19 July Highlights in between classic melodic prog, doomy posty musings and electronic/ambient stuff

I’m absolutely delighted to report that “Mortal Heirloom”, the ninth album by US prog metal duo Odd Logic managed to snatch the pole position for this July 2026 Releases of the Month round-up, 20 years after “The Legends of Monta, Pt. 1” was a veritable hit album on Progulus Radio. It is such a rare thing nowadays to have someone flying the flag of late 90’s/early 2000’s melodic prog metal, but “Mortal Heirloom” does exactly that without sounding the least bit dusted or dated. With absolute bangers like the opening 10-minute epic ‘Critical Minutiae’ or the slightly darker ‘Droid’, “Mortal Heirloom” is a mandatory listen for any fans of the likes of Threshold, Sieges Even, Zero Hour, Sun Caged, Fates Warning or Enchant! Dario

Lalu is most certainly also one of those names that I picked up first during the glory days of Progulus Radio. And to comemmorate 20 years of his debut album “Oniric Metal”, mastermind and keyboardist Vivien Lalu brought back the original voice Martin LeMar (Tomorrow’s Eve, Mekong Delta) after two excellent albums with Damian Wilson behind the mic. Not to worry though, the core of “A Mythmaker’s Demise” is still decidedly progressive rock and not metal. A slight TOTO-fusion feel, especially in the instrumentals (‘Mayacama’), is undeniable, no wonder though, as a quick look into the credits reveals that indeed Simon Phillips took over drum duties from equally amazing predecessors in this project Virgil Donati, Jelly Cardarelli (Adagio) and Ryan van Poederooyen (Devin Townsend Band/Project). So once again, Viv Lalu managed to surround himself with the perfect musicians to produce some more colourful music; as colourful and detailed as the amazing cover artwork from the hands of Mattias Norén. Dario

Mountainscape’s new EP “Traversing Realms” is just as majestic and monumental as you can imagine and then some, given we’re truly traversing realms from ‘Dune’ via ‘The Elder Scrolls’ to the band’s very own inner Mountainscapes of ‘Closure’. A monolith of cinematic, instrumental post metal from this UK based trio, with added awesomeness in the form of a real string quartet and the enchanting voice of Amaya López-Carromero (Maud the moth/healthyliving). Blockbuster material! Dario

Following the British post metal leanings further into the blackgaze “Wilderness” of Cairiss, I could’ve sworn that I’ve reviewed an album of theirs before, but since this is apparently their full length debut, I must’ve confused them with another band. After giving “Wilderness” a few spins I’m sure though that I most definitely won’t mix up this Southampton-based six-piece henceforth, as their sound, while not hiding its core influences, puts them together in truly unique fashion. I’ve never heard guitar solos like in ‘The Guide’ in any blackgaze for example. Yet it all comes together magically into a work of art best visualized by vocalist Freya Brown’s stunning artwork. A work of art that’s, at its best, truly breathtaking. Dario

Witnessing Candlemass playing ‘Solitude’ (supporting Opeth) in Gelsenkirchen and then, not even 24 hours later getting a short but sweet TodoMal set in Munich this summer warmed my black doom heart immeasurably. What Liminal Sky’s “All Tomorrow’s Darkness” was for June, “Graveyards of Joy” carried into July, complete with Kristoffer Rygg (Ulver) vibes in Wildman’s impassioned vocal delivery. Culminating in the slo-mo Green Carnation vibes of ‘Deliverance’, I am absolutely certain that this masterpiece of darkness will accompany me and many more into the autumnal twilight hours, now that fall is upon us. To help us tide over until TodoMal will be gracing the European stages again in March/April next year with Moonspell & Iotunn! And later in the year even on the stage of ProgPower Europe! Dario

Speaking about dark masterpieces that were released in July, there’s now way we can pass by The Salt Pale Collective with their pitch black post doom monument that is “…and God said nothing”. This trio from the very north of England managed to capture the crushing weight of our very existence and my black doom heart simply can’t get enough of the wondrous dark beauty that seems to encompass everything, emanating from every note of the genius multi-part vocal harmonies. If Múr from Iceland has managed to sweep you off your feet in recent years, The Salt Pale Collective certainly has that capacity as well. Dario

Completing our perfect July Doom trifecta is Chicago based Psychedelic Stoner Doom quartet REZN with their sixth album, “Cycles in the Infinite Dream”. It follows the immaculate Cosmic Doom duo “Solace” (2023) and “Burden” (2024), and even though some of the vibes towards the later parts of the albums feel a tad to alternative-stoner-y to my particular taste personally, the vast majority of it is simply too good to neglect or dismiss. On tour again in February/March next year. Don’t miss it! Dario

Fractal Sun, the prog quintet from Costa rica released their second album “Divergent Paradox” in 2026. With this one they dive into a verу primal, human thing – the duality of human condition. They do it through continuing the story of Orianna, the protagonist on their previous record “Turmoil”. She has to fight the internal battle of deciding between saving humanity or saving herself. The album has a lot of diverse elements in it – symphonic vocals, cosmic sounding synths, heavy djenty moments and more. I always adore vocalists with range like Hellen’s – at one moment she sings beautifully like an intergalactic princess and then suddenly she switches to gutturals spawning from hell. They seem to have had the perfect opportunity to push the contrast a bit more, especially considering the subject matter, so I do feel like adding more heavy parts would perhaps complement the dichotomy even more in the future. That aside, “Divergent Paradox” still is a good sophomore album and shows a lot of promise for further exploration of the universe. Fractal Sun fit right in with the current wave of prog and have a great stage presence, as I was able to observe at this year’s ProgPower Europe. Things seem promising for the band’s future and I’m quite interested to see them grow and continue to expand their sound! Evelina

“Changing Places in the Fire”, the self-titled debut album by the international alternative prog metal collective of the same name is, in all but name, the third release in this edition of our Releases of the Weeks/Releases of the Month, that follows directly in the footsteps of something that was special and precious during the Progulus Radio heydays of the late 2000’s/early 2010’s. That precious something was “Nature|Existence”, the sole album from Venezuelan prog band Echoes, released in 2010. To hear a similar sound now after all these years from some of the very same musicians, now living in exile scattered around the world, feels wonderfully nostalgic. Now, anyone who knows my own personal taste will also know that not everything on this album will be to my liking with those distinct alternative (prog) influences like Deftones, Tool or Oceansize that shine through. Yet the return of Changing Places in the Fire formerly known as Echoes is a most welcome one. Dario

In order to counterbalance all the dark vibes from those doom bands above (especially TodoMal = Everything Bad), we need some positive energy here, don’t you think? Enter Everything Yes to the rescue! With a line-up consisting of two (!) saxophones, bass, keys and drums, the North Carolina based quintet is jazzing things up to the max with their third album simply called “Volume 3”. Great vibes and melodies all around and if those alone won’t make you smile, the ridiculous level of mastery of skills on their respective instruments might as well do the trick. Dario

Carrying the torch of properly pastoral, synth-laden old school prog in July were the Norwegians of Jordsø. With favorable reviews of the predecessor albums “Salighet” (2023) and “Pastoralia” (2021), it comes to no surprise that “Pestkrønikene” was able to maintain that certain whimsical charm in all but the lack of longtracks. But this is so wonderfully quirky and Scandinavian that you just gotta love it! Dario

What do Iron Maiden, California Skate Punk and BTBAM have in common? Well, mixed up through the lens of whacky Canadian Prog Metal, Protest The Hero is what would come out of this unholy bastard alliance. Or what do I know, I’m not really familiar with either of those ingredients, hence my blatant disregard of Protest The Hero so far. Well, in the meantime the Scots in Tiberius have warmed me up a bit for this style, and seeing one of their sweaty shows live this summer certainly helped as well to understand this particular phenomenon. “Within”, the sixth PTH album in 20 years, is certainly a ridiculous(ly) fun affair. Dario

You know what my favorite new random musical mash-up is? Proper shreddy old school tech/prog death and suddenly Derek Sherinian comes in with a screaming, nasty keyboard solo. Sounds too good to be true? Listen to “A Bleeding Tree Hanging Self Destruction” by quasi-supergroup Arise From Worms that also features Steve Tucker (Morbid Angel), Flo Mounier (Cryptopsy) and Sonny Lombardozzi (ex-Incantantion) and it will all make sense. Fusion Tech Shred made Flesh! Dario

Sudden change is always difficult for everyone involved. And while I’m of the firm affirmation that it’s none of the fans’ business what transpired behind the curtains when there’s significant line-up changes happening within their favorite bands, I can absolutely relate to the feeling of loss and mourning when key band members leave. The very same happened to me with the recent changes within the Haken camp, so initially, when “in a fever dream” dropped back in July, I was not able to welcome it with an open mind. Revisiting it now, I have the feeling that my period of mourning is finally subsiding gradually, and I’m starting to genuinely enjoy the electronic musings of this New-Ken. Haken Mark 3.0 here we come. Curious to see where this is leading. Dario

Codex Anima’s debut EP “ω” surely came as a big surprise in November 2023, and now three years later, I’m no way less surprised how much I’m actually able to genuinely enjoy this kind of experimental electronic music. Steeped in atmosphere, ambient sound design experiments and French voice overs, headphones are strongly encouraged to discover “μ”, the sophomore EP by these enigmatic experimentalists. And with ‘Macarie – La Foi’ there’s even a worthy successor to the jaw-dropping awesomeness of ‘Eris – Le Jugement’. Dario

A touch guitar. A Warr guitar. And a hybrid electro-acoustic drumkit. Three incredible musicians who are as talented as they’re seasoned. Continuing the rhythmically challenging legacy laid out by the 90’s/early 2000’s incarnation of King Crimson, of which Trey Gunn and Pat Mastelotto were part of ), Tu-Ner is a veritable supergroup of experimental instrumental music. Completed by touch guitarist Markus Reuter, the trio has compiled an eclectic live programme from their combined respective back catalogues (including some breathtaking Crimso-renditions) and recorded one of the shows on their 2025 North American summer tour. No matter how odd the rhythms, the grooves are simply irresistible throughout “Rendezvous Rodeo”. Or maybe it’s even the more odd and weird, the more mesmerizing it gets? Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s the latter. Insane stuff and one of the most exciting live records of the year for sure! Dario

Oh and there’s more of that Mastelotto style groove. You can find it on David Kollar’s new solo album “Music from the Bag” (even though the drums were programmed). Having earned his reputation from being a member of KoMaRa (alongside Mastelotto), contributions to Steven Wilson’s “To The Bone” and “Harmony Codex” and many more collaborations within the experimental and avantgarde realms, “Music from the Bag” sees the artist David Kollar experimenting with sound and rhythm, and he certainly knows to captivate the imagination with his expressive guitar playing. Dario

Staying in this very same circle of musicians, Fabio Trentini’s new project Arcanum 14 explores Peter Gabriel-esque Art Pop realms and sees the Italian bassist and producer collaborate with vocalist/lyricist Hande Sarikayali on their new EP, “Wichapi Win”. The singing fretless bass (‘Future Unseen’) and the overall mood also reminds me quite a bit of Johan Niemann’s recent solo work (albeit with vocals of course). Tasty. Dario

Wrapping up this eclectic Iapetus Records/7D Media and related quartet with some proper ambient horror sounds courtesy of Markus Reuter and Dave Bessell. The aptly titled “Orchestra of Wasps” wouldn’t be totally amiss at your Halloween party if you want your guests not to dance but genuinely freak out in horror. Not for the faint of heart, this avantgarde ambient symphony is guaranteed to deliver chills and scares en masse. Genuinely creepy but all the more fascinating. Dario