The Progressive Metal Thread

I listened to it about 3 times over on release day, I'm personally extremely happy with it but it's going to take some more time to see where it lands in my head compared to their last three albums. Sure, it's nice to have some of the heavier Metal stuff back, but it's still a far cry from Watershed or older. At the moment I really like the usage of the harsh vocals and the heavier riffs from a writing and storytelling standpoint, even though I'm with you in that nothing really blows me away about it. Hopefully it'll all come together in the coming weeks and I'll have some more thoughts. 

Their albums have mostly landed around 9/10 rather than 10 with a couple exceptions.  Currently I'd say this is the best out of the 9/10's, so fourth.

Novembre - "Wish I Could Dream It Again..." (1994)

The 1994 debut album from Rome five-piece Novembre is another release that my younger brother & I stumbled over during the initial stages of Ben's obsession with the doom/death subgenre during the mid-90's. During that period, Ben would regularly bring home new CDs that he'd often bought unheard & based predominantly on feedback from record store staff that were responding to his enquiries around the latest releases to push his new subgenre of choice. One of those releases would be Novembre's "Wish I Could Dream It Again..." which was definitely one of the more unusual records he'd invested in as it's been a misunderstood release over the years in some ways. I remember being somewhat surprised that Ben had been handed this one as it didn't sound much like the other slow & depressive doom/death records he'd been bringing home. It was different enough to intrigue me nonetheless as it's an extremely expansive & inventive album for such a young metal band. If my internet sources are correct then it's been swallowed up by time & a discography that would go on to even greater things but "Wish I Could Dream It Again..." is still the only Novembre record that I'm familiar with & I've returned to it a number of times over the years so I've been looking forward to finally giving it a dedicated review so as to see if it's as underrated as I suspect it is.

"Wish I Could Dream It Again..." was recorded at Unisound Studios in Sweden in October 1994 with legendary Swedish metal figure Dan Swanö of Bloodbath/Edge of Sanity/Pan.Thy.Monium fame behind the mixing desk. The production isn't as polished as one might expect from a progressive metal release & neither are the performances which maintain a looseness that gives the whole thing a little more humanity than it might otherwise have possessed. That's not to say that there aren't some impressively creative & expansive instrumental contributions included here but it's easy to see that this was Novembre's first foray into the studio because it is a little rough around the edges with Swanö's production giving it more of a blackened feel than it's often given credit for. In fact, the links to the doom/death subgenre are almost non-existent on "Wish I Could Dream It Again..." & I can only think that the tendency to paint the album with that brush is largely based on Novembre's later works although I have no personal experience with that material to base that on so it's really only a hunch. Still... the lack of any genuine doom is a little confounding when you see how the album is tagged on other websites. To my ears, this is mainly a progressive metal release but there's just enough atmospheric black metal here to see it qualifying for an additional primary tag in my opinion. It certainly leans quite heavily to the progressive side of that equation but I think it would be an oversight not to alert the public to the obvious black metal component that permeates much of the tracklisting. I mean, just listen to the regular use of dissonant open-string guitar work for example which is taken straight out of the black metal playbook. This is certainly quite a whispy, dreamy & largely unintimidating version of black metal though, in much the same way as blackgaze artists like Alcest only there's no real shoegaze component here.

The tracklisting is exceptionally consistent with no weak tracks included in the lengthy thirteen-track, 65-minute run time. I don't think there are any clear standout tracks though with the quality levels predominantly remaining flat at a very solid position thanks to Novembre's unusual knack for writing melodic extreme metal of depth & originality. If pushed, I'd probably suggest that "Behind My Window/My Seas of South", "Novembre/Its Blood" & "Swim Seagull In the Sky" sit amongst the best material although I certainly still have a soft spot for "Neanderthal Sands" which was my first exposure to Novembre through a Terrorizer magazine cover CD I picked up shortly before Ben made this purchase. I definitely find myself attracted to the more blackened material but have been thoroughly impressed by Novembre's ambitious approach here nonetheless. The vocals of guitarist Carmelo Orlando alternate between an intentionally fairly loose & pitchy indie rock clean tone & a blackened snarl to great effect & I really enjoy the shredding guitar solos that he & fellow axeman Antonio Poletti (Deceptionist/Hideous Divinity) bless us with at times. The drumming of Carmelo's younger brother Giuseppe Orlando (The Foreshadowing/Deinonychus) is the clear highlight of the album in my opinion though as he shows himself to be a very capable musician with the imagination to integrate some very interesting rhythmic patterns & cymbal work at the same time as being able to blast away with power & precision.

While "Wish I Could Dream It Again..." may or may not be Novembre's weakest full-length, it shouldn't be discounted by fans because it's unique & inventive take on extreme metal is a rare commodity in a global scene that's littered with copy-cats. It's surprising to think of just how young these gents were when they put this record together because it's a highly sophisticated effort for the time & deserves more attention than it's received for it too. In fact, on the evidence here I'm gonna have to immediately place Novembre's more widely celebrated records like 2001's "Novembrine Waltz" & 2002's "Dreams d'azur" into my to-do list as they must be something to behold if they're stronger than this excellent debut album that I'd recommend to all members of The Infinite as well as our more open-minded The North members.

For fans of Green Carnation, Opeth & Alcest.

4/5

Blood Incantation - Absolute Elsewhere (2024)

Blood Incantation are back with their signature progressive, cosmic death metal sound after their detour into the world of ambient that was their 2022 Timewave Zero project. Absolute Elsewhere basically consists of two lengthy tracks, "The Stargate" and "The Message" that make up each side of the vinyl release, with each track being further split into three parts. This time around they have delved even further into progressive realms than they did with 2019's Hidden History of the Human Race, with recognisable influence from several legendary 70's progressive artists, most noticeably Rush, Pink Floyd, King Crimson and Tangerine Dream with TD's Thorsten Quaeschning's guesting on the second part of "The Message", which sounds just like an excerpt from the german progressive electronic crew's 1975 Rubycon album.

Of course, after their dalliance with a wholly ambient release last time out, most metalheads want to know if the band still have their hearts in the metal world and the answer is, undoubtedly they do and death metal is still the basis upon which their more expansive sound is built, but they are also on a mission to expand the horizons of the genre and bring in other influences so that it can continue to evolve, thus giving it an even brighter future and allowing it to reach out to a wider audience. Just within the opening segment of "The Message" we are treated to a Rush-like intro, with Geddy Lee-like staccato basslines and Alex Lifeson-influenced lead work leading into a ripping death metal riff, thundering blastbeat and Paul Riedl's growling vocals. These soon subside into a Robert Fripp-style gentle guitar and synth break which itself morphs into a short mellotron-led section (reminiscent of the synths Queen produced for the Flash Gordon soundtrack) which is then supplanted by a Dave Gilmour-esque solo. That then makes way for an eastern-flavoured death metal riff that could have come from the Nile songbook - and we are still only eight minutes into the damn thing! This may sound like a whole lot of disparate influences being jammed together and on paper may not seem that appealing, but the skill of the songwriting is that it takes these multifarious threads and weaves them together into a seamless tapestry of varying colours and textures in an entirely organic and unforced manner, with faultless and seemingly logical transitions, even between the most brutal and gentle passages. The opening extravaganza merely illustrates the ambitious vision that Blood Incantation have for their version of progressive death metal, with a fully-formed science fiction concept behind the album and a wide-reaching pallette of sonic pigments with which they illustrate this vision, metal alone being insufficient to convey exactly the feeling they require.

It is easy, I suppose, to get into a game of I-spy-the-obvious-influence, and on the intitial playthrough I was probably as guilty as anyone of that, but when you become more acquainted with the album I think the technical mastery and skilled songwriting make all that irrelevant and when heard as a coherent entity, rather than the sum of it's parts, that is when it hits the listener as to exactly how good this is. Despite all the progressive tendencies, it is still the effectiveness of the metal constituents upon which the success of the album ultimately rests and we are certainly in safe hands there because when the band let rip then they absolutely nail it with impeccable timing, consummate technical skills and some lethal riffs. The third part of "The Message" is probably one of the most "metal" parts of the album with a devastating set of blastbeats, some complex tech-death shennanigans and a deadly and brutal main riff, complemented with some nice eastern motifs that does more than cement the band's death metal credentials.

I was initially a bit sceptical as to whether Absolute Elsewhere was deserving of all the accolades being poured upon it, but this is undoubtedly one of those albums that increases the returns dependent upon what you put into it. Multiple listens are mandatory to really appreciate exactly what Blood Incantation are delivering here and it is gaining in stature with me as I uncover a little bit more of it's complexity and quality with each playthrough. As a metal album this is a cosmic-themed triumph, being at times exceedingly brutal and heavy, at others complex and cerebral, but it is also much more than that, thought-provoking and visionary with a willingness to embrace influences from outside the metal sphere which lend it an accessibility that will undoubtedly draw in new acolytes to the world of extreme metal and surely that is a good thing.

I find a lot of cutting edge metal to be a bit beyond my capacity to enjoy, particularly the excessively dissonant or avant-garde, but Absolute Elsewhere has opened up a brave new world of ambitious and forward-thinking metal made from distinctly recognisable parts that is as listenable as it is ground-breaking. It is hard, if you really listen to this, to not feel refreshed and energised by the possibilities this opens up for the future of death metal inparticular and extreme metal generally. I am sold.

4.5/5

Taramis - "Demo" (1988)

This four-song demo was released the year after this month's The Infinite feature release in Melbourne progressive power metal four-piece Taramis' 1987 debut album "Queen of Thieves". The sound quality is demo quality of course but you can easily make everything out & the song-writing quality seems to have become a little more consistent by this stage too, even if I wouldn't suggest that any of the tracks are particularly essential. There's a greater level of complexity to some of this material but it still comes & goes a little which was a characteristic of the album too. Shane Southby's operatic histrionics are perhaps even more overt than they were previously but he seems to suit the more technical structures a little more & is a touch less pitchy too which sees him becoming less of an issue for me. I'd suggest that I enjoy this demo slightly more than "Queen of Thieves" but they're fairly close in terms of overall quality.

For fans of Nothing Sacred, Adramelch & Sieges Even.

3.5/5

Dream Theater: Parasomnia (2025)

Genres: Prog Metal

I've been avoiding to many potential "sure-fire" metal albums to get my yearly top 100's more diversified, but this is a new year, and there are some bands I will make that exception for.  Dream Theater was the band that got me into prog metal, and although they're not my favorite anymore, if they've got an album the fans like then I will check it out on the day of its release.  And this is an event to look forward to for fans everywhere, and why?  Simple...

Portnoy's back.

Since Dream Theater mastered the standard style early in their career, we must already deal with some sense of familiarity.  So all that's left is how far they drive it.  And they're driving it all the way from NY to CA.  Some of these bits here are straight-up thrash metal with a strong edge backed up by some of their most clever riffs since Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, and especially Portnoy's drumming.  This is the album where he blew the mercury out of the meter.  He outperforms everybody here without even thinking.  Anything familiar or maybe even only decent about the songwriting is empowered by him.  This is easily some of the best metal drumming I've ever heard, IMO.

As for the rest of it, the short story is that this is yet another "cool" entry into their catalog.  Instead of choosing more meta concepts like the "octave," or telling another rock opera, they went right into a more conventional type of concept.  Much like Metallica's Ride the Lightning covered various forms and themes concerning death, this album's all in the title.  This is probably the perfect theme for Dream Theater of all people to tackle.  I mean, if the band name didn't say it all, albums like Scenes from a Memory should tell you.  Lyrically, they're doing everything they can to bring out the fear factor in each song, almost like we're hearing horror stories but we're supposed to pity the subjects rather than be scared for them.  Instrumentally, even though their riffs aren't always the most original, they're effortlessly heavy and easier to get behind.  Although, once again, Portnoy's masterful performance helps.

Parasomnia seems like a creative splurge for the band, but it doesn't get in the way of the style they developed for a single second.  In fact, I could even say it makes the same mistake as Paramainomeni in the sense that all tracks are following the same goal, but every song shows them doing everything they can at that point to recall the classic era with something a little new.  They never really stopped being relevant, but this feels kind of like a comeback album in a sense.  Dream Theater, ever since Metropolis Pt. 2, has been the kind of prog metal band you need to immerse yourself in, much like a good old ambient album.  And this is the album where they got that back.  No overdoing metal themes like Octavarium, no 2112 knockoffs, just Dream Theater being dreamy and heavy.

90 / 100

Dominion - "Demo Tape" (1989)

The one-off demo tape from a talented Melbourne musician by the name of Corey Romeo who would go on to play with progressive metal outfit Hyperion during the mid-1990's. This 34 minute/8 song effort sees Romeo handling all of the instruments in a purely instrumental exploration of guitar-shredder style progressive metal which also touches on speed metal, heavy metal & power metal. The production is the main stumbling block as the sound quality is quite muted which isn't ideal for this type of music as it requires brightness & clarity to have it full effect. You can still make out the potential here fairly easily though & I found myself enjoying the majority of the collection. In fact, I'd even go so far as to suggest that this could have been a fairly significant release with a more professionally produced packaging.

For fans of Jason Becker, Vinnie Moore & David T. Chastain.

3.5/5