Massive snow mountains in Munich, massive release mountains on The Progspace

Starting with the first strummed guitar chords reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s ‘Dogs’ in the intro ‘Ouranja Valley’, the young Progressive Rock quintet Rubber Tea takes us on the spacey journey of protagonist Emily, chased by a relentless sandstorm monster in her small airplane, on her mission to warn the world of impending danger. “From A Fading World” is their astonishing sophomore full-length studio album, and it’s a prime example for a Prog Rock sound that draws from all of its rich history right from the very start in the 1960s without sounding dated or dusted in the slightest. On the contrary: a fresh, youthful exuberance exudes from all of the 11 songs with its psychedelic fretless bass grooves, whirring flute escapades, sax heavy stoner riffs, somnambulistic synth solos and expressive vocals. So, in conclusion, any fan of proggy, psychedelic rock sounds should get themselves a taste of this excellent blend of Prog Tea from Bremen, Germany. Dario

Watch out! The crazy Frenchpeople are at it again! At the intersection where Mathcore purists and Zeuhl Avantgardists meet, the insane quartet Ni (stylized as “ní”) have found their home and in that vein, they plough through their third full length monster very aptly titled “Fol Naïs”, meaning “born crazy” in medieval French. As a German, you could also read it as “Voll Nice” (=very nice). But beware, it might not sound so nice to your ears, if you can’t handle a full on serving of dissonance and abrasive mathy riffs. Yawn (the Norwegian band) and a Sax-less, raw Panzerballett on an Avantgarde Mathcore trip. Served with a nice doomy dessert called ‘Cathelot’. Very nice. Dario

Going back east from France, back to Germany. Southern Germany though this time. But staying in rather Avantgard-ish territories with “A 3rd Ear Conversation (The Justification of Reality, Part II)” by Lind, the new solo album from The Ancestry Program drummer/multi-instrumentalist Andy Lind. Rather than the Mathcore type of Avantgarde (that one he explored thoroughly on 2007’s “Profoundly Felt Reality”, just recently made available again on his Bandcamp page), Lind goes down a high energy odd-meter groove fusion lane this time, enlisting even more national and international talents than on the predecessor, 2021’s “A Hundred Years”, Part I of the  “The Justification of Reality” concept. Most notably of course the Synth solos from Steve Hunt and Gary Husband (both Allan Holdsworth), but at the heart of it all shines Lind’s knack for gripping compositions that are as odd as his intricate grooves. A feast for Fusion lovers, somehow far out there yet oddly relatable and almost ‘catchy’ in a weird sense even for someone like me who has no idea what’s going on harmonically and rhythmically. I definitely wouldn’t mind some more justification of reality at some point in the future, even though this one clocks in at almost 80 minutes already. It’s just so irresistibly groovy! Dario

Neoclassical tech death from Japan? Oh yes! Somnium de Lycoris present their debut full length with the beautifully poetic title „In The Failing Hours”. Oscillating between brutal death metal onslaughts like the Archspire machine gun vocals at the beginning of ‘Beginnings and Endings’ and mesmerizing neoclassical escapades somewhere between First Fragment and The Resonance Project, the trio from Tokyo around keyboardist/pianist MARI surely knows how to shred on their respective instruments (yes, including the vocalist). In terms of songwriting, there’s still a few parts that feel a tiny bit lost, not knowing where they wanna go (paradoxically least of all in the 14 minutes epic part 2 of the title track), so there’s still room for improvement for upcoming new material. So I do hope they’ll find a fitting full-time bassist and an excellent human (who’s a machine on the) drums and I’ll definitely keep an eye on them. A solid tech death record in an overcrowded genre with lots of potential for even bigger greatness. Dario

Atmospheric black metal solo project Panopticon released their 19th(!!) studio album after only 15 years of dropping music, and by no means does this lack any drive. Austin L. Lunn has become a massive inspiration in the scene of extreme metal, putting out more and more fresh material without losing that signature sound he’s known for. “The Rime of Memory” is the second installment of a trilogy that continues from his 2021 acclaimed album “…And Again Into the Light”. This one focuses on the destruction caused by our current climate crisis, while also reflecting on life as a whole. You can feel the emotion expressed in the atmospheres, the melodies, and the vocals, and that’s what really pulled me in with this one. Aside from his usual application of Americana and bluegrass elements from place to place, Austin has really shown his appreciation for post-metal here. There’s even moments of prog and death doom in areas, making this one of the best entries to get a proper step into Panopticon’s massive library, especially for prog fans like yourselves who want a nice variety in your listening. Also, the 20-minute epic “Winter’s Ghost” might just be their best song yet. Heck, I’d even argue this album is his best effort to date. Absolutely breathtaking release that no one should skip before finalizing their year-end list! You might just see this in mine. Colin

Those that made their end-of-year lists early in 2023 are quite possibly missing out on one of the most exciting releases of the year. German technical metallers Unprocessed released their latest album “…and everything in between” on December 1st. After their acclaimed album “Gold”(August, 2022) these productive virtuosi take their unique blend of modern progressive metal down a heavier track. The album is heavily interspersed with guitar acrobatics reminiscent of Polyphia, plenty of amazingly skillful bass solos, well-timed breakdowns and has quite a few hauntingly beautiful clean vocal choruses. Whilst the album is spiked with plenty of harsh vocals and instrumental emphasis on aggressiveness with plenty of blast beats, there’s also plenty of layers to the whole because of the intricate, almost sound-scapey interludes which seem to serve the purpose of making the uncompromising rough passages stand out even more. The band’s intent for this album possibly comes out best in ‘Trash’ that was released in October as a single. Choruses that are belted in such an expressive manner adding intensity to guitarwork that is both beautiful and brutal at the same time. So make sure to give this album a few spins before deciding on your Album of the Year, because I guarantee this one will end up high on my list! Marcel

The first of three excellent EPs this week comes from down under: genre defining Instrumental Fusion Djent inventor Plini is at it again. Five songs in his gorgeous signature sound without fail, “Mirage” underlines once more his importance and relevance to guitar music as such, flamboyant, exuberant, tasteful and classy. Simply amazing. (A worthy 300th RotW highlight/mini review this year for me personally, if I dare say so.) Dario

You Love Heavy Metal, Don’t You?… In case you can answer this with a whole hearted “Yeah”, better head over to Toehider’s new EP “Take on a Tank”, which is #5 within his “XII in XII” challenge, offering another facet of his incredibly creative palette. This time, there are no keyboards, classical elements or spacy soundscapes, but guitar-driven, traditional Speed and Power Metal all over the place, lyrically inspired by some crazy stories, like 2 drunk men arguing over who saved the town by drowning a local monster in a nearby moat. Track Number 4 is an attempt to top the most metal song ever, which was written by himself in 2009: ‘But Mostly Metal’. Whether he achieved this goal or not might depend on the ear of the respective listener, but it’s clearly a lot of fun, as Metal Mills skillfully plays around with some of the musical clichés the genre has to offer. Whether powerful riffs, pushing drums, blistering guitar solos, or the epic finale, you can have them all here, and of course he absolutely nails it again vocal-wise. Horns up! Katha

The third EP highlight of the week comes from Belgian Core specialists Ice Sealed Eyes. “Vol.2: Fragments” follows “Vol.1: Torments” released in May and starts out significantly more melodic than its predecessor with the Sleep Token-esque ‘Satellite’, but once we reach ‘Deadweight’, the brutal breakdown heaviness is back with full force. The final ‘Suffocate’ digs deep into the vast cinematic sound qualities and it’s exactly that part of Ice Sealed Eyes that sets them apart from your run of the mill standard (Death-)core band. More of that please! Dario

12 years ago, I was lucky to have Orphaned Land playing in Munich on my birthday and exactly 6 years later, I got myself the absolutely gorgeous golden vinyl edition of Orphaned Land’s latest studio album “Unsung Prophets And Dead Messiahs”. This year, the Oriental Metal innovators gifted me a wonderful live release, recorded during their 30th Anniversary celebrations on Tel Aviv with a full orchestra and the Hellscore Choir. 15 choice cuts from their discography, with beautiful orchestral arrangements and flourishes like the Oboe intro to ‘Sapari’ or the woodwind/chamber orchestra enhancing ‘In Thy Never Ending Way’, which concludes the final climax together with the emblematic ‘Ocean Land’ and ‘All Is One’. No Orphaned Land concert is complete with the jumpfest that is ‘Norra El Norra’, reminding me of the infectious nature of their live shows. Fingers crossed that they’re going to be able to bring their music and their message on tour again next year. Evolve thy self, and lose all hate. So “A Heaven You May Create”. Dario