressive metal in it's own right & one that should be considered as essential listening for fans of the band. The death metal of Gojira's first few albums was a thing of the past by this stage but you can still hear bits & pieces of the Morbid Angel influence they'd previously championed. There's more groove metal in their sound here with snippets of djent & post-metal being thrown around on occasion too. There's a lot of Devin Townsend about "L'enfant sauvage", particularly in the vocal delivery. The consistency of the tracklisting & the quality of the production, execution & performances makes it a hard record for any open-minded metalhead to resist & I actually prefer this album slightly over Gojira's more widely acclaimed 2008 fourth album "The Way Of All Flesh" these days even if 2005's "From Mars To Sirius" is still their piece de resistance as far as I'm concerned. Still... don't make the mistake of overlooking "L'enfant sauvage" because it's got plenty to offer your average prog metal fan.
4/5
Voivod - "The Outer Limits" (1993)
I have to admit that there are some pretty big gaps in my knowledge of post-1980’s Voivod. I was always a fan of the band in the late 80’s & early 90’s but they somehow dropped off my radar to an extent with 1995’s “Negatron” & 2011’s “Warriors of Ice” live album being the only releases I’ve checked out since 1989’s highly regarded “Nothingface” album. I guess they never really sat 100% within my taste profile so I tended to stick closer to my lane for the most part, even though I generally enjoyed their material. I recently noticed that the fanfare around the Canadian progressive metal icon’s eighth studio album “The Outer Limits” seems to have slowly gained momentum over the years though, so much so that it seems to be held up as another prog classic of sorts. That’s been the catalyst for me exploring the album this week & with generally positive results.
The “Nothingface” album had seen Voivod moving away from metal to an extent with the band having adopted more of a progressive rock sound &, from what I can make out by the critical response, their 1991 seventh album “Angel Rat” took them even further away from metal realms. “The Outer Limits” sees Voivod returning to metal in the most part & sounds quite familiar (if that can ever be said of a Voivod release). The angular & unusual guitar riffs of guitarist Piggy are as potent as ever & lead proceedings with Snake’s signature vocal delivery ensuring that you’re never in any doubt as to which band you’re listening to. You see, there’s simply no one that sounds remotely like Voivod, even if they’re consciously trying to. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they’re a complete musical anomaly & that’s extremely rare in the modern music scene. “The Outer Limits” certainly fits into the progressive metal genre pretty comfortably though & I’d suggest that fans of that particular scene are the most likely audience for a record like this one with very little speed/thrash metal to offer those that are hanging out for a mid-80's revivial. “Le Pont Noir” & “Wrong-Way Street” see Voivod traversing the rockier prog territories of “Nothingface” while the epic seventeen minute album highlight “Jack Luminous” is a psychedelic monster that oozes of Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd influence. We even find the boys attempting some alternative rock sounds that wouldn’t feel out of place alongside the Detroit elite on “The Nile Song”.
Unlike Voivod’s very strong trio of progressive albums from 1987-1989, “The Outer Limits” struggles a touch in the song-writing department. There are no weak songs included with all nine tracks being presented with class & professionalism but the hooks aren’t consistently strong enough to see the album competing with the band’s best work. In saying that though, I do slightly prefer it to Voivod’s early speed metal releases like “War & Pain”, “Rrröööaaarrr” & the “To The Death” demo. It's always refreshing to hear these Canadians taking on spacey sci-fi topics as there are few artists that have the ability to sound so alien & “The Outer Limits” is yet another example of why we need bands like Voivod in a modern metal market that’s flooded with copy cats & pretenders.
3.5/5
Sigh - "Shiki" (2022)
I quite liked Sigh when they first hit the scene back in the 1990’s but when I returned to them following my decade-long absence from the metal scene I found that they’d gone way too far with the weirdness & albums like “Scenes From Hell” & “In Somniphobia” left me nothing short of repulsed. As a result, my expectations for their twelve full-length weren’t exactly high if I’m being completely honest but I’ve been left pleasantly surprised because last year’s “Shiki” has seen them dropping their avant-garde side for the most part, instead concentrating on a beautifully produced & well-composed progressive metal sound that's full of chunky riffs, blackened vocals & well integrated references to space rock & traditional Japanese music. The recruitment of session musicians guitarist/bassist Frédéric Leclercq (Dragonforce/Kreator/Loudblast) & drummer Mike Heller (Malignancy/Fear Factory/Raven) have proven to be very positive moves but unfortunately the Japanese-language black metal vocals are somewhat of a limiting factor here as I don’t think they’re powerful or professional enough to allow “Shiki” to reach the heights it was so clearly intended for. As usual I find myself being drawn to the album’s least popular tracks more than its obvious drawcards too with the three shorter intro/interlude/change-up tracks being the parts of the tracklisting that appeal to me the most (particularly the stunning space rock piece “Kuroi kagami”) but there aren’t any weak numbers included & I found “Shiki” to be an intriguing & generally rewarding experience that's probably the best material I've heard from Sigh.
3.5/5
Disillusion - "Ayam" (2022)
I recall being very pleasantly surprised by the 2004 debut album from German progressive metallers Disillusion when I finally got around to checking it out many years ago. I hadn’t heard all that much about it & just kinda stumbled over it a good five years after its release which left me wondering what rock it’d been hiding under for all those years. Ben didn’t hesitate in advising me that it was me that’d been hiding under a rock which is probably true but given the impression that “Back To Times Of Splendor” left on me at the time it’s a little surprising that I haven’t checked out any of the band’s subsequent releases until now, even more so after being thoroughly captivated & enthralled by this spectacular example of progressive metal music.
You see, “Ayam” is everything a prog metal fan could reasonably want from an album. The production is expansive & glistening, the musicianship is to die for & the song-writing is layered & ambitious. The melodic death metal component of Disillusion’s sound has almost completely disappeared since the debut but has been replaced by a stronger focus on melody, dynamics & atmosphere. This could be viewed as a negative by some fans but for me personally this has ended up being a positive. The instrumentation still reminds me of the less intense material from some of the premier extreme progressive metal bands like Opeth, Persefone & Ne Obliviscaris however Disillusion are a little more restrained & introspective these days. In fact, I’ve found myself making comparisons with Anathema’s more progressive works at times such is the refined sense of emotion in Disillusion’s modern sound. I simply adore the vocals of front man Andy Schmidt who sounds uncannily like Beck at times & possesses a tone that competes with Katatonia’s Jonas Renkse in terms of smoothness. Another highlight comes in the form of some wonderfully progressive guitar solos which refuse to be held back by traditional rock conventions & soar above the rest of the music with some truly angelic melodies that harness the exponent’s obviously impressive technique rather than being purely a showcase for it. Don't forget drummer Martin Schulz either cause the dude can play!
The tracklisting is without blemish with each of the eight tracks being very strong in its own right. Unlike “Back To Times Of Splendor” though, I’ve found that "Ayam" possesses a few truly transcendent tracks that enable the album to reach a higher level of adoration for me personally. Eleven minute opener “Am Abgrund” sets to tone beautifully & is probably the heaviest song included. “Longhope” is pure class too but it’s the most introspective piece of the eight that captured me to the highest degree in closing number “The Brook” which has probably ended up being the track that’s seen me tempted to push “Ayam” up into the running for my higher scores. Throw in some heavenly cover art that I can’t seem to see myself looking away from & you’ve got one of the best metal albums of 2022 & an essential release for members of The Infinite.
4.5/5
An Abstract Illusion - "Woe" (2022)
I really enjoyed the high quality sophomore album from this Swedish progressive death metal outfit. It's immaculately conceived & executed with fantastic performances & plenty of spacey progressive ambition. The influences are obvious at times with the whole gamut of progressive metal masters being touched on, from the expansive & quite technical instrumental excursions of Dream Theater to the vocoded vocal delivery of Cynic to some pretty brutal blast-beats. I don't agree with the melodic death metal tag the album seems to be receiving as most of the melodic component is coming from the progressive metal side of the equation rather than any Gothenburg-style guitar harmonies so I feel a tech death tag is more suitable to cover the death metal elements on this occasion. The end result competes pretty well with the Opeth's, Ne Obliviscaris' & Persefone's of the world actually & "Woe" will no doubt leave the vast majority of our The Infinite members salivating for more, not to mention Ben who should definitely get onto this one.
4/5
Ghost - "Meliora" (2015)
Yep, I know what you're thinking. Isn't this album a hard rock/heavy metal record? Well sites like RYM would certainly have you believe so but that's more of a reflection on the RYM audience than it is the reality because I can assure you that this is a progressive metal/progressive rock hybrid. There isn't a genuine hard rock song on the tracklisting & there's really only one heavy metal tune too. I'd actually never heard a Ghost album before now but this one isn't too bad at all. Sure, it's a very lightweight & accessible version of metal but the riffs are definitely there & there are some pretty decent hooks in there too. I think I can dig this shit actually. It's conceptually quite an ambitious record & is really well executed. The unintimidating vocal delivery strangely possesses a noticeably American twang & I'd probably prefer something a little dirtier but I can see why Ghost appeal to so many people, even if they're probably a little too user-friendly for this particular metalhead.
3.5/5
Ghost - "Meliora" (2015)
Yep, I know what you're thinking. Isn't this album a hard rock/heavy metal record? Well sites like RYM would certainly have you believe so but that's more of a reflection on the RYM audience than it is the reality because I can assure you that this is a progressive metal/progressive rock hybrid. There isn't a genuine hard rock song on the tracklisting & there's really only one heavy metal tune too. I'd actually never heard a Ghost album before now but this one isn't too bad at all. Sure, it's a very lightweight & accessible version of metal but the riffs are definitely there & there are some pretty decent hooks in there too. I think I can dig this shit actually. It's conceptually quite an ambitious record & is really well executed. The unintimidating vocal delivery strangely possesses a noticeably American twang & I'd probably prefer something a little dirtier but I can see why Ghost appeal to so many people, even if they're probably a little too user-friendly for this particular metalhead.
3.5/5
I must admit that I have a bit of a soft spot for Ghost's debut album, Opus Eponymous. Sure, it's quite lightweight, occult-flavoured rock, but it has some real ear-worms on it and, let's face it, not everything has to be super-earnest and earth-shatteringly heavy does it? Oddly though, I hated the follow-up, Infestissumam - go figure!
Gojira - "Magma" (2016)
I came into the Gojira game a lot later than some of you might have as I was still on my metal sabbatical when 2005’s classic “From Mars To Sirius” third album dropped. It wouldn’t be for another four years that Ben would finally bring it to my attention & needless to say that it made an immediate impact on me. I’d quickly investigate the rest of Gojira’s back catalogue including their highly praised 2008 fourth album “The Way Of All Flesh” which I found to be very solid. When 2012’s “L’enfant sauvage” was released I was well a truly salivating for more Gojira & tended to heaps giant amounts of praise on it as a result, a position I’ve since reassessed & now regard it pretty similarly to its predecessor. Strangely though, that’s where the Gojira story has stagnated for me as I’ve not investigated their two subsequent full-lengths for one reason or another. Let’s rectify that oversight now by taking a look at Gojira’s 2016 sixth album “Magma”.
The “L’enfant sauvage” album had seen Gojira dropping their death metal roots for the first time in order focus on a groovier progressive metal sound &, despite what you might read, “Magma” is very much the next logical step in that evolution. Perhaps “Magma” might not be as overtly technical as previous efforts however this is still a progressive metal record at its core with djenty Meshuggah-style staccato riffage still being an important component of their sound. The final hints at death metal that were still evident on “L’enfant sauvage” are no longer visible on “Magma” with tracks like “The Cell”, “Stranded”, “Pray” & “Only Pain” pushing the groove metal associations to greater levels than ever before & “Chaos AD”-era Sepultura being an obvious point of reference in not only the heavier material but also the stripped back & casual folk closer “Liberation”. Interestingly, there are a couple of tracks that push out into doomier territory with stunning progressive sludge opener “The Shooting Star” sounding more like Mastodon than anyone else & outstanding interlude “Yellow Stone” sitting in post-sludge territory. I’m sure most listeners will also be left thinking of Fear Factory at times due to the brilliantly executed rhythmic precision in some of the riffage & perhaps even a little Korn in the few nu metal-ish moments but the main point of reference with “Magma” is definitely Devin Townsend/Strapping Young Lad in my opinion with Joe Duplantier’s vocal delivery reminding me a lot of Devin’s & the general style of the music falling into similar spaces as well.
This is a more restrained & controlled Gojira than we’ve ever heard before. There’s a newly found maturity in the way they milk every last drop out of each riff with great attention to detail having been placed on not over-playing their hands. When combined with a shorter run time (both for the individual tracks & the album as a whole) this makes for a fairly accessible metal record that was always going to promote crossover appeal & commercial success. Perhaps this has been to Gojira’s detriment with their more underground fan base but a good metal record is a good metal record as far as I’m concerned, particularly one as well produced as this one. I love the moodier parts of the album with the sludgier tracks & some amazingly well thought-out transitions being amongst the key elements that “Magma” has to offer along with some very consistent & mature song-writing. Joe’s vocals don’t suffer for the lack of death growls either as he’s got enough emotion & variation in his repertoire to captivate listeners who are open to the idea.
“Magma” may not be one of Gojira’s more intense releases but it is one of their most atmospheric & engaging & I for one am totally onboard with their new direction. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that this might be the band’s best album since “From Mars To Sirius” which is a pretty big call when you consider how highly regarded “The Way Of All Flesh” & “L’enfant sauvage” are. Perhaps it’s time to see what 2021’s ill-fated “Fortitude” record has to offer.
4/5
Fates Warning - "Awaken The Guardian" (1986)
Connecticut progressive metal legends Fates Warning & I have a very long association going back over three decades now. I’ve always held them in high esteem since becoming infatuated with their classic “Point of View” single in 1991 & subsequently purchasing the “Parallels” album on CD but strangely my enjoyment of that album didn’t see me exploring the rest of their back-catalogue much until Ben & I conducted our research on their earlier releases for the Metal Academy podcast in the mid-2010s. Fates Warning’s crude 1984 debut album “Night on Bröcken” certainly had its charms with its American take on the NWOBHM sound often resembling Iron Maiden a little too closely to see the band differentiating themselves from the pack. Their 1985 sophomore album “The Spectre Within” was another story altogether though as it saw Fates Warning fully indulging in their more progressive Rush influences &, in doing so, virtually creating what we know now as the progressive metal sound. Don’t get me wrong, there were certainly a few earlier underground records that had a crack at it but none managed to incorporate progressive elements into their sound so smoothly & cohesively & I found “The Spectre Within” to be a really strong record with even the unusual high-pitched histrionics of front man John Arch failing to tarnish the challenging & universally professional instrumentation.
This is my first focused investigation of Fates Warning’s highly praised 1986 follow-up “Awaken The Guardian” though & my expectations were very high off the back of “The Spectre Within” which I awarded a well-deserved four star rating during the podcast. I’d been looking forward to seeing where the band would take their sound next as “Parallels” (their sixth album) was a little more restrained from a purely technical point of view. “Awaken The Guardian”, however, sees Fates Warning surging forwards with the complex progressive approach they'd begun exporing on “The Spectre Within” in what would have to have been one of the most ambitious undertakings for metal to the time. I mean this record could very well break a few people’s brains from a purely rhythmic point of view as it’s relentless in its pursuit of unusual & ever-changing time signatures. Then when you throw in Arch’s vocals which go even further than before with their melodic experimentation you get a very unusual record that sounds like nothing before it & very few after it too.
But this brings me to my criticisms of “Awaken The Guardian”. Despite being a unanimously successful & highly revered release in my household, “The Spectre Within” did struggle a little with its balance between expansive artistic license & genuinely memorable song-writing with only album highlight “The Apparition” seeing Fates Warning creating the much sought-after "classic song” as opposed to a very impressive & interesting technical display. The rest of the material simply didn’t possess the hooks that are required to have the listener singing along for days afterwards, a task that’s already hard enough given Arch’s inimitable operatic style which requires a level of acceptance in regard to taking the good with the bad. “Awaken The Guardian” struggles a little more in this regard, perhaps due to the even more overtly progressive instrumental approach which sees Arch having to force his melodies to work over rhythms that are already hard enough to digest. Despite what fans will have you believe, Arch DOES sing out of key quite regularly here & it can be grating if you’re not able to achieve some level of respect for the aural adventure he takes you on. Personally, I’m able to achieve that balance but, despite the fact that there's nothing close to a bad track on offer, there just aren’t enough truly memorable hooks included to warrant all of the praise & I find myself relying on the heavier instrumental parts of the album that see the band dipping into US power metal territory (see “Valley of the Dolls” or “Prelude To Ruin”) to take me to greater heights. Unfortunately Fates Warning can’t quite sustain it for long enough for my liking though. The more restrained album highlight “Guardian” is certainly a strong track but is it a genuine classic like “The Apparition” was? I don’t think so personally & things aren't helped by a fairly thin production job either.
Look, if you’re a prog tragic then “Awaken The Guardian” is probably a bit of a no-brainer but I can’t say that I regard it as highly as “The Spectre Within” or the better works from prog metal contemporaries like Queensryche & Dream Theater who are simply better at getting that technicality vs song-writing balance right. Admittedly both benefit from much more traditionally talented front men but I would happily have accepted a bit less rhythmic extravagance & a little more of a focus on making the sort of captivating heavy metal anthems that Crimson Glory are so successful at.
3.5/5
Queensrÿche- "Rage For Order" (1986)
Washington progressive metallers Queensryche became a reasonably big deal in my life around 1990/91 after I stumbled over a couple of songs from their fourth album “Empire” on a late-night metal radio program. I’d quickly go about purchasing the album on CD only to find that it wasn’t as consistent as I’d hoped & relied pretty heavily on those songs that I’d grown to love. Nonetheless, I would soon find myself investigating the band’s now legendary 1988 concept album “Operation: Mindcrime”, a release that commands the respect of any self-respecting metalhead, & it would unequivocally seal the deal for me. My extreme metal affiliations would prove to be too strong for me to spend much time with Queensryche’s earlier material for many years though. In fact, it wouldn't be until Ben & I were running the Metal Academy podcast back in the mid-2010’s, at which time I’d conduct an extensive deep-dive into the 1983 self-titled E.P. & 1984’s debut full-length “The Warning”. Despite being their first proper release, the E.P. served more as a transitional record in my opinion as you can easily see the band moving from a more traditional heavy metal outfit into a more expansive & progressive one across the course of the fours songs. It was still a very solid release though & I thoroughly enjoyed it for its accomplished execution & overall professionalism. “The Warning”, on the other hand, represents perhaps the first genuine progressive metal release & saw Queensryche starting their upward trajectory towards their creative peak in “Operation: Mindcrime”. Sure, there were other releases that saw bands mixing heavy metal with progressive rock influences but none had done it as cohesively in my opinion. And this brings us to Queensryche’s highly praised sophomore album “Rage For Order”, a record that I’ve somehow managed to overlook for all these years.
“Rage For Order” sees Queensryche taking the sound they’d created on “The Warning” to it’s next logical step in what can only be described as a clinical display of classy progressive metal music. The production job is a piece of art in itself as there’s so much packed into it & It'd be remiss of me not to at least entertain the idea that it could be a touch overproduced. This element in itself could be cause for putting off some of your more traditional metal fans as this a very expansive record. The Rush influences that floated around “The Warning” in the shape of rhythmic complexity have perhaps been toned down a touch but the layering & adventure has only been accentuated which makes “Rage For Order” quite a varied & ambitious undertaking. Much like the albums either side of it, it’s baffling that RYM members have tagged it as a Heavy Metal release because it’s certainly not. This is about as Progressive Metal as Progressive Metal gets so NWOBHM fans should think twice before approaching it with the expectation of Iron Maiden worship.
The musicianship on show is nothing short of superb with glistening clean guitar arpeggios, wonderfully melodic guitar solos & inventive drum fills appearing like an everflowing stream & being further highlighted by an array of external influences that give each song its own unique identity. Front man Geoff Tate puts in a masterclass of virtuosic, operatic heavy metal singing & is the clear highlight, particularly those stunning harmonies. As with the earlier Queensryche releases though, I can’t quite see myself reaching the upper echilons of my rating options & it comes down to the consistency of the song-writing. Don’t get me wrong, there are some truly magical tracks included on “Rage For Order”. “The Killing Words” (my personal favourite) & “Screaming In Digital” build into some of the most transcendant pieces of progressive metal I’ve ever encountered & “London” isn’t all that far behind them but these highlights are balanced out with filler tracks in roughly equal measure. There’s nothing weak here mind you but I can’t say that I get anywhere near as much out of material like “Walk In The Shadows”, “The Whisper”, “Surgical Strike” or “I Will Remember”. It’s only Queensryche’s undeniable class that sees them able to pull off some of those songs to be honest.
Regardless of the album’s inconsistencies, I still think it was Queensryche’s best release to the time & have found it to be a thoroughly rewarding experience. They’d take things even further with their next release “Operation: Mindcrime” of course however I’d go so far as to say that I place “Rage For Order” in second place as far as Queensryche’s discography goes these days. Fans of Fates Warning, Crimson Glory & Savatage’s shouldn’t let this one pass them by.
4/5
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - "PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation" (2023)
Another very solid metal outing from Melbourne's super-prolific King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard. I really enjoyed their 2019 "Infest the Rats' Nest" album but I think their latest work might even be a little better. This time they've taken a much more complex approach to the riff & song structures & have pulled it off with ease on what is predominantly a progressive metal release that plays in similar fields to Mastodon, Elder & Tool, only the Gizzard work within a base stoner metal sound that's similar to High On Fire. This is interesting & expansive stuff that will no doubt please members of The Infinite. The links to thrash metal are some of the most misguided & ridiculous I've ever seen in all my days so I've taken great pleasure in removing this release from The Pit where it clearly has no place.
4/5
Adramelch - "Irae Melanox" (1988)
I often find myself surprised when I stumble across old bands that seem to have gained such unusually strong underground followings built on decades of word of mouth. I usually find many of these artists to have something in common too in that they generally seem to eschew many of the modern-day production tropes, instead offering a (presumably unintentional) layer of distortion, atmosphere & general naivety that works to draw in an old-school metal audience that’s still hungry to relive the joys of receiving dodgy dubbed cassettes in the mail. Poorly monikered Italian progressive metal outfit Adramelch are a very good example of this concept as I honestly heard bugger-all about them back in the day but their 1988 debut album “Irae Melanox” seems to be regarded as somewhat of an early prog metal classic these days. I had very little idea of what to expect going into it but was quite hopeful given the strong praise I was reading.
The major failing of “Irae Melanox” takes no time at all to show its face upon pressing play with the ultra-raw production making its presence felt immediately. I struggled with this issue significantly throughout my first listen to be honest. It’s mainly about the awfully thin & dry rhythm guitar tone that possesses almost no depth or bottom end & there’s no doubt whatsoever that it should never have gotten out of the demo space. The instrumental work is quite ambitious & expansive for the time though & it soon becomes clear that Adramelch can rightly lay claim to being one of the earlier genuinely progressive metal bands.
Vocalist Vittorio Ballerio delivers a higher register tone that reminds me of Rush front man Geddy Lee crossed with Fates Warning’s John Arch at times but he’s actually more successful than that sounds on paper with his finer moments representing the high points of the album. Unfortunately though, the production issues do limit how much appeal I can draw from this music & the tracklisting is a bit inconsistent anyway. Perhaps the inclusion of some power metal-inspired material across the back end of the album hasn’t helped given my general aversion to the genre with songs like the title track, “Was Called Empire” & “Dreams of a Jester” not doing much for me. More predominantly progressive numbers such as “Decay (Saver Comes)”, “Zephirus”, “Fearful Visions” & “Eyes of Alabaster” are much more to my taste. Actually, I’d suggest that the power metal component is generally overstated on other online resources as there’s a fair bit more to Adramelch’s sound than that so a primary power metal tag is a little misleading in my opinion. I’d suggest that they sound more like the progressive metal of mid-80’s Fates Warning only with a much rawer vibe similar to fellow Italians Dark Quarterer & a bit of the pseudo-power metal of Californian heavy metallers Warlord tossed in for good measure.
Is “Irae Melaox” a good record though? Look, it’s not a bad album overall but I’d suggest that it requires a little patience to get past the production problems. A full three listens were required for me to reach the hooks (which generally come through Ballerio’s vocals) so don’t expect it to open up in front of you immediately & be prepared to give it some time. Diehard members of The Infinite will likely need hear this record but I can’t say that I can see why it’s so highly regarded to be perfectly frank. It does have a timeless quality about it that I suspect is a large part of what makes it so special to many others though.
3.5/5