9 Highlights, 70 more releases: a strong start for May 2024

After a hiatus of 13 years, US Progressive Death Metal powerhouse Dååth are back with “The Deceivers”, continuing a theme in the title that already began with “The Hinderers” (2007) and “The Concealers” (2009). Lyric-wise, the new album is a scathing critique and exploration of certain societal elements – the deceivers and obstructers in life – musically rolling over us like a force of nature, without losing an eye for wonderful, little details. The mighty opener ‘No Rest No End’ is a fine example for this: Having a neoclassical harpsichord / guitar interlude skillfully woven into a thunderstorm of riffs and brutal growls, pushed forward by complex rhythm patterns while being surrounded with huge orchestration, I’m already sold after the first track… and Dååth won’t give you any rest until the end, delivering an epic masterpiece, monstrous and mesmerizing at the same time. Katha 

Seamlessly blending together the powers of modern prog metal and progressive death metal with the occasional deathcore breakout and lots of gorgeous neo-classical harmonies: Resuscitate from Illinois runs the full gamut with extreme conviction on their new album „Immortality Complex“ – and manage to convince me with ease in the process. Resuscitate has already got a couple of releases under their belt since 2019 (albeit more rooted in -core aesthetics stylistically apparently), but it’s only now that they crossed my path thanks to the involvement of guest vocalist Max Mobarry (Others by No One, Flummox). Instant excitement during the first spin of „Immortality Complex“ quickly turned into an obsession and it‘s been on almost constant rotation in my headphones ever since. But anyone who manages to use ‚lackadaisically‘ in their lyrics so convincingly (also: melodic bass solo) on an album that’s as catchy, youthful and fresh as it’s complex, dense and compositionally mature got my attention and admiration instantly. A BTBAM for the new generation if you will, with a compelling work of art both musically and lyrically, I really hope they’ll reap the consequence in 3-2-1 (meaning: gaining lots of new fans who’ll listen to „Immortality Complex“ as much as I do). Dario

Call me old-fashioned, but usually I wouldn’t call any release below a length of 30 minutes an album. The runtime of Panini Project’s “Near-Life Experience” just about cracks the 20 minute mark and it’s still considered an album, not only by Spotify, but also by the artist. I can only speculate why the early 2024 single “Fata Morgana” was not included for example, my first guess would be that they felt it wouldn’t fit stylistically, or conceptually, or even both. Be that as it may, this “Near-Life Experience” does feel whole and complete as it is, capturing the intended essence, exploring feelings surrounding the loss of a loved one. Delicate in the quiet tones, cautiously giving room for some louder sounds, like in the masterful centerpiece ‘Lighthouse’, “Near-Life Experience” is a curious, wonderful little release, no matter if you call it an EP or an album. Dario

Ramping up the neoclassical aspect and the orchestrations in particular once again to a Wilderun-level and then some, Aquilus returns with „Bellum II“, a continuation of 2021‘s „Bellum I“ quite obviously. Even though some of the melodies present here are not quite as immediate as some on the predecessor, Aquilus is still playing in a league of its own when it comes to orchestral neoclassical black metal. Dario

A few months ago, I came across Lebanese Metal band Borrowed Time when Turbulence’s outstanding singer Omar El Hage joined them as new man behind the mic, and the available singles left me curious to hear how these would evolve in the context of their first full-length, called “Though the Earth Gives Way”. While, during the initial listen, I’d would rather have put them into the Metalcore direction stylistically due to the djenty rhythmic and often screamed vocals, there’s also an amazing Progressive creativity into their song-writing, with modern keyboard-driven elements, Hypno5e-like guitar sequences, as well as wonderful vocal and instrumental melody lines, that offer a lot to dive deeper into. The band has a great dynamic within their compositions and performance, giving the thought-provoking lyrics the right expression, even though the music would have deserved a bit more depth in the production to bring out their high energy. But apart from that, “Though the Earth Gives Way” is an expressive, diverse debut album, absolutely worth to spend time with. Katha

Canadian bands and projects became strong within the Progressive and Tech Death Metal scene over the past years, and I’d like to introduce another vigorous representative on this occasion. From Dying Suns could easily have slipped through my radar because of the Playstation inspired cover artwork, if there wouldn’t have been the enthusiastic shout-out of a dear friend on release day, so their debut album “Calamity” came to rumble through my living-room and immersing me into a progressively unfolding dark fantasy narrative. The playing skills of all musicians on this record are absolutely insane, whether we’re listening closer to the razor sharp guitar work or the hard-hitting, yet groovin’ rhythm section. The only downside for me are the high-frequency, screamed vocals that tend to stress me out after a few songs, while the powerful growls work well in my ears. Maybe that’s also the reason for ‘Ascent’ being one of my favorites within their offering, delivering finest instrumental wizardry. But all-together if highly technical, yet melodious Progressive Death Metal is your thing, “Calamity” might be right up your street. Katha

Ghost on Mars is a young progressive metal quintet out of Rome, Italy, now presenting their debut album “Out of Time and Space”, released through Willowtip Records, who have proven once again that they’ve got a fine nose sniffing out the prog metal talent from around the world. Ghost on Mars don’t reach the staggering level of The Anchoret yet, one of last year’s best debut albums, but their dark sci-fi touch and passionate delivery is thoroughly convincing throughout, so much even that I can easily forgive the fact that the magic of ‘Carbon Skin’ is entirely based on the highly recognisable harmonic progression of Leprous’ ‘Acquired Taste’. Keep an eye on this Ghost on Mars if you like your prog metal dark and passionate. Dario

Highly anticipated, finally here: Wheel’s third full length album, “Charismatic Leaders”. So, did the Finnish rising stars with English frontman succeed to meet the high expectations? I’m sure many fans will answer this question wholeheartedly with a ‘Yes’, I for one am a bit more reserved and torn even to be totally honest. The vehement, unrelenting snare beats leading into the lead single and opening track ‘Empire’ were so off-putting at first, that I didn’t even feel the desire to listen until the end of the song (which gets a lot easier on the ears towards the end, truth be told). Once over that strong negative reaction on my part to but one single element, there’s a lot of beauty to be found on here, like the string quartet enhanced third single ‘Disciple’ or the interlude/intro ‘Caught In the Afterglow’ leading into the final epic ‘The Freeze’. Wheel work best when tapping into cinematic harmonies and/or smooth yet intricate grooves. Did “Charismatic Leaders” convince me front to back? No, not really? Do I think it is an album every fan of progressive metal should check out? Absolutely! Dario

Here we go again. The old EP vs. full album length debate. Well, this time it’s only Spotify that got it wrong, filing Djiin’s new album “Mirrors” (that’s like 2 minutes longer than their previous album “Meandering Soul”) under EP. Well, “Meandering Soul” had 6 tracks, “Mirrors” ‘only’ got 5, but then there’s the final, umm, monster song ‘Iron Monsters’ clocking in at 13 minutes… If keywords like psychedelic, microtonal, 70s doom, oriental rock, electric harp or fuzzy riffs make you all, umm, fuzzy, these “Mirrors” might be for you. The B-Side of the mirror gets significantly darker and heavier, but that’s all part of the plan. Eclectic, intriguing, looking deep into the darkest corners of the human psyche. Not for the faint of heart, yet with occasional moments of ethereal, otherworldly beauty amidst the darkness. Dario