What are you listening to now? - The Infinite Edition

Fates Warning - "The Spectre Within" (1985)

Gojira - "From Mars To Sirius" (2005)

An awesome combination of "Domination"-era Morbid Angel, the progressive metal of Devin Townsend & little bit of groove metal.

4.5/5

Gojira - "From Mars To Sirius" (2005)

An awesome combination of "Domination"-era Morbid Angel, the progressive metal of Devin Townsend & little bit of groove metal.

4.5/5

We agree on this one. Awesome stuff.

Fates Warning - "The Spectre Within" (1985)

What was your take on this one? Taken out of the context of the time, I reviewed it rather harshly. Though honestly the music is awesome, I just cant do the vocals!

What was your take on this one? Taken out of the context of the time, I reviewed it rather harshly. Though honestly the music is awesome, I just cant do the vocals!

I really like it but admittedly "The Spectre Within" & I go back a very long way. To me, it sounds like they've combined elements of the three most sophisticated heavy metal bands in the world at the time in Iron Maiden, Queenryche & Mercyful Fate. It's an absolute riff-fest & the rhythm section do a great job at making some of those more complex riffs & transitions work in such a smooth fashion with Rush being the obvious influence in that respect. The lead guitar work is inconsistent & doesn't compare to the best the metal scene had to offer at the time but the vocals are undoubtedly the potential deal-breaker for most people. They definitely need time to sink in as they're the very epitomy of an acquired taste. This is exacerbated by the fact that there aren't that many legitimate choruses or other vocal hooks. I think the John Arch was still learning how to fit lyrics over the more complex rhythms & it results in some very unusual & occasionally jarring outcomes. It's like he was so hell-bent on fitting those lyrics in that he's sacrificed on flow & melodic structure. But when he gets it right with those Geoff Tate style upper register harmonies we definitely get the high points of the album & the overall class of the instrumentation is right up my alley.  This was definitely the most complex heavy metal record released to the time. I gave it a 4/5.

Between The Buried & Me - "Colors_Live" (2008)

A top notch progressive metalcore live album from this North Carolina five-piece which is essentially a re-enactment of their classic 2007 "Colors" album in its entirety. Fuck me, this band can play like an absolute muthafucka! 

4/5

Nevermore - "Dreaming Neon Black" (1999)

A superb progressive metal concept album that includes a mixture of thrash metal, groove metal, power metal & gothic metal influences. I absolutely love it.

4.5/5

Kayo Dot - "Choirs Of The Eye" (2003)

An incredibly slick post-metal debut from this US outfit which sits amongst the best few examples of the subgenre overall.

4.5/5

Juggernaut  - "Baptism Under Fire" (1986)

The debut album from a talented four-piece progressive metal outfit from San Antonio, USA who used speed metal & traditional heavy metal as their platforms of choice. Unfortunately the production is well below par & the song-writing is often quite weak despite some very flashy technicality. The guitar solos are particularly impressive but apart from a trio of strong tracks in the middle of the B side there's really not a lot to see here. The most noteworthy aspect of the album is the inclusion of future Fates Warning, Halford, Iced Earth & Riot drummer Bobby Jarzombek. Fans of Rush, Watchtower & Mekong Delta may find something to enjoy here but I won't be returning any time soon.

3/5

Ocean Machine - "Biomech" (1997)

One of my all-time favourite progressive metal records. Fantastic vocals, awesome production & some serious hooks that dig their teeth in really deep over repeat listens. It's interesting that the first four tracks don't really hint at the heights that Devin Townsend will take you to across the rest of the album & I find myself doubting my high opinion during the early stages of each revisit. But the three epics in the back end completely eradicate any reservations I may have had about ranking this amongst the greats of the subgenre. 

4.5/5

Ocean Machine - "Biomech" (1997)

One of my all-time favourite progressive metal records. Fantastic vocals, awesome production & some serious hooks that dig their teeth in really deep over repeat listens. It's interesting that the first four tracks don't really hint at the heights that Devin Townsend will take you to across the rest of the album & I find myself doubting my high opinion during the early stages of each revisit. But the three epics in the back end completely eradicate any reservations I may have had about ranking this amongst the greats of the subgenre. 

4.5/5

I agree. I totally love this album!

Wilderun - Veil of Imagination (2019)

I've hit the jackpot with this one. An absolutely majestic piece of work with perfect use of symphonic and progressive elements with incredible Opeth-like heavy metal riffs. After only one listen I'm slapping the perfect 5/5 score on this. Hopefully I can form enough substantial thoughts and opinions to get a review out before the end of the year, because this shot straight to the top 3 of my 2019 list.

Hhmmmm…. interesting. I'll be adding this one to my list for the next couple of weeks. Thanks for the heads up Xephyr. :)

Richard Henshall - The Cocoon (2019)

Fairly dense Progressive Metal from the guitarist of Haken. The first half of the album is well performed and written but run-of-the-mill heavier prog metal, although that hardly means it's bad. Intricate solos and time signature changes galore form the silken backbone of this concept album and I quite enjoy it since I'm a sucker for self-indulgent prog metal. 

The second half of the album takes a few more risks that sometimes pay off and sometimes...don't. "Twisted Shadows" has a mean Dream Theater guitar solo tribute as Jordan Rudess pays a visit as well as some other well known prog musicians to form a pretty star-studded cast. 

Soen - Tellurian

Not sure if this belongs around as our good friends over at Metal Archives certainly don't feel this is metal enough, but there's some nice suggestions of both Tool and (unsurprisingly given the pedigree) Opeth. I find I enjoy this when it's on (as with this bands work in general - I also own the following album Lykaia), but when it's over nothing really stays with me apart from the serene atmosphere that hangs over the whole production. Great musicianship and some nice melodic vocal lines though, just lacking in some truly distinct and unique songwriting, apart from maybe the ballads.

Dream Theater - "Images & Words" (1992)

4.5/5

Queensrÿche - "Operation:LIVEcrime" (1991)

A live album recorded in 1991 that features the classic "Operation:Mindcrime" album performed in full along with a couple of extra tracks tacked onto the end. It's unsurprisingly a quality record & fans of the studio version will definitely enjoy it.

4/5

Voivod - "Nothingface" (1989)

Impressive & unique Canadian progressive rock for fans of Rush, Yes & Mr Bungle.

4/5

maudlin of the Well - "Bath" (2001)

Beautifully executed avant-garde & expansive progressive metal from Boston, USA. Fans of Kayo Dot (who motW later became), Thy Catafalque & In the Woods... will surely love this release.

4/5

Guys, the new Green Carnation album, Leaves of Yesteryear, is pretty damn great. The band have returned to their long form compositions for this one, but on a smaller scale. It sounds fresh, while still paying homage to Light of Day, Day of Darkness. Not bad for a fifteen year layoff!

8/10

https://greencarnationsom.bandcamp.com/album/leaves-of-yesteryear

Dream Theater - "Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory" (1999)

Giving one of my ol' faves a thrashing today & it still does it for me in all the right areas. It doesn't quite top "Images & Words" for my favourite Dream Theater record but it's pretty damn close these days. A wonderful example of the progressive metal concept album. For fans of Rush, Fates Warning & Haken.

4.5/5

The new progressive death metal record from U.K. based Rannoch. Took me a while to find a new tech death/progressive metal act that balances melody and technical proficiency to an exceptional degree. FFO: Opeth (early), Rivers of Nihil, An Abstract Illusion

8/10

https://rannoch-uk.bandcamp.com/album/reflections-upon-darkness

Thanks for the heads up Saxy, I really enjoyed this. Some parts were really amazing, some parts not so much. I think they tried to push the spoken word narrative and certain themes on the album a bit too hard, but that barely takes anything away from the rest of the record. I'll be coming back to this one in the coming weeks to see if I can push my rating up even higher, I think it maybe has the potential? 

4/5

Great review too, nice on actually elaborating on the production! It feels like good or bad "production" is such a meaningless buzzword to many nowadays. 

I plan on checking this out.  My friend did the artwork, we had a conversation the other day about how good he is at doing hands but he is not happy with them yet. True story me.