The Infinite

Glad to help, Saxy! Here are some of my track thoughts:

Opeth - "Harvest" (from Blackwater Park)

4/5. Soft acoustic ambiance. A good start.

Rosetta - "Soot" (from Flies to Flame)

4.5/5. A beautiful inspiring throwback to the sound of A Determinism of Moralism. A great song to love in my life! This seems to lyrically pick up where The Anaesthete left off. It's truly a lookback to their doomy post-metal roots similar to Isis.

Mastodon - "Ancient Kingdom" (from Emperor of Sand)

4.5/5. More eclectic in an awesome way! Enough said...

Dream Theater - "Scene Four: Beyond This Life" (from Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory)

5/5. This is a longer song that has more of the great guitar soloing that are isolated from the concept without ruining it. The murder-suicide incident was mentioned in a newspaper article. Nicholas, doubting those events, has a conversation with an older man familiar with the case. Nicholas decides that the only way to move on is to solve this murder mystery.

Between The Buried And Me - "The Proverbial Bellow" (from Automata II)

4.5/5. I've had fun listening to this band and both parts of their Automata album that was split into two CDs, with this song starting the second. This 13-minute epic is so incredible, despite me leaving this band behind, that it's hard for me to explain in detail. Just listen for yourself while having a pizza or something!

Symphony X - "The Relic" (from Twilight in Olympus)

5/5. I love this one, especially the progressive solo, in this great album. This band, along with Dream Theater and Ayreon are how I started my love for progressive metal, back when my taste was more melodic. The bass and drums are awesome! The album Twilight in Olympus still doesn't beat their masterpiece The Divine Wings of Tragedy. Still this is absolutely underrated! There's epic neoclassical brilliance in the riffs and rhythms that reminds some of Yngwie Malmsteen. There's also a bit of Megadeth-like heaviness but not too much like that. Seriously, enough with the overrated mainstream thrash of Megadeth and Metallica, listen to this great progressive band instead!

Cynic - "Mythical Serpents" (from Ascension Codes)

4.5/5. A great highlight to show each member's skill! Moving on...

Haken - "In Memoriam" (from The Mountain)

4.5/5. This is a mind-blowing track that deserves greater recognition, and that final section at the 3 and a half minute mark is one of the most epic parts of a progressive metal song, even after ages since I left this band behind simply because it would've been more suitable for me, say, 5 years ago.

Stone Healer - "One Whisper" (from Conquistador)

4/5. Very great, but as I've said in this month's Pit playlist comments, a favorite genre of mine getting "blackened" at times isn't always the right deal.

Protest the Hero - "Tongue-splitter" (from Scurrilous)

4.5/5. This apologetic yet aggressive song takes some shots away from the usual self-loathing ("I'm not asking for your pity 'Oh woe is me' sarcastically"). That song really pumps me up with its adrenaline. Well done guys!

Vektor - "Charging the Void" (from Terminal Redux)

5/5. This is a great epic to prepare for the incoming elements of this album. New elements are mixed with older ones from previous albums. Another thing new is clean singing, here being sung by what sounds like a soul choir, bringing to mind Disney film soundtracks such as Frozen and Moana. Fortunately, there isn't any harm to the band's music and instead adds more atmosphere. Of course, the other new element is the superb concept, which is already written for this album, but I made my own in a review.

Converge, Chelsea Wolfe - "Tongues Playing Dead" (from Bloodmoon: I)

5/5. Jacob Bannon really shines in his vocals in this pummeling highlight!

My first impressions of Moss Grew on the Swords and Plowshares Alike was pretty underwhelming. Toby Driver has made a reputation of not conforming to "traditional" progressive normality with projects like maudlin of the well and Kayo Dot. And I was less than impressed with Blasphemy so I had limited expectations. My first impressions were of a better production, but far less progressive than previous records from the band.

That is until I got to the second go around. And I found the songwriting to be significantly more diverse between individual tracks. Maybe not as diverse as Hubardo, but the avant-garde tag in this case is not in reference to its quirkiness, as has become commonplace in the genre lately. There is atonality, but it all makes sense together as part of a greater work. While "Void in Virgo (The Nature of Sacrifice)" is predominantly post-metal, the growth and obtuseness of the following track, "Spectrum of One Colour" with its heavier vocals, advanced harmony and busier fundamental is where this album shines brightest. On most albums, these would feel like major whiplash as it jumps sporadically between styles, but here they all seem to connect together. The primary formula is maintained through the genre swapping and is commendable.

The production is vastly improved as they remembered to turn on the bass amp during the recordings! The varying vocal stylings of Toby Driver are balanced well. The guitar melodies are fruitful and memorable, even as the solos descend into a darker place with atonality aplenty. The post-metal rhythm guitars and synths are textured well, and the percussion manages to be deceptively technical. My biggest issue, like with all Kayo Dot albums, is the length. Lots of good ideas can only prop up an album so much when they are primarily contained to the middle of the record. Although with this, unlike other Kayo Dot albums, it doesn't overstay its runtime with obnoxiously long tracks consistently. Only one track surpasses ten minutes and it's the closer "Epipsychidion". I liked this album quite a bit, but it took a few tries before it finally clicked with me. It may only be a seed, but it will sprawl to life with enough care.

8/10

In my attempt to blast through all of November's Feature albums Core made me remember how much I enjoy Persefone overall, but also how dense their stuff is. I've attempted to fully sink my teeth into Spiritual Migration and Shin-ken before but could never quite do it, and Core falls under the same issue. They've shown that they're incredibly consistent with creating the full technical, eclectic Progressive Metal package since I don't think this one is any worse than their others, but it would take me way more listens of this one as well as their other albums to really come to terms with their proficiency as a whole. A cop out I know, but Persefone is just one of those bands that doesn't make it onto my normal rotation of albums I want to relisten to even though I enjoy their material. Hopefully someday I'll find some motivation and time to try and pick apart their albums a bit more, so with that said I gotta underrate this one overall I think. 

3.5/5

Amazing playlist, Saxy! Though I don't have a lot of time to comment on all the tracks for this one, this is still a wild progressive ride, so here are my thoughts:

Evergrey – Forever Outsider (2021)

5/5. Right at the start, we begins the amazing race through the playlist with a song from an album with dark aggression and heavy energy. In Escape of the Phoenix, they've picked up the aggression from The Atlantic, including the down-tuned guitar. There might be slower songs to come in better pace than the half-boring half-incredible The Storm Within, but not as super-great as The Atlantic.

Sleep Paralysis – Altesia (2021)

4.5/5. Altesia is back with a new album Embryo. Brilliant piece, but I've already heard enough from this band.

Persefone – Underworld: The Fallen & The Butterfly – Act I: Clash of the Titans (2006)

5/5. The heaviness of this album Core continues in the beginning of "Underworld". It's too awesome for words, just listen for yourself!

Leprous – Contaminate Me (2013)

5/5. This is a heavy, intense, dark ending to the song's original album with aggressive atmosphere. There's a bit of djent in the guitars inspired by Meshuggah. Ihsahn guest appears, throwing in excellent harsh vocals that really add in the insane fury. This is more chaotic than any of Leprous' material, and makes up for a lot of the heaviness the earlier songs in that album missed out.

Dream Theater – Awaken the Master (2021)

4.5/5. Here's another highlight, the band's first song with djenty 8-string guitar, something Petrucci first experimented with in his project with Ernie Ball Music Man. Dream Theater should some more djenty experiments in their next album...

The Ocean – Calymmian (2008)

4/5. This is a small disappointment compared to the previous tracks of Precambrian, but it's still great and doesn't affect the album's perfect score.

Cynic – In a Multiverse Where Atoms Sing (2021)

4.5/5. Cynic was one of the bands I've abandoned during my death metal departure due to their earlier material. But it was also because I thought they were moving away from metal with their previous album Kindly Bent to Free Us and because of the loss of the two Seans. But guess what? This song is legit progressive metal and Matt Lynch's drumming is absolutely tremendous! Sean Reinert would be proud, and I would be up to check out Cynic's new album Ascension Codes. RIP both Seans...

Animals As Leaders – The Problem of Other Minds (2021)

5/5. And now, Animals as Leaders is coming back with a new single as well! This song is so d*mn amazing with rainbow-colorful guitars and no lyrics. I gotta look out for their new album Parrhesia, coming out in a few months.

maudlin of the Well – Birth Pains Of Astral Projection (2001)

5/5. Bummer about Maudlin of the Well not releasing any recent metal singles, still currently in hiatus, but this one is the over 10-minute epic of its album Bath, and this playlist (still kinda wishing for longer songs). It gets pretty weird throughout this song, especially in the riffs. After starting soft over 3 minutes, it switches to bad-a** death-ridden progressive metal to for any metalhead to enjoy. That's the last bit of death metal you would hear for that album.

Gojira – New Found (2021)

4.5/5. This is the kind of song that would make you wanna ride an elephant marching through a jungle and smashing trees with its trunk. And within this beautiful emotional work is a direct message about space travel happening later on in this decade.

Pain of Salvation – To the End (1997)

4.5/5. Good lyrics from another good choice for me. Thanks again for accepting my submissions, Saxy!

Xephyr's Kodama Review

Better late than never, right?
I also just realized that I've been listening to the Deluxe edition all these years with the extra track after "Onyx", so I guess my viewpoint is the full album plus the bonus track in terms of pacing.

Look, we all know how much I love progressive metal, but every now and then, I feel up to experimenting. I enjoyed Saxy's Metal Academy Infinite Spotify playlist for this month so much that I decided to try a little experiment; shorten most of the songs' lengths into mainstream radio edits for the slight chance of them appearing on the radio airwaves. It should be noted again that I still enjoy the progressive lengthiness of the songs and it's just a for-now-one-off experiment, so please don't be too harsh if you think I'm blaspheming a major element of the genre. I tried this kind of experiment before but it didn't work out. Enjoy the radio-suitable lengths (or not)!

Maybe next month we can find some avant-garde music that is more up your alley...

Yeah, I hope so too. Maybe something similar to Maudlin of the Well or Dir En Grey...

I'm really glad to have had Portal of I pushed into my periphery via this month's Infinite feature. It may not be very apparent, but I am actually quite a bit of a prog nut. 1970s prog rock is one of my favourite genres, Van Der Graaf Generator, Gabriel-era Genesis and Yes are three of my all-time favourite bands and in fact there's a few modern prog bands I enjoy too like Riverside and Galahad. However, an awful lot of progressive metal leaves me cold for some reason - if it's not one band trying to be the next Dream Theater, it's another trying to impress everyone with their technical prowess. Meanwhile they all seem to forget about the songs. This is why I admired Opeth so much - they were technically superb but never forgot that the song was king and everything they did worked to that end without resorting to technicality and flashiness for it's own sake. On the evidence of Portal of I, Ne Obliviscaris seem to be a band with the same philosophy and with this album have ticked many of the boxes that appeal to me. I'm especially on board with the marriage between prog and black metal, in a similar way that Oranssi Pazuzu's fusion between black metal and psychedelic rock is so successful, Ne Obliviscaris seem to understand exactly how to alloy black metal with progressive metal in way that makes the whole more than the separate elements (something Opeth also achieved). While the entire album is exceedingly good Forget Not, for me, is a song on a whole different level and has jumped right onto my list of greatest tracks of all-time.

I've got to admit that the past four or five months' features have got me much more interested in Infinite bands. Despite my previous reservations, I look forward to Infinite features as much as any now, particularly as I am unlikely to have heard them before. So thanks to all you Infinite contributors who have proved once more that you can teach an old dog new tricks.

I decided this month to make more of an effort with some of the clans playlists and featured releases that I don't always bother with.  First effort was The Sphere which was a disaster thanks to that fucking LARD album, so I was hoping that a jaunt into the Infinite would reveal some items of interest.  Thankfully, I got more than expected and have now added Evergrey, Symphony X and Russian Circles to my "to do" list.  The latter band always struck me as being a bit of hipster act for some reason but that track was solid enough to impress me into checking out the whole album at some point.

Most of the avant-garde/core crossover stuff was lost on me though and just what the hell is going on with the likes of Carbonized and Faxed Head is completely beyond me.  Really good to see Ænigmatum on there as this release has fast grown on me in recent weeks and my splatter-effect vinyl has seen a good few spins since its arrival a few weeks back.

Picked up some new listens like I mentioned so overall a decent folly into the unknown.

Cheers for the rec, Daniel! Here's my review summary:

Progressive metal is one of the most characteristically difficult genres of all time, when it comes to playing, composing, and sometimes listening. If you're an expert at composing excellent progressive music, you'll create wonderful results, otherwise everything would be incorrect. If you're new creating progressive metal, surely a 10-minute epic would be difficult to start with, but it's still easy to keep interesting. It would definitely be more difficult to attempt a 20-minute track with half of it is long instrumental sections and the other half is filled with ambitious vocals, all with no coherent pace. You can even challenge yourself further with 30 minutes. Now 60 minutes, an exact hour, THAT's the ultimate challenge! You have to be the master of getting used to prog to enjoy this hour-long epic, Green Carnation's Light of Day, Day of Darkness! Green Carnation's music for this album can be described as progressive metal with slight doom. Dark sorrow in the atmosphere fits well with the high-quality composition. Probably a third (20 minutes) of the track is instrumental while not straying away from the concept, with a continuous pattern throughout the progressive complexity. Unlike Dream Theater or Rush, the album is more doom-inspired than upbeat, including the mid-range vocals and the riffs that contain slow dark heaviness to fit nicely with the sorrowful leads. The album also includes saxophone, sitar, strings, synthesizers, and other instruments starting with "S", greatly enhancing the guitar and atmosphere. Everything flows without being too loose or out of place (for the most part). This is a must-have for all progressive metal fans, and while I didn't start my prog journey here, for anyone wanting to start on this genre for the first time....welcome!

5/5

Progressive metal is a tough genre to control because of the genre being so...well, progressive, and bands with even the slightest progressive qualities end up being labeled that genre. So I decided to divide progressive metal into 15 different types, similar to Xephyr's Viking Metal experiment. I think it would be hard to fit so many YouTube videos into one post, so I made a playlist that can be found here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3fWYgo16iAq7NVoBvg2XAy

Alt-prog:

Tool - "7empest"

Natural deathly prog:

Opeth - "Hessian Peel"

Spiritual elemental prog:

Mastodon - "The Last Baron"

Ecological natural deathly prog:

Gojira - "The Art of Dying"

Corrupted natural deathly prog:

Atheist - "Unquestionable Presence"

Astral avant-prog:

Maudlin of the Well - "Birth Pains of Astral Projection"

Humorous spacey alt-prog:

Voivod - "Clouds in My House"

Norse Viking blackened prog:

Enslaved - "The Sleep: Floating Diversity – A Monument Part III"

Misanthropic groove-ish heavy/prog:

Nevermore - "The Heart Collector"

Self-reflective classic prog:

Dream Theater - "Learning to Live"

Humanitarian classic heavy/prog:

Queensryche - "Anybody Listening?"

Emotional classic prog:

Fates Warning - "The Eleventh Hour"

Mythological neo-symphonic prog:

Symphony X - "Rediscovery (Part II) - The New Mythology"

Spiritual modern classic prog:

Circus Maximus - "Architect of Fortune"

Instrumental modern classic prog:

Liquid Tension Experiment - "Key to the Imagination"

My thoughts on some tracks:

Mastodon – “Curl of the Burl” (from “The Hunter”, 2011)

5/5. Now this here's the perfect choice to start this playlist. This single has a strange music video, which is yet another contributing factor to how I became in this band, when I watched that video like 5 years ago. That song is a radio/TV-friendly stoner tune with great vocal harmony emphasis.

Ayreon – “Beneath The Waves” (from “01011001”, 2008)

5/5. And this marks another playlist with a soft 4th track, wow! Though this one is more influenced by Pink Floydian prog-rock while staying metal. Ayreon is a band that deserves to be more popular. ONE MAN, Arjen Lucassen, has spent over two and a half decades of hard work making this multi-singer project possible, and he already has above 100 singers and musicians involved in 10 albums! He should really have more fame and recognition. This is one of my favorite Ayreon songs with emotional impact in the vocals and melodies. It seems like one song, but it's actually split into 5 parts, with the outro being one of the coolest things ever, even at first listen 7 years ago. Sweet memories touching my heart! If I end up in an 8-hour overnight cross-country road trip, I would use the time to listen to 4 Ayreon albums in a row. They've already done live performances for The Human Equation and Into the Electric Castle. Once the virus lifts up, 01011001 shall be next! This song is so f***ing unique with a d*mn amazing solo plus an insane final chorus (the 4th part). You can pretty much imagine yourself travelling through oceans and astral planes. The slowness I can stand much more than Crowbar. Steve Lee (Gotthard) was alive to do vocals for the album, but sadly nearly 3 years later, he was killed in the most metal yet still tragic way possible (by a flying motorcycle). RIP... Anyway, this composition is still beautiful during these almost 14 years since its release, with me still remembering it since first listen at the midpoint of that amount of time. And I believe some songs from this album and other albums were referenced in Transitus. Face the facts, our metal opera savior is back!

Fates Warning – “Still Remains” (from “Disconnected”, 2000)

4.5/5. That couple in the cover art seem to be prepared for the virus, even though that was 20 years before the virus. With every lyric and note hitting my heart with pride and joy, I have no other words to describe this 16-minute epic! This is almost, just almost, one of my favorite songs from Fates Warning.

Dream Theater – “Pull Me Under” (from “Images & Words”, 1992)

5/5. Many of you know this as the ultimate hit for Dream Theater, with technical power shining through the song. The lyrics do what the title says and PULL YOU UNDER. The guitar solo from John Petrucci is one of the best he's ever done. It's lyrical theme seems to be heavily inspired by Kansas' "Dust in the Wind", yet it is based on Shakespeare's Hamlet in the prince's point of view. The song ends abruptly during the outro but I don't care. Still an excellent track!

Symphony X – “Absinthe & Rue” (from “Symphony X”, 1994)

4/5. This one is a solid example of the progressive/power/neo-classical metal fury the band is known for, though in not of their best albums, but they just starting, so I won't go too harsh on this.

Teramaze – “A Deep State Of Awake” (from “I Wonder”, 2020)

4.5/5. Now this is an amazing song to listen to during the lockdown! Yet a maze I'm not up to totally be trapped in...

Between The Buried & Me – “Astral Body” (from “The Parallax II: Future Sequence”, 2012)

4.5/5. Times have changed back and forth through my death metal departure that somehow included a few other bands like BTBAM, along with an epic listening of their new album Colors II. Now with this submission in, I can take another glimpse at the creativity of the music and story that I regret breaking away from.

Gojira – “Another World” (from “Fortitude”, 2021)

4/5. So beautiful, including the vibe. Yet I've already moved away from this band due to their death metal past...

Meshuggah – “I” (from “I” E.P., 2004)

5/5. Felt sneaky enough to bend the length rules by adding a 21-minute track, eh, Daniel? 

Not really mate. That rule hasn't been in place since we moved to time-based playlist submissions.

They have a new album coming out on 25th September too gents.

I'm gonna expand my list to top 20, to include albums of a different styles joining other clans (progressive thrash, progressive black metal, post-sludge, etc.):

20. Meshuggah - Catch Thirty-Three (2005)

19. Mastodon - Leviathan (2004)

18. Enslaved - Isa (2004)

17. Isis - Panopticon (2004)

16. Rosetta - The Galilean Satellites (2005)

15. Animals as Leaders - Animals as Leaders (2009)

14. Sólstafir - Köld (2009)

13. Liquid Tension Experiment - Liquid Tension Experiment 3 (2021)

12. Maudlin of the Well - Bath (2001)

11. Cult of Luna - Somewhere Along the Highway (2006)

10. Coroner - Mental Vortex (1991)

9. Cryptic Shift - Visitations from Enceladus (2020) (not yet in The Infinite, but depending on the outcome of its judgement submission...)

8. Ne Obliviscaris - Portal of I (2012)

7. Voivod - Dimension Hatross (1988)

6. Neurosis - Through Silver in Blood (1996)

5. Disillusion - Back to Times of Splendor (2004)

4. Leprous - Tall Poppy Syndrome (2009)

3. Vektor - Black Future (2009)

2. Opeth - Blackwater Park (2001)

1. Devin Townsend - Empath (2019)

My thoughts on some tracks (including my suggested ones):

Meshuggah – “Future Breed Machine (Quant’s Quantastical Quantasm” (from “The True Human Design” E.P., 1997)

3.5/5. The chaos begins with a bit of an apocalyptic atmosphere that sounds like robotic machines taking over the world; industrial noises, then... Well, not quite the version I wanted to hear, I don't need to say more. I guess that's kind of payback for when I included a Meshuggah interlude in a playlist a few months ago. Touché...

Pain Of Salvation – “Restless Boy” (from “Panther”, 2020)

4/5. This one is a computerized melancholic ballad with electronic vocoder effects that spark up melodies of Cynic, maybe even Daft Punk. More surprises come in as the second half becomes suddenly heavier with frantic vocals and more of those djenty guitars. Man, more of the djenty guitars appear to the point where we can consider this album a less extreme djent!

Haken – “The Good Doctor” (from “Vector”, 2018)

4.5/5. I've remembered enjoying this fun prog-metal song before recently dumping my interest for Haken during my death metal departure despite them not being death metal at all. This has reminded me of that medical drama The Good Doctor!

Ayreon – “Daniel’s Descent Into Transitus” (from “Transitus”, 2020)

4.5/5. A whole new dimension awaits in one of the first parts of a new Ayreon story...

Lucid Planet – “On The Way” (from “Lucid Planet II”, 2020)

4/5. This very strange yet beautiful song shows the vocals by Jade Alice having more harmonic impact before slowing building up to almost a black/folk metal sound that almost makes the song suitable for the North clan, something Lucid Planet had never dared to go before. This aural effect adds to an epic journey with changing textures and sounds. This could very well be suitable for long mountain treks like in the Lord of the Rings movies, and I can feel the tiring side effects even when I'm just sitting down and writing this comment, thanks to the strong feeling of movement.

Enslaved – “Return To Yggdrasill” (from “Isa”, 2004)

4.5/5. Returning to the extreme side of progressive metal, this one starts heavy before primarily becoming acoustic. Herbrand Larsen's melancholic singing makes that song one of the saddest by the band.

Cult Of Luna – “What I Leave Behind” (from “The raging River” E.P., 2021)

4.5/5. This one fills your heart with pain and despair in sludgy destruction. Enough said...

Vektor – “Accelerating Universe” (from “Black Future”, 2009)

5/5. Now this is a more climatic playlist ending than that of the Guardians playlist, the 13 minute true diverse crowning highlight of both its album and this playlist, initially starting with Metallica hammering thrash, it gets more epic and heavier throughout, even developing an amazing psychedelic atmosphere in the halfway point, before building back up into a heavy speedy ending.

I was able to check this one out on an hour and a half drive over the weekend, The Infinite is definitely the wildcard Clan by design, huh? Pretty much every track on here is completely different from one another save for a few of the sludgier tracks like "Orosirian" and "Crawl Back In". I have a lot of catching up to do with Fates Warning, and that Jute Gyte track was a massive surprise that didn't really work out for car speaker listening.

Great review saxy. One of your best. I'm really glad you got into that one. I was wondering what you'd think of it when I was doing my review actually

This Aussie progressive metal record is horribly underrated in my opinion:

I did not realize how much I needed to let off some steam in my review, but here we are. I think what upsets me the most about 2000s era Dream Theater is how super talented each member of this group is, as both performers as well as songwriters and how they wasted away on half formed progressive metal albums throughout the entire decade. This band should have been pushing the envelope so hard given their reputation instead of releasing the same album like clockwork bi-annually for ten years. The hooks are empty, the production sounds thin in places where it shouldn't and bloated in others, the "innovation" feels surface level at best, and outside of "Stream of Consciousness", this album wreaks of non-effort in the worst way possible.

4/10

My thoughts on some tracks (including my suggested ones):

Haken – “Invasion” (from “Virus”, 2020)

5/5. Starting this playlist perfectly is a song to end my interest in this band in a djent-ish progressive metal bang! It's quite a shame that I'm not feeling interested in this band, because one of the best songs of Haken's newest album (this one) has earlier Leprous vibes that would make some thing of what Gentle Giant sounds like in modern times. This beautifully wonderful songs has lyrics that very well synchronize with the djenty beat, though it might cause some to think of the verses of Billie Eilish's "Bad Guy", which isn't the kind of relation I wanted to think of. The Virus album is great but I actually like their earlier albums more such as Aquarius. But still, good job, guys!

Meshuggah – “Acrid Placidity” (from “Destroy Erase Improve”, 1995)

4.5/5. Wow, an incredible ambient interlude! You might expect Kidman to sing nicely like Burton C. Bell in some Fear Factory ballads, but nope. I guess Kidman just wanted to stay shouting in most of the band's other tracks.

Dream Theater – “Repentance” (from “Systematic Chaos”, 2007)

5/5. This one is suitable for when I feel some slight regret over my recent change of metal interest, like a part of me wishes I hadn't made that move. The low strumming over the 7-minute mark is pretty d*mn chilling. The magical soloing from John Petrucci is one of my favorites from him! This impressive song has still made me grateful for this band to be around to launch my interest in progressive metal. Some might be reminded of Eloy due to the genre's brilliant genius. The song is from the 5-song "Twelve-Step Suite" which chronicles drummer Mike Portnoy's battle against drug/alcohol issues. The concept is so touching, along with song's beautiful simplicity, from the first verse to Pink Floyd-like great ending, all of which are something to love! This is also perfect for helping depressed/suicidal people get better and enjoy life more. I might definitely go listen to the second part of the suite "This Dying Soul" when reviewing this month's Infinite feature release (Train of Thought). Around the 3-minute mark, the instrumentation reminds me of Opeth, before giving me goosebumps with that solo a minute and a half later. Speaking of Opeth, I almost forgot, that band's lead singer Mikael Åkerfeldt, along with Pain of Salvation's Daniel Gildenlöw, Transatlantic's Neal Morse, and various other fellow musicians all speak their own apologies, regrets, and sorrows.

Liquid Tension Experiment – “Hypersonic” (from “Liquid Tension Experiment 3”, 2021)

5/5. John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, and Jordan Rudess, I salute your astonishing talents in both Dream Theater and this instrumental band Liquid Tension Experiment! I might listen to more of this band and write my own lyrics to the music, and this band has awakened the instrumental progressive metal scene while Animals as Leaders is asleep.

Seventh Wonder – “By The Light Of The Funeral Pyres” (from “Tiara”, 2018)

4.5/5. A kick-A song from a masterpiece album! Nothing else to say there...

Entropia – “Poison” (from “Vacuum”, 2018)

3.5/5. Good attempt at an extreme progressive metal epic, but slightly poisonous to me. Again moving on...

Kamelot – “The Great Pandemonium” (from “Poetry For The Poisoned”, 2010)

4/5. This song is from Kamelot's last album with Roy Khan before he left the band, and it has guest growls by Björn Strid from Soilwork, along with some of the best guitar soloing from the band. Those make the song one of the greatest of the album, though the album doesn't quite reach the epic heights of the surrounding symphonic power metal albums. Good to know that this progressive experiment is a one-time move for this band.

Voivod – “Technocratic Manipulators” (from “Dimension Hatröss”, 1988)

5/5. This is pretty short for a progressive metal song, just as long as that Kamelot song, both each 4 and a half minutes, but this Voivod song demonstrates highly creative originality, packing powerful metal punches. Why did I mention the lengths? Because it can be progressive without turning into a 15-minute epic! After a calm dark ambient intro with a few bass touches, the crossover-ish dynamics erupt with speedy riff rhythms and signature snarling vocals. Near the two-minute mark, the song makes a weird evolution into old-school Hawkwind-like spacey guitar rhythms. Many styles and influences all in dexterous textures in only under 5 minutes. A truly awesome feat!

Symphony X – “Evolution (The Grand Design)” (from “V: The New Mythology Suite”, 2000)

4.5/5. Speaking of great feats, this song would make you want more of this band. Great job!

Very surprising for sure Daniel, you'll be happy to know Evergrey have been doing the same sort of thing since 2014's Hymns for the Broken, they're an extremely consistent band if nothing else. So you've got a lot more material to go through at the risk of it getting too samey. I'm torn on whether you'll like The Atlantic more than this one or not, you might find it a bit too cheesy since it has a bit more electronic melody elements to it. I like the riffs and choruses of that one more than this one at the end of the day though. 

My thoughts on some tracks (including my suggested ones):

Opeth – “The Funeral Portrait” (from “Blackwater Park”, 2001)

4.5/5. A brutally good song with crushing progressive riffs from one of the greatest progressive metal albums to begin the 21st Century. Yet another great way to start a playlist that would contain other good and better songs!

Ayreon – “Day Eleven: Love” (from “The Human Equation”, 2004)

5/5. A marvelous song with manic serenity! There's an amazing story told throughout this song and concept album, but I guess you would have to listen to the album on your own to find out the whole story.

The Contortionist – “Follow” (from “Our Bones” E.P., 2019)

4.5/5. The Contortionist is one of those progressive metal bands that started extreme (djent or otherwise) then the extreme part starts to fade into something more melodic. Fortunately, this song shows that The Contortionist still have a bit of their earlier heaviness while having progressive melody. Hope their fanbase is still following!

Cara Neir – “Floodgates Of Doom” (from Phase Out”, 2021)

3.5/5. HORSE the Band gone post-black/experimental noisegrind? Sounds pretty killer, but f*** it! Let's move on...

Animals As Leaders – “Song Of Solomon” (from “Animals As Leaders”, 2009)

5/5. Now this is a much better song, filled with jazzed-up heaviness and synth patterns. Whoever this Solomon dude is, he would be so proud of this band for such a gift. Still looking forward to getting the rest of their discography!

Neurosis – “Souls At Zero” (from “Souls At Zero”, 1992)

4.5/5. A great song to play from your surround sound system until the police tell you to turn it down to not disturb the peace! Neurosis need more recognition after starting a new revolution, the beginning of post-metal and post-sludge! Also, anyone else think the main riff in the intro and outro sounds like that of "Carol of the Bells"?

Ne Obliviscaris – “Forget Not” (from “Portal Of I”, 2012)

5/5. The title of this track is the English translation for the band name Ne Obliviscaris. The first half is a long quiet atmospheric passage that tries to build up to heaviness but ends up falling back down. Then in a second attempt, it gets up much higher and closer to metal, and by the midway point, it made it! The violin stops and let the instrumentation and vocals do their work for the rest of this song.

Evergrey – “Leaden Saints” (from “Escape Of Phoenix”, 2021)

5/5. AMAZING SONG!!! More about it in my review for this album...

Meshuggah – “Marrow” (from “Koloss”, 2012)

4/5. This one is predatory eccentricity. Maybe a little too eccentric to be my absolute favorite song of this album. Either way, this is a good introductory song for anyone stumbling upon Meshuggah and wanting to hear more of the band.

I didn't think that I'd need to get something off my chest when I chose this record for the feature, but apparently I did. Easily the most hard-stanced, "I will die on this hill" style of review that I've written, but it's how I truly feel about any talented progressive/mathy band getting voted down to oblivion because they wanted to play more notes than normal. I understand that it's an egregious oversimplification and I'm not saying that anyone is forced to like this kind of stuff, but seeing so many of the same comments over the past few years really got under my skin apparently. Full review link below: 

https://metal.academy/reviews/20220/5616

4/5

My thoughts on some tracks (including my suggested ones):

Opeth – “The Moor” (from “Still Life”, 1999)

5.5/5 (not exaggerating). Definitely the perfect song to start this playlist! One of Opeth's finest tracks that shows other progressive metal bands how to make a G****MN AWESOME OPENING TRACK!! After a mysterious two-minute intro, you'll be pulled into under 10 minutes of atmospheric complex progressive metal! I F***ING LOVE IT!!!

Pain Of Salvation – “Ending Theme” (from “Remedy Lane”, 2002)

4/5. Not really the ending theme, there's a lot more to go. This song has a dark mood and Daniel Gildenlow's soothing vocals especially in the great chorus. The talking part is really challenging for me to like without thinking it's dreaded rapping.

Evergrey – “In Remembrance” (from “Monday Morning Apocalypse”, 2006)

4.5/5. I'm quite proud of this band for their amazing melodic progressive metal that made my day in my earlier epic metal taste. There are plenty of good times to remember about this band, but I'm over them while making a few flashbacks to them like when I submitted this cool epic song.

Soen – “Lumerian” (from “Imperial”, 2021)

5/5. Soen has unleashed progressive metal at full power! I love it, especially the crushing riffing and strong commanding vocals of Joel Ekelöf. I might've just found one of the most d*mn important songs of this year. It's so stunning with a h*lla catchy chorus. Joel's singing in the softer parts remind me of Jonas Renkse. That's very great along with the f***ing genuine blend of heavy and melodic. The intro riff opens the song perfectly, and when it returns at around the two and a half minute mark, it sounds great in epic execution, along with the guitar bend and bass finish around 30 seconds later. The lyrics are so amazing! This ripped artful progressive metal sound can remind some of the recent Opeth and Tool. The chorus' triple-melody is f***ing incredible! This has greatly blown my mind more than Dream Theater and Leprous. This tremendous smasher has definitely gotten this month to a great start for me. The remarkable heavy intro reminds me of a progressive Disturbed. This is majestic powerful progressive rock/metal that should live on forever! An amazing killer song to pass the time when stuck at home. With their sound at heavy modern heights, I'm surprised they haven't been signed yet to Sumerian Records. They're definitely far heavier than Steven Wilson's music. Thanks for suggesting this, Xephyr, and thanks for sharing, Daniel!

Devin Townsend – “Sky Blue” (from “Z²”, 2014)

4.5/5. Interesting how I decided to spice up this playlist with a soft electronic-dance track, but this one works! Continuing Devin's willing experimentation, electronic beats and melodies surround soft vocals before a dance-rock chorus where the first half with Devin singing is based on Usher's "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love", and the other half shows Anneke's velvety voice.

The Ocean – “Devonian: Nascent” (from “Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic”, 2018)

5/5. This one I actually submitted to The Fallen, but this also works in The Infinite, a grand progressive post-sludge epic with guest vocals by Jonas Renkse of Katatonia (he was originally gonna be one of the guests in the epic Precambrian album, but he had to bail because of his band's touring and he was chosen to do guest vocals for Ayreon's 01011001). While, the sludgy elements drag along and test your patience, the drum aggression and harsh vocals are balanced out by ambient influences. After the complex experimentation, the song gets repetitive, but never excessively, staying perfect!

Meshuggah – “Humiliative” (from “None” E.P., 1994)

4.5/5. I'm a little surprised that I haven't reviewed this EP yet. Perhaps I should, especially this song that is a great early example of the djent sound Meshuggah would build. Review for this EP coming sometime this month.

Persefone – “Underworld: The Fallen & The Butterfly – Act III: When The Earth Breaks” (from “Core”, 2006)

4.5/5. Core works better as 3 multi-part epics instead of separating them as different tracks, but it's still amazing either way.

Pan.Thy.Monium – “III” (from “Dawn Of Dreams”, 1992)

5/5. Their actually is a name for this song now, "SIEEGEH", whatever that means. Anyway, this is THE SH*T! Awesome prog death that made me wanna enjoy the style a little more. A killer way to end this playlist!

We'll have to agree to disagree then as I don't hear much resemblance to the heavier, chunkier & hard-hitting grunge-based sound of Tool & Deftones to be honest. For me, alternative metal is more of a late 80's/ early 90's thing than is a late 90's/early 2000's one & doesn't have as much to do with crossover appeal as much as it does with a crossover with the sounds being heard on early 90's alternative radio stations who were taking an alternative route to the cleaner, glossier & more indulgent approach of 80's rock & metal. Pain Of Salvation just seem to take a traditional progressive rock/metal path that's much more in line with the 80's to my ears.

For my track thoughts here, I originally commented on all of the 17 tracks here because there are so many bands I like and songs from bands that I might like. However, I realized that my comments on some of the songs from bands that I used to and still listen to were outdated, most of which were copied from my own reviews and my opinions on those songs have changed since then. I might give them up and sacrifice their discographies to make room for newer bands eventually if I feel like it, God forbid (NOT one of those bands). So I cut my amount of reviewed tracks to just 11 and rearranged the order of songs here to sound more complete. Here they are:

Meshuggah – “Shed” (from “Catch Thirtythree”, 2005)

4/5. This is the only song from Catch Thirtythree that fits well as a single and a good introductory song for new Meshuggah fans. They unleash their djent action but get more eerie and melodic over the brutal groove.

Angel Vivaldi – “A Martian Winter” (from “Universal Language” E.P., 2011)

4.5/5. Interesting attempt at a djent version of Antonio Vivaldi's 4 Seasons. I kinda love this phenomenal blend of djent and neoclassical shredding. So extraordinary intense, but I'm just not into the whole neoclassical metal motive anymore...

Devin Townsend – “Christeen” (from “Christeen (Plus Four Demos)” E.P., 1998)

3.5/5. Keeping up the "classical-poppy second track" trademark from Ocean Machine, the chorus sounds a little cheesy where the only other repeated lyric is "That's all I ask of you", a little too much like that Phantom of the Opera song. Fortunately, the nice intense bridge is a good lead-in to the final chorus.

Armia – “Wyludniacz” (from “Triodante”, 1994)

3/5. Umm... OK. This is kind of just Voivod-like punky progressive metal with small horn sections, and the lyrics are all in Polish. This song is decent, but with these odd horn sections and Polish lyrics, Armia might not be the band I'm looking for.

The Reticent – “Stage 2: The Captive” (from “The Oubliette”, 2020)

4.5/5. This one's much better, like holy cr*p, listen to those fantastic blended dynamics! I found another powerful underrated band sounding influenced from the older Opeth with a bit of Riverside. Outstanding legends! It's a good bite of powerful prog metal, but I kinda wish it would last longer. The Rivers of Nihil-like heaviness is amazing, but at the two-minute mark, the saxophone is unnecessary and there should've been a guitar solo there instead. Maybe those are the flaws there. Oh well...

Sólstafir – “Ótta” (from “Ótta”, 2014)

4.5/5. For this song's scenario, like the old man in the cover art, you wander around the beach at the dark dawn with just a sliver of sunlight from the horizon beyond the sea. This song is quite amazing, a sad yet serene song that you kinda consider an ambient doomy bluegrass metal ballad. The theme riff being reprised at under the 4 minute-mark and close to the 8-minute mark at h*lla incredible!

Oranssi Pazuzu – “Uusi teknokratia” (from “Mestarin kynsi”, 2020)

4/5. A killer epic of psychedelic black metal to end the playlist, but...NAH. It is killer, but this sounds closer to black metal if most of the metal heaviness was replaced with psychedelic jazz. Great song, but a poor mix of genres.

Lör – “Ruin” (from “Edge Of Eternity”, 2020)

4/5. Sounds amazing as f***, but this unorthodox mix of extreme progressive metal with folk tendencies doesn't quite level up so much enjoyment. It kinda ruins the good memories of my earlier epic metal taste and makes me glad I moved out of there.

Shadow Gallery – “Crystalline Dream” (from “Carved In Stone”, 1995)

5/5. Having tried listening to this band a few times about 5 years ago in my high-school-age years, I decided right now's a great time to try again, and it paid off! Mike Baker sounds like one of the best singers of progressive metal with fantastic clean-singing magic, but sadly he's gone. RIP... Who knows how many years until their next album after this last one that was released over a decade ago? I don't know, hopefully not too long. I just love this great piece of old-school prog metal, no question about it. They're another great band utilizing Dream Theater influences. The world needs more of their music that has dropped jaws, especially that mind-blowing keyboard solo. This is so good, I just hope to get more of this band soon...

Enslaved – “Jettegryta” (from “Utgard”, 2020)

4.5/5. A gigantic-sounding progressive black metal song! More about that in a review I might make for its album Utgard.

Ainsoph – “The Long & Self-Destructive Road” (from “Ω – V”, 2020)

4/5. Amazing, but I'm not into the avant-garde blackgaze sh*t. Let's wrap this up...

Despite the massive cutdown, this is still an amazing playlist, and I'm glad to comment on a great number of tracks. Thanks again for these great playlists, Daniel, and let's hope for more submission participation from the other members for many more to come...

I did my review! Here's it's summary:

Normally I never plan on listening to any metal solo artists because I seem to have more appeal to full-group bands, and solo artists are usually mostly found in other genres besides metal, like...radio pop!! The other Devin Townsend album I've reviewed, Ziltoid the Omniscient, was good but other than that "solo artist" issue, it was far too comedic. Now we're at Terria...which is another one of the best albums created! It's perfectly heavy while being so soothingly atmospheric. Great for a relaxing drive! This is an album every listener must get, both progressive and open-minded audiences! You can't go your entire lifetime without listening to at least one song from this masterpiece. The main album has incredible songs ranging from heavy to uplifting, and I might share a few songs to my friend whom she likes this uplifting classic kind of rock! I agree that the hidden track "Humble" is a boring pointless track, but why should we include it as part of the album?! It's a hidden outro that you shouldn't let affect the album, like the outro at the end of Between the Buried and Me's Alaska! Just remove it, and the album would be perfect. So yeah, not including that pointless outro, Terria is a wonderful album and has now been made one of my favorite albums ever. If you wanna start your journey with Devin Townsend's music, this is where you gotta start. Highly recommended!

5/5 (without that outro, 5.5/5, if I could)

Also my last review before my 8-day break from reviewing, see here: https://metal.academy/forum/23/thread/650

My thoughts on some of the tracks (including my suggested songs):

Coroner – “Internal Conflicts” (from “Grin”, 1993)

8/10. Interesting song to start this playlist, though this is from Coroner's most experimental album. The usual energetic thrash enters the groove arena with lively proposition and pounding atmosphere without ruining too much.

Sólstafir – “Fjara” (from “Svartir Sandar”, 2011)

7/10. A beautiful song, though it sounds more like an Icelandic Pink Floyd gone grunge. Done talking about this one!

Dream Theater – “Lie” (from “Awake”, 1994)

9/10. One of the best Dream Theater songs ever, besides the ones from their other 90s albums! The riffs by John Petrucci sound massive and dark, inducing great amounts of headbanging. Killer song from a great album and band, including that solo and ending! Though the singer sounds a bit like Ian Astbury from The Cult (band). The solo near the 4-minute mark has one of the great balances of melody and technicality, showing Petrucci's impressive virtuosity. Then after another chorus with clear bass, at over the 5-minute mark is a small metalcore-ish breakdown before those were a thing. Also there's a bit of an early Tool influence. Love this song!

The Ocean Collective – “Jurassic / Cretaceous” (from “Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic / Cenozoic”, 2020)

10/10. Not The Ocean song I've submitted, but I won't bite. This is The Ocean's epic comeback to continue their Phanerozoic saga with guest vocals by Katatonia's Jonas Renkse. This is almost like Dream Theater's "Lie" on steroids, enough to put that Dream Theater song to shame! I got no other words to describe this supermassive epic. Please, just listen to that piece!

Nevermore – “Optimist or Pessimist” (from “In Memory” E.P., 1996)

9/10. A short but killer progressive piece, with killer guitar playing by Jeff Loomis and amazing vocals by Warrel Dane. The lineup for this EP had already recently fallen apart with the passing of Warrel Dane (RIP), and temporary guitarist Pat O'Brien's arrest for breaking into a woman's house and attacking her.

Meshuggah – New Millennium Cyanide Christ” (from “Chaosphere”, 1998)

10/10. The best song of Chaosphere, with drummer Tomas Haake's shining lyric writing. Those lyrics aren't as complicated as they are clever. That's my second favorite Meshuggah song behind "Future Breed Machine"!

As an Oranssi Pazuzu noob going into the bands most recent record, I can wholeheartedly agree with the assessment that in terms of what defines a metal as "black metal", this is one of the farthest from the genres roots. But I would argue that the harmonic and melodic passages from the guitars do have much in common, even if these tropes are used in unique ways. The shrieking vocals are also very inline with what one would expect from this genre. Whether or not one agrees that this is enough to quantify its classification as a black metal record is in the eye of the beholder.

I see a lot of similarities between Mestarin kynsi and Written in Waters by Ved Buens Ende..... It is music that has clear influences in black metal, but is so far removed from what that genre entails that classification is seemingly impossible. Whether that constitutes this record as progressive or avant-garde is irrelevant (personally, I believe these two tags are interchangeable). I respect this record for pushing boundaries as far as it did, and you know what? It even produced a great song in the process (Oikeamielisten sali). But like with most "alien" progressive records, the production takes the reigns in creating a claustrophobic atmosphere a fair bit too often for my liking, instead of off the floor dissonance or obscurity. 

7/10

My thoughts on some of the tracks (including my suggested songs):

Evergrey – “Hymns For The Broken” (from “Hymns For The Broken”, 2014)

10/10. I haven't heard Evergrey in a long while, but ever since I left my earlier epic metal taste, they have released another album The Atlantic and they've just announced an upcoming album Escape of the Phoenix to be released in February. This is one of the best melodic progressive metal songs I've heard 5 years ago, with the vocalist Tom S. Englund singing his heart out in the perspective of this concept album's suicidal protagonist. There's even a bonus melancholic piano version. Evergrey is an underrated band that deserves more love. Awesome track from a top-notch album that I haven't heard since so long ago!

Between The Buried & Me – “Silent Flight Parliament” (from “The Parallax II: Future Sequence”, 2012)

10/10. This is the climatic 15-minute epic nearing the end of a two-part saga, with the intensity from high to low, and the vocals ranging from growling to clean, often put in a powerful simultaneous combination. Brilliant!

Enslaved – “Neogenesis” (from “Isa”, 2004)

10/10. Yet another attempt at trying to get into enjoying Enslaved, and maybe this is it! An awesome song from a legendary band, taking you on a journey beyond stars, lightyears, and the universe itself, like that "Cygnus" track. This might just be my key to listening to Enslaved...

Opeth – “The Drapery Falls” (from “Blackwater Park”, 2001)

10/10. A favorite for many fans and probably would be until the end of time. I can definitely understand why! An acoustic intro gives way to a nice riff then calms down back to acoustic guitar as the clean vocals join in. Then it gets stampeded by a bombastic chorus that can give you goosebumps. I got goosebumps an hour before the first time I've listened to that song. Perhaps it's foreshadowing...

Nice pick on the Cloudkicker song Daniel, I didn't realize you included it in the playlist and, by coincidence, I've been listening to Solitude for the entire week so far, I think it's incredibly good. 

I did my review, here's its summary:

As a mostly positive reviewer, I've stumbled upon albums so good, so great, that I give them the high ratings they may or may not deserve. However, there might be one album that goes beyond great, and I mean far beyond... In order for an album to reach this "beyond" status, it has to attract me enough to get the band's full discography ASAP so you can discover new stuff from this legendary group, stay in my playlist for at least 6 months of maybe for eternity, and keep listening to them during that period of time. And that album is... Disillusion's 2004 debut Back to Times of Splendor!! You won't believe how much I love this epic masterpiece with song lengths ranging from 5 to 17 minutes filled with strong riffs, fast drumming, clean melodic singing, aggressive growls, softer sections, heavier sections, and much more to create the ultimate progressive metal adventure! Anyone who doesn't love this album as much I do might be thinking, "He doesn't mean to really give the album 5 stars, he's probably just biased with so many albums rated like that." No, they're all real, especially my rating for this album. I wish I could give Back To Times of Splendor more than just 5 stars, maybe 6, 10, or over 9000! Every moment is excellent, perfectly helped out by the deep meaningful lyrics. Many magnificent influences and elements in and out of metal creates this epic masterpiece of splendor. This is so incredible! I don't know what else to say, other than...Thanks so much for the rec, Daniel. I thought the ultimate album would never come....but it came!

5/5

Great to hear, they just released a new album today actually, which is why I included it! I wasn't able to check it out, I'll be sure to put it in the New Music Thread when I get a chance. I'm real excited but Colliding Skies was a bit dull compared to The Human Connection, so I'm hoping for the best.

My thoughts on some of the tracks (including my suggested ones):

Ayreon – “Isis & Osiris” (from “Into The Electric Castle: A Space Opera”, 1998)

11/10 (not exaggerating). There's no better way to start this playlist with the beginning of a journey...Into the Electric Castle!! Ayreon was a special band during my high school years (not that I ever was in high school). That project along with Dream Theater were my gateways band to the Infinite realm of progressive metal. For that I say... Thank you, Arjen Lucassen! This is one of the greatest progressive metal pieces to appreciate. While this isn't the first album in the Ayreon project, Into the Electric Castle is the first to include not only members of more popular Dutch rock/metal bands but also from bands from a few other places outside the Netherlands. This has helped those vocalists and musicians take them further into their path to fame and would help younger artists follow the path. This can help you travel through the stars and learn more Ancient Egyptian mythology. Even after giving up on this group during my grand switch out of my earlier melodic epic metal taste, I still amazed at this masterpiece. Many of the vocalists sing their own characters but it's as if they're the ones telling the stories instead of narrator, especially Fish (Marillion) who plays the Highlander. The last album I've heard from Ayreon was The Source which was a greater album for me because during my great metal taste switch, while I was saying farewell to many of my biggest progressive/power metal influences, one of the other vocalists indirectly directed me to another progressive metal band in the extreme side (Tommy Rogers (Between the Buried and Me)). Yet after all these years abandoning Ayreon (except a couple album reviews), this song is still one of my favorites from the project and helps maintain its legacy. I would definitely wanna hear another Arjen Lucassen/Sharon den Adel collaboration. Since cats are attracted to Egyptian music, do you think if I have a pet cat, it would enjoy some parts of this song? Hmmm... Even the album cover drawing can draw me in. Forget Yes, Ayreon is true progressive music. And wow, 22 years after its release, this song is now on radio! This Spotify radio playlist, that is. I really enjoy the clean production, amazing arrangements, and a great plethora of melodic vocals. I'm pretty sure my friends and family would've had no knowledge of Ayreon if it wasn't for me finding them. I still can't believe this album came out so long ago, back in 1998. I think the instrumentation alone might've inspired non-metal artists like Brunuhville. And another connection with The Source is when in that album The Prophet mentions a "castle deep in space". Cool callback! So dump your Madonna and Phil Collins and try this epic. Thank you Arjen for this project, and thanks Daniel for including this song.

Leprous – “The Price” (from “The Congregation”, 2015)

8/10. Addictive and groovy and one of Leprous' most compelling songs, but The Congregation is the album is where the band is transitioning out of their avant-prog metal past to their accessible progressive rock present.

Pain Of Salvation – “Ashes” (from “The Perfect Element I”, 2000)

10/10. Pain of Salvation is another one of the more melodic progressive metal bands that first helped developed my journey into the Infinite realm. "Ashes" is another perfect song from a timeless masterpiece album! Once again I still love it even after giving up on this group during my grand switch out of my earlier melodic epic metal taste. This is quite a haunting song reminding me of a more progressive take on Type O Negative whose bassist/vocalist Peter Steele is one of metal's passed legends along with Death's Chuck Schuldiner but that's beside this point. The spine-shivering voice of Daniel Gildenlöw is a little strange but has great passion. You can practically mouth the lyrics! This is quite an awesome heartbreaking song. I'm starting to miss my melodic prog-metal phase from nearly 6 years ago, back in my "high school" years. The vibe is violent yet emotional. Similarly with Ayreon's The Source, I have not been in touch with Pain of Salvation since after listening to In the Passing Light of Day, another album of absolute perfection that made me grateful about Daniel Gildenlöw surviving the life-threatening flesh eating bacteria he suffered a couple years before that album. The chord progression of this song can be a little repetitive but it's dusted aside by the song's advantages including some of the best vocals that I've heard during my phase back then, which might remind OG prog-metal fans of Geoff Tate. Beautiful! The turn into the new millennium was a great period for this band along with Dream Theater who released their own concept album a year before this one. If you thought Daniel Gildenlöw was so young in this album, you should've stuck around 15 years before when he was in middle school and in a band called Reality. Anyway, I'm glad this song is on a Spotify playlist (this one) for a good amount of Spotify metalheads to hear. I love and dark and heavy this song is. It's times like this when I wish I can go back to that phase, but I guess it's too late now. I guess you can consider this a love song in the midst of a duel between God and Satan. I also miss when Daniel Gildenlöw's brother Kristoffer was in the band, he's quite the bass king. Its album's concept deals with sexual abuse, and I think I was handling heavy concepts slightly better than when I was first listening to After Forever's Invisible Circles. I was starting handled different heavy scenarios, and they were addictive. The Perfect Element would later have its own sequel, Scarsick. I thought my interest in this band was over after In the Passing Light of Day, but I guess I'm still there. I have two Daniels to thank; Daniel Gildenlöw for this creative music and Metal Academy's Daniel for including this song.

Fates Warning – “The Apparition” (from “The Spectre Within”, 1985)

9/10. Because of how great I think of the first 3 more melodic progressive metal songs in this playlist, I decided to listen to a song from a band that I've only listened to for an album review and never got around listening to more of them because of how old the band is, back to the mid-80s. "The Apparition" is very good and beautiful with some of the best progressive metal lyrics to reflect upon. This is a deep classic I love and might give me some slight influence for if I ever start my own metal band in the future. An amazing marvelous song, which even though the vocals can sound a bit stressed is helped out by the riffs. A progressive metal classic for the OG listeners!

Seventh Wonder – “The Black Parade” (from “Mercy Falls”, 2008)

10/10. This is from a concept album about a victim of a car crash who ends up in a mysterious world within his coma. You would have to listen to the album yourself to know the full story because I ain't gonna spoil it to you here. Its epilogue, "The Black Parade" starts aggressively before adding happy melodies. The chorus and keyboards are just epic! Perfect ending to a perfect album!!

Dream Theater – “The Ytse Jam” (from “When Dream & Day Unite”, 1989)

10/10. The true highlight of the debut of progressive metal masters Dream Theater. Some might call this the best progressive instrumental since Rush's "YYZ"! The memorable opening riff is exciting. There are some Arabian melodies along with great soloing. The bass is very audible and enjoyable.

Protest The Hero – “All Hands” (from “Palimpsest”, 2020)

8/10. In this endearing eccentric progressive metal tune, Protest the Hero's technical proficient arsenal shines through with the band's incredible ability on the harborside to engage the listener through the arrangement that never gets overwhelmed. Great song, but personally I would choose their epic single "The Canary".

Symphony X – “Nevermore” (from “Underworld”, 2015)

10/10. Symphony X was another of my favorite epic progressive metal bands from 5 or 6 years ago. This song and "Kiss of Fire" are my favorite songs in their recent album Underworld, having the note-tapping guitar skills of Michael Romeo and the monstrous drumming of Jason Rullo, the latter suffered heart failure a couple years before this album but I'm glad he survived. The lyrics and vocals combine perfectly with the guitar. The theme of this album is inspired by inspired by Dante's Inferno and Orpheus in the Underworld, and this song heavily references the number 3 used by Dante; three syllables, a three-note melodic phrase, and three references to three songs from the band's third album, The Divine Wings of Tragedy. Too bad it's not the album's third track, but almost everything else about this song is perfect and never disappoints. Though the lyrics are a little cliche, it helps keep the band's exciting throwback to their old stuff. Holy sh*t, this is great! The day Underworld came out was a great day for me. And I say "H*ll yeah" to the intro/outro riff! Even the bass does great progressive justice. With Underworld having masterpieces like this song, it's a shame they didn't record a live DVD concert during the album's tour, though they probably would have if it wasn't cut short by a year-long hiatus for Russell Allen to spend some time in his other band Adrenaline Mob and injuries he sustained in vehicular accident involving that band. Anyway, I noticed that this song was blocked in the Spotify playlist, but hey, that's what this album and YouTube is for! Symphony X is so underrated that I would be really happy if a future artist considers this band their influence. After the first royal metal generation of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Dio, Symphony X should praise as metal's second generation royalty, unlike bands like High on Fire who think bicycles and drugs would give them royalty which...NO. It would be great if Symphony X perform live in my country. The band's awesome vocalist and brilliant musicians inspired me to keep believing in metal. Epic kick-A progressive metal, though I miss their early-2000s orchestration. Keep the good stuff coming Symphony X, you never disappoint me!

Solstafir – “Kold” (from “Kold”, 2009)

9/10. This is the title track of an album that I recently loved so much that I plan on getting the rest of the Solstafir discography soon. It crashes you through an icy wall of power chords while the tortured vocals of Aðalbjörn "Addi" Tryggvason wander through poetic delight. A superb song, though it's not at all like the grand epic progressive metal masterpiece that is Symphony X's "Nevermore".

Nevermore – “The Sound Of Silence” (from “Dead Heart In A Dead World”, 2000)

10/10. Speaking of Nevermore, you gotta check out their cover of the Simon & Garfunkel song, "The Sound of Silence". Who knew you can turn it into a death metal-sounding progressive/thrash tune with drilling riffs and a wonderfully gloomy theme!? That's what Nevermore did here!

Meshuggah – “Future Breed Machine” (from “Destroy Erase Improve”, 1995)

9/10. This great chaotic song is from the album that very well began piecing together the progressive subgenre djent. It starts 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. The djent knights rise!

I did a review, here's its summary:

From the northern island of Iceland comes the band Sólstafir! First starting as a pagan black/viking metal band, they soon began to shed away their North sound for a style more ambient and thematic. In this album Köld, the bleak coldness still remains while blowing into the imaginative landscapes of post-rock/metal. This is pretty much haunting black-ish post-metal, a bit of sunshine glowing in the peaks on depressive winter valleys where the band's home sound runs through every phrase and tone. 8 tracks, many of which are around 8 minutes plus a 4-minute hit and two 12-minute epics, thoroughly create a compelling journey through an environment of pale empty space. Köld is a brilliant album of haunting immortality and the finest hour for Sólstafir. A superb recommendation for fans of post-rock/black metal!

5/5

It's now September which of course means that we'll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we're asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We're really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don't be shy.

This month's feature release for The Infinite is 2002's "Sadness Will Prevail" album from avant-garde US outfit Today Is The Day. This band began life as a noise rock act in the early 1990's but over the course of their first five albums we'd see them becoming something increasingly unusual with "Sadness Will Prevail" marking the high point of their creative journey. We can't wait to hear what you think of it.

https://metal.academy/releases/15259

The more I listen to Sólstafir, the more I'm realizing just how hit or miss Post-Metal really is for me. My thoughts from Köld haven't necessarily changed, since I still really love their style but can't necessarily point out exactly why. Maybe it's the warming reverb? The calming and meandering songwriting that never really goes anywhere but never exactly gets boring for me? Needless to say they've had me extremely conflicted on what to write for this entire month, so this one is going to be way more off-the-cuff than normal as I try and find some bearings on how exactly to explain anything here. 

Although they share the same sort of sound style, Köld and Svartir Sandar are very, very different albums. Köld is dark, brooding, even menacing at times. This one is just as atmospheric but more riff and melody driven, with most of the tracks sounding strangely uplifting in their own Post-Metal kind of way. It's more dreamy and almost ethereal at times. The fact that Svartir Sandar is a double album is a bit much though, since it packs even less punch overall than Köld did. The percussion is reverbed to hell, with most of the cymbals sounding like a white noise radio most of the time. The riffing is good enough and the Icelandic lyrics give it a homely feel since it's the band's native language, but it certainly drags over its runtime. At the end of the day I think I prefer the darker, more dismal atmosphere of Köld over Svartir Sandar, even though this album has more content to sink your teeth into. If you're a huge Post-Metal fan, this album is probably a slice of heaven for you, and while I still love Sólstafir's overall sound, I can't give this one too high of a score. I could definitely see this album being a grower though, I think I have to give Post-Metal in general some more time to sink in compared to other genres. 

3.5/5

So we're going to be testing the waters with another new offering this week which is one that I'll be looking for your feedback on. The idea is to release regular two hour Spotify playlists for each clan with the tracklistings taking the listener through the full gamut of sounds each clan encompasses, both old & new, classic & underground. In putting together the initial lists I've attempted to push my personal tastes to one side by including something for everyone with all eras & subgenres receiving representation. I certainly haven't gone with your more obvious releases all the time & you will find the odd novelty track included just for a bit of fun. These will certainly give people that are finding it hard to choose their clans a good point of reference to see if a particular clan is for them too. Check 'em out & tell us what you think. If everyone enjoys these then we may look to make them a more permanent part of the site.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3kEEdEXrtFrCHXjxtHq630?si=nvTn17svTUGel5TbNfvNHQ

Tracklisting:

1. Psychotic Waltz – “I Remember” (from “A Social Grace’, 1990)

2. Haken – “1985” (from “Affinity”, 2016)

3. Ayreon – “Computer Eyes” (from “Actual Fantasy”, 1996)

4. Diapsiquir – “Peste” (from “A.N.T.I., 2011)

5. Huntsmen – Ride Out“” (from “Mandala Of Fear”, 2020)

6. Fantomas – “04/06/05 Wednesday” (from “Suspended Animation”, 2005)

7. Ashbringer – “Absolution” (from “Absolution”, 2019)

8. Tool – “7empest” (from “Fear Inoculum”, 2019)

9. Agallloch – “Not Unlike The Waves” (from “Ashes Against The Grain”, 2006)

10. Periphery – “” (from “Periperhy IV: HAIL STAN”, 2019)

11. The Algorithm – “Binary Space” (from “Compiler Optimization Techniques”, 2018)

12. Oxxo Xoox – “Abym” (from “Namidae”, 2015)

13. Spotlights – “Learn To Breathe” (from “Seismic”, 2017)

14. Meshuggah – “Rational Gaze” (from “Nothing”, 2002) 

15. Monuments – “I, The Destroyer” (from “The Amanuensis”, 2014)

16. Liturgy – “God Of Love” (from “H.A.Q.Q., 2019)

2,800 words later, it's finished. I hope I never have to write another review as long as this one. Thanks for giving me the motivation to finally pen something like this out.

https://metal.academy/reviews/17294/155

Mekong Delta - "Mekong Delta" (1987)

Another release that seems to be universally labelled as technical thrash metal but is far more progressive than it is technical in my opinion. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that this is first & foremost a progressive metal release that regularly utilizes thrash & speed metal as tools. I mean if you look at it closely you'll find that a good four of the nine tracks aren't fast or thrashy. It's a pretty good record too although it's definitely disadvantaged by opening with two of its weaker tracks & then closing with another which means that you start & finish with a negative mind set & it requires a couple of listens to reassess those initial feelings. In truth, the middle of the album is actually pretty strong. The vocals are a bit hit & miss although they often remind me of Soundgarden's Chris Cornell (my all-time favourite singer) which can't be a bad thing. This should offer some enjoyment for fans of Coroner, Watchtower & particularly Voivod as there's some good complexity to the expansive arrangements & instrumentation.

3.5/5

What a strange album. I can safely say that I wasn't able to unpack most of this in one listen, but I think that would apply to most people. The Black Metal really took me off guard since I came into this album completely blind, and it's definitely hit or miss. The tremolo riffs still have that progressive edge to them, with the chord progressions being longer and more fleshed out than most Black Metal, but it's not necessarily groundbreaking. It definitely has a shock factor though, with the Black Metal not fully coming in until the end of "Den Saakaldte", a full 23 or so minutes into the album. There are teases of heavier Black Metal before that, but the band skirts around the influence and doesn't fully commit. 

Written In Waters really does have to be broken down piece by piece, since each transition offers something completely different than what came before it, and it's up to the listener to piece it all together. I've listened to a few influence-salad releases but none sound as alien as this one. The release date of 1995 is also impressive, putting this right smack in the middle of the more experimental wave of Black Metal, which makes a lot of sense looking back. On a first-listen basis though, this album failed to come together in any capacity for me, with the different tones they attempted to merge not making any sense whatsoever. The weaker Black Metal sections didn't hold up to the more progressive sections, and the progressive sections didn't fit together with the atmospheric or avant-garde sections. I'll have to take some time to really delve into this release if I want to re-score it. 

3/5

For this round, we'll try a couple more well-known releases which, even though I haven't listened to them myself, I guarantee some of you Infinite members have listened to them before. So here are two Infinite albums released in 2001. Which one of these albums with a different genre has the greater edge? Choose one and explain the reason!

Avant-garde metal:

Progressive metal:

I gave Meshuggah another shot after enjoying their 2016 album The Violent Sleep Of Reason by checking out Catch 33 and Nothing (2002) to mixed results. My taste in metal has shifted since 2016, since I was definitely more fond of Meshuggah back them, but I can see where the hype for Catch 33 was coming from. I came out one year before Catch 33, and it's an extremely interesting EP because it feels like a test run of Catch 33 with Nothing's production and style, which is inferior in my opinion. It's hard to really analyze Meshuggah because, like Saxy explains above me, they can be very one dimensional in how they write their music. It's all about the chug, the aggression, and the dark themes, which works well for some people and for others it turns into grinding monotony that you can't get away from. 

In terms of this album versus Catch 33, I can see how die-hard Meshuggah fans would enjoy this one more, because it's aggression overload. Catch 33 has more variety and atmosphere, but I just has that Djent chug for a solid 16 or 17 minutes of the 21 minute song. If you're into that, this album is a paradise for you, especially if you prefer Meshuggah's old production style with more trigger-sounding snare and bass drums and deeper but slightly messier sounding guitar tone. I still have a few Meshuggah albums to check out, like 2006's Nothing, but the straight-up Djent style isn't for me. They vastly improved over Nothing (2002) though, so I think that warrants a slightly higher score than what it seemed like I might give. 

3.5/5

While immensely beautiful, Choirs of the Eye shoots itself in the foot a bit with its droning spoken word during the lulls in the album. I personally try to stay away from the word "pretentious" when reviewing music since I feel like it's just a blanket statement that gets thrown around needlessly, but in this case I think it's warranted. The way it tries very, very hard to sound profound and deep definitely made me roll my eyes quite a few times. It takes an entire 28 minutes to get any sort of vocal contrast, with the first harsh vocals of the album showing up at the climax of "Manifold of Curiosity".

From a composition standpoint this album is obviously fantastic, with all sorts of orchestral, acoustic, and extreme metal styles being flung around every which way to somehow form a cohesive product. As impressive as it is, certain parts definitely lag and Kayo Dot relishes in their minimalism a bit too much for me on tracks like "Wayfarer". It's beautiful, there's a ton of interesting atmosphere, but not a whole lot happens, so it really depends on the listener if they emotionally connect with the slower parts or not. Some of the transitions seemed overlooked as well, with some being very jarring and almost unnecessary at times. 

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed this, enough to give it a 4/5. But for something like this to be truly great it needs to pull out all the stops and everything has to be composed in a way that is exciting and feels right. If some of the transitions are wacky and there just isn't enough payoff for spending 8 to 10 minutes listening to soft orchestral and acoustic sections with whispering vocals, then the album is going to suffer. If someone is really into the slower sections though, this would be an easy 5/5 for them, since the ideas in this album are fascinating. 

Inspired by the new DIS vs DAT thing on Metal Academy, in turn inspired by that weekly feature on Utopia Records' Facebook page, I decided to turn this conversation-starting activity into a full thread instead of separate threads. Got a couple albums with the same genre and release year that you can't decide which has the greater edge? Share them here!

Let's start off with two of the greatest progressive metal/metalcore classics released in 2005. Which one has the greater edge? Choose one and explain the reason!

P.S. Yes, I know Kezia's release year was stated here to be 2006, but it was actually originally first released in 2005 via the Underground Operations record label, similar to how the self-titled Symphony X album was first released in Japan in 1994 and then released in America in 1996.

I've turned into a big fan of Agalloch after initially disliking Marrow of the Spirit, but then revisiting it as well as finally checking out The Mantle. Ashes Against The Grain is certainly a better Metal album than either of those, with better quality riffs and a much more evil feel than the more natural sound of The Mantle. This album vs The Mantle is always going to be the big talking point and, to be honest, I think I enjoy The Mantle a tad more, although both of them get a 4.5/5 as of right now. While Ashes may have more Metal and heft to it, I think it loses a lot of the atmosphere that really gripped me for whatever reason on The Mantle. Reviews of both of these albums are definitely a goal of mine and I simply haven't listened to them both enough to really go in depth yet.