September 2024 "The Infinite" Playlist - Progressive Metal Constellations

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Wtb5QsNObO9w62f7ThQNF?si=1b79bc61cbfa403c

1. 7 Horns 7 Eyes – Regeneration (2012)

2. Arcane – Keeping Stone: Sound on Fire (2015)

3. Caelestra – Solaris (2020)

4. Frost* - Life in the Wires, Pt. 1 (2024)

5. Gojira – The Heaviest Matter of the Universe (2005)

6. Ions – A Terrible Mistake (2023)

7. Leprous – Like a Sunken Ship (2024)

8. MaYaN – The Illusory Self (2018)

9. Meshuggah – Future Breed Machine (1995)

10. Ne Obliviscaris – Painters of the Tempest – Part II – Triptych (2014)

11. Nevermore – The Fault of the Flesh (1999)

12. Novallo – White Phoenix (2015)

13. The Ocean – Bathyalpelagic II: The Wish in Dreams (2013)

14. Opeth - §1 (2024)

15. Step in Fluid – Booty Shake (2019)

16. Stolen Babies – Push Button (2006)

17. Tanagra – Meridiem (2019)

18. Thrailkill – A Smile in Exile (2024)

19. Tomb Mold – Fate’s Tangled Thread (2023)

Here are my thoughts on some tracks:

7 Horns 7 Eyes – Regeneration (2012)

5/5. A perfect instrumental standout featuring some soloing by Jeff Loomis (ex-Nevermore), reminding me of his later supergroup Conquering Dystopia.

Gojira – The Heaviest Matter of the Universe (2005)

4.5/5. Gojira has made some real heavy stuff alongside their usual progressiveness. The "OPEN THE DOOR!!!" part is quite climatic, I'll say!

Ions – A Terrible Mistake (2023)

4/5. You ever want to hear the sounds of Northlane, Tesseract, and Karnivool come together? You got it right here! There's great talent and craftsmanship to love. It's quite cool hearing the orchestration blend in with the djent guitar. That shall help encourage me to level up my progressive metal zone.

Leprous – Like a Sunken Ship (2024)

4/5. Both Leprous and Opeth are making their comeback to their earlier growl-filled metal roots with their singles from their respective new albums, and that's pretty great! Unfortunately, I found out that this is the only track from Leprous' new album Melodies of Atonement with that sound, and the rest of the album is the soft art rock continued from their previous 3 albums.

MaYaN – The Illusory Self (2018)

4.5/5. This 9-minute progressive epic is the best way to summarize all this album has to offer, from the classic riffing to the epic choruses. This should've been the end of the playlist right there, but it's OK that it isn't, because there's more of the progressiveness to come...

Meshuggah – Future Breed Machine (1995)

5/5. The chaos continues after starting with a bit of an apocalyptic atmosphere that sounds like robotic machines taking over the world; industrial noises for almost 30 seconds, then a piercing siren over a total headbanging onslaught.

Ne Obliviscaris – Painters of the Tempest – Part II – Triptych (2014)

5/5. More of the chaos is unleashed with part 2 of "Painters of the Tempest". Even though the entire suite is 23 minutes long, this part would still be Ne Obliviscaris' longest song at 16 and a half minutes! This is perhaps my favorite Ne Obliviscaris song even though it's NOT in Portal of I. There are so many brilliant ideas! This part is actually is split into 3 smaller movements. The first movement, "Creator" has a couple transitions between fast storms and soft melodies. Then the second movement "Cynosure" is more acoustic/violin oriented, unlike the overpowering guitars in the other two movements. The avant-garde jazz themes are more apparent with only clean vocals and mid-tempo melodic grooves, until it builds back up to a crescendo of metal and growls. The last movement "Curator" is back to some of the most intense powerful chaos of the album until a nice ethereal ending.

Nevermore – The Fault of the Flesh (1999)

4.5/5. RIP Warrel Dane. He had the greatest sense of drama in the vocals. Jeff Loomis is also talented with his face-melting soloing, like the one over 3 minutes in.

Novallo – White Phoenix (2015)

4/5. Quite creative, though having some slight weakness.

The Ocean – Bathyalpelagic II: The Wish in Dreams (2013)

4.5/5. Even in a small part of a multi-track suite, you can get everything from different bands like Mastodon, BTBAM, and Opeth.

Opeth - §1 (2024)

4/5. And with all that talk about Opeth, we've made it to the first single of their upcoming album The Last Will and Testament. While the sound picks up where In Cauda Venenum left off, the growls and metal of Ghost Reveries and Watershed have returned! And there's drumming insanity by Waltteri Väyrynen (previously from Paradise Lost and Bodom After Midnight). This deathly sound better not be a one-time thing like that Leprous single is. It's my last hope in regaining full interest in Opeth....