January 2026 "The Infinite" Playlist - Progressive Metal Constellations

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Wtb5QsNObO9w62f7ThQNF?si=0736d1293d6144c0

1. The Anchoret – Someone Listening? (2023)

2. Black Crown Initiate – Holy Silence (2020)

3. Dark Horse White Horse – Judgement Day (2021)

4. Dvne – Descent of the Asheran (2017)

5. Edge of Reality – Wasteland (2016)

6. Ibaraki – Ronin (2022)

7. IONS – Faith (2023)

8. Jinjer – Fast Draw (2025) Requested by Andi

9. Luna’s Call – Signs (2020)

10. Mandroid Echostar – Matoax (2016)

11. Meshuggah – Bleed (2008) Requested by Andi

12. Myrath – The Funeral (2025)

13. Pain of Salvation – Undertow (2002)

14. Sons of Apollo – Goodbye Divinity (2020)

15. TesseracT – Of Matter – Retrospect (2013)

16. Vildhjarta – paaradiso (2021) Requested by Andi

17. VOLA – These Black Claws (2021) Requested by Andi

18. Wrythe – On Silent Wings (2008)

Once again, another Infinite playlist I felt up to breezing through entirely. Great work, Saxy! Here are all my track thoughts:

The Anchoret – Someone Listening? (2023)

4.5/5. Someone listening? Yes, that would be me. I'm listening. Excellent start!

Black Crown Initiate – Holy Silence (2020)

5/5. Holy sh- I mean, holy silence, this has everything I love about progressive metal, in the different sections, guitars, and vocals. I'm getting lots of vibes Opeth and River of Nihil, the latter band especially when guitarist/clean vocalist Andy Thomas would join that band a few years later.

Dark Horse White Horse – Judgement Day (2021)

4.5/5. Anyone listening to this after finding out that Stream of Passion vocalist Marcela Bovio is in this band. I literally didn't know until just now. This is brilliant!

Dvne – Descent of the Asheran (2017)

4/5. Progressive sludge metal similar to early Mastodon and Baroness. We need more of that honestly!

Edge of Reality – Wasteland (2016)

4.5/5. I'm glad to get more into the avant-garde side of things, unlike in the earlier Infinite playlists.

Ibaraki – Ronin (2022)

5/5. The climatic 9-minute epic of this Ibaraki album to hook you up high. There's a long folk bridge, and in the heavier sections, Matt Heafy has given unclean vocal duties to Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance. And HOLY F***!!! Gerard can perform memorable shrieking vocals more vicious than other black metal vocalists out there!

IONS – Faith (2023)

4.5/5. It's songs like this that help keep my prog-metal faith alive.

Jinjer – Fast Draw (2025)

5/5. One of my favorite tracks from the new Jinjer album, apparently a fast extreme counterpart of "Green Serpent" lyrically. It really packs some powerful punches, with potential to open up a moshpit, or a mosh-vortex.

Luna’s Call – Signs (2020)

4.5/5. Deathly progressive metal with the melody of Haken and the heaviness of Opeth, even having a touch of Yes. Lots of f***ing beauty and brutality at the same time! If death metal was brought into 70s prog-rock, that would be this amazing track right here.

Mandroid Echostar – Matoax (2016)

5/5. The addition of 70s prog-rock into modern metal doesn't end there, with this song having Pink Floyd-ish soloing. The music can sound happy or sad in some places. I also love the transition from heavy to soft midway through. It's quite awesome without ever having to go deathly or djenty.

Meshuggah – Bleed (2008)

5/5. Probably the best song by Meshuggah since Chaosphere. Thrashy and memorable! At 1:24 is a total headbanging passage.

Myrath – The Funeral (2025)

5/5. I honestly wasn't expecting Oriental progressive power metal to hit me so hard. Thanks for this!

Pain of Salvation – Undertow (2002)

4.5/5. I'm still quite moved to this song despite not having listened to much of this band for nearly a decade. The final minute definitely has emotional drama.

Sons of Apollo – Goodbye Divinity (2020)

5/5. This is my second time encountering this song, after that playlist I helped assemble two and a half years ago. And how is it? Well, F*** YEAH, I want more of that band!

TesseracT – Of Matter – Retrospect (2013)

4.5/5. When you listen to this as part of the "Of Matter" epic, it really does sound like it's meant to be a full suite, just like "Concealing Fate".

Vildhjarta – paaradiso (2021)

5/5. The closing epic of this Vildhjarta album is the band's longest single track at 10 minutes, and there's nothing exhausting about it at all. Dexterous harmonies with hints of post-jazz make another sonic behemoth. And after a brief fade into the background, it all ends with a final atmospheric brutal touchdown, like a world-ending apocalypse.

VOLA – These Black Claws (2021)

4.5/5. Amazing song from another progressive/djent band! Even the rapping bridge by Shahmen fits well here.

Wrythe – On Silent Wings (2008)

4/5. Anyone who has played Postal 2 may be familiar with this song in its soundtrack. When the vocals enter after the 20-second intro, they hit HARD. And that ends another wonderful Infinite playlist, courtesy of Saxy.