After the awards is during the awards is before the awards: 6 highlights, 58 releases
Releases of the Week 07/2024 with Ihsahn, Thy Shining Curse, Syncatto, Toehider, Illumishade & Einar Solberg
You might have noticed: we’ve been a littly busy last weekend with our The Progspace Awards 2023 (Polls are still open until March 3rd right here by the way: https://theprogspace.com/poll/awards2023/). Our 6 Highlights of the Release Week of February 16, 2024 still shine as bright as they did last week on their release day. We’ve got symphonic/orchestral extreme Metal x2 (Ihsahn & Thy Shining Curse), Flamenco Djent (Syncatto), a true Prog epic about toads (Toehider) and finally Einar Solberg acoustic rendition of the classic Leprous album “The Congregation”! Dive in and enjoy.
Discover all Releases of the Week through our mini reviews and the Bandcamp links in the list below, and our highlights in our weekly updated Spotify playlist: https://theprogspace.com/rotw-playlist
Ihsahn - Ihsahn
Even though we’ve just reached mid-February, I have the feeling that I’ve read about a lot of Album of the Year contenders already that early in the year. Now it’s my turn to put it on the table, but hear me out. It is no coincidence that the new, eighth solo album by Norwegian legend Ihsahn is self-titled. It is a culmination of all of his previous works and then some. Where the first two singles ‘Pilgrimage to Oblivion’ and ‘Twice Born’ drew heavily from his Black Metal heritage, ‘The Distance Between Us’ elevated the melancholy of more recent solo works into the orchestral realms of this massive opus. With these three singles released well ahead, the AotY medal was already easily in reach as far as I was concerned. Once I got to experience the marvels of the rest of the album tracks that touch anything between Shostakovich, The Simpsons (ok, that was one of the singles, can you guess which?), King Crimson (‘Blood Trails to Love’), the quirkiest, most off-kilter riff in a long long time (‘Hubris and the Blue Devils’) in sometimes fleeting, yet always profound and sincere ways, and always embedded in Ihsahn’s very own signature Avantgarde Prog Metal style, there was no doubt anymore, whatsoever: I felt touched by the Promethean Spark. I still can’t get enough of the Taste of Ambrosia. And I’m certain that Ihsahn is far from being on a Pilgrimage to Oblivion. On the very contrary. The maestro is on a straight path to musical immortality. A simple Album of the Year badge would be a huge understatement in this case. And I haven’t even touched on the equally impressive Orchestral Version of the album. A masterpiece for the ages, there’s no way around it. Dario
Thy Shining Curse - Theurgia
Following up such an orchestral Extreme Metal with Ihsahn’s self-titled box of wonders (see above) with some more orchestral Extreme Metal is no easy feat. Greek one man project Thy Shining Curse did manage to surprise and impress me nevertheless with its debut full length “Theurgia”. Rooted more in Death Metal, it’s elaborate compositions like ‘Heptacletus’, a lot of sinister brass sounds Isengard style and quite some epic themes and melodies that gives this Death Metal curse a dark shining of its own. An unexpectedly accomplished first taste of Leonidas Diamantopoulos’ talents that’s bound to turn some heads. Assemble a few band members and this material should go down a treat on any (Extreme) Metal Festival, as it’s pure fire! Dario
Syncatto - Fiction
If you’re searching for your next instrumental obsession, look no further than “Fiction”: Syncatto’s latest one-man, guitar-centric release blending pure djent-y goodness with far less expected and wonderfully thrilling forays into flamenco, tango, jazz, and even traditional Japanese music. Charlie Robbins, the man behind the curtain of this brilliantly technical, yet unfailingly melodious project, shreds, slaps, picks, and slides his way through a syncopated journey that feels consistently joyous and effortless. And there’s no shortage of surprises along the way, as the shifts in soundscape flavor are accompanied by appearances of guest musicians such as instrumental prog fusion group Arch Echo, violist Coen Strouken, guitarist A. J. Minette of The Human Abstract fame, and none other than prog royalty Jordan Rudess himself. If you’re a passionate student of guitar or a lover of master-level instrumental prog in general, this is one you certainly won’t want to miss. Alina
Toehider - XII in XII #07 - Toad Hirer EP
Did Toehider cannibalize himself by putting out 6 EPs last year so none of them got nominated in the Best EP of the Year category of The Progspace Awards 2023? Well, at least Micheal Mills snatched a nomination for his amazing vocal performances on all six of them! (You have until March 3 to vote for him right here!) and deservedly so. Some laurels he proves once again to be worthy of on “Toad Hirer”, the seventh installment of his XII in XII series. A full blown 20+ minute Prog epic, musically and lyrically as ridiculous as the title suggests, he just doesn’t have it in him to break the streak. Ridiculously fun. Ridiculously Prog. Ridiculously good. Dario
Illumishade - Another Side of You
Sometimes when it comes to musical preferences (or bandname choices), my subconscious can be quite stubborn and elitist sometimes I found out. So, despite a 10/10 review from our very own Andrei, I made the mistake of giving in to my subconscious misgivings against a band name with a supposedly clever play on words like Illumishade and some rather pop-leaning snippets I had heard and gave their 2020 debut “ECLYPTIC: Wake of Shadows” a hard pass. I’m beginning to suspect that that was a huge mistake. Now, almost four years later, the Swiss quintet around vocalist Fabienne Erni and guitarist Jonas Wolf (both primarily known for their work with Folk Metal institution Eluveitie) is back with their sophomore effort “Another Side of You”, and even though I still don’t really know what to think about the all over the place sympho-djent-prog-pop-metal genre mashup, there’s just too many jewels to be found on the album.
When the riffs hit, they hit hard, crunchy and bouncy. When the guitar solos hit, they do so in a blistering, yet melodically tasteful manner. When the cheese hits, it hits with an overdose of saccharine. “Another Side of You” has me as much confused as it has me intrigued. Give in to the call of sugar and discover another side of you. Dario
Einar Solberg - The Congregation - Acoustic
How many facets can one song, one album, one performance have? How different a story do they tell when stripped of instrumental regalia and production sparkle? Einar Solberg valiantly sets out to explore this – and share it with all of us in turn – in his raw, intimate, gut-wrenching revisitation of Leprous’ famous 2015 album, “The Congregation”: a live, unfiltered, unedited rendition of the entire album, start to finish, in voice and piano only. The result, which will most likely shake you to the core as it did me, is both an entirely different beast than the original, as well as (un)surprisingly familiar.
On the one hand, stripping away the intricate instrumental technicality of the original, which lends so much of the tension and heaviness that defines the overall feel of the album, puts the songs in an entirely new light. Einar’s commanding interpretation, elegantly accentuated by the equally emotive piano accompaniment, inevitably draws you closer to the lyrics, to the emotional layers, to each song’s deepest of meanings. On the other hand, the aforementioned sense of familiarity, like a hidden presence you can feel but cannot see, makes it clear just how central Einar’s unique voice – the absolute powerhouse that is equal parts singing masterclass and raw display of emotion – is to Leprous’ sound.
In my humble, yet honest opinion, this record is both a must-listen and a not-at-all-easy-listen. It’s powerful, it’s deeply expressive, it’s vulnerable in a way that urges you to follow suit, as the songs bleeding into each other leave little space for you to turn away – from the music or from yourself. And it’s also a record that makes me, once again, bow my head to this incredible musician whom some love, some love less, but few are indifferent to. Alina
More releases for 16 February, 2024
- A Somerset Parade - CarcosaRead Our Review
- The Aristocrats - Duck Bandcamp
- Steve Hackett - The Circus and the Nightwhale (Inside Out Music) Bandcamp
- Eternal Storm - A Giant Bound to Fall (Transcending Obscurity Records) Bandcamp
- Vanta - Kollapsar (Feb. 17) Bandcamp
- Vanir - Epitome (Mighty Music) Bandcamp
- Sujin - Save Our Souls (Scarlet Records) Bandcamp
- Groove Therapist - Monologue (Feb. 15) Bandcamp
- Danner - Torn
- Ponte del Diavolo - Fire Blades From The Tomb (Season of Mist) Bandcamp
- Stellar Remains - Wastelands Bandcamp
- Monovoth - Pleroma Mortem Est (Trepnation Records) Bandcamp
- Griffon - De Republica (Les Acteurs de l'Ombre Productions) Bandcamp
- Far Beyond - The End of My Road Bandcamp
- Athropos - Essentia Mortis Bandcamp
- Acrid Death - Abominable Presence of Blight Bandcamp
- Volucrine - Etna (Inverse Records) Bandcamp
- Myaelin - Discontinuum Bandcamp
- In Autumn - What's Done Is Done (My Kingdom Music) Bandcamp
- The Wise Man's Fear - What Slept Beneath Tarvos EP Bandcamp
- Dematerialize - The Abyss Below (Famined Records)
- Elettra Storm - Powerlords (Scarlet Records) Bandcamp
- Leah - The Glory and the Fallen
- i Häxa - Part I EP (Pelagic Records) Bandcamp
- Nefarious Mash - In Memory of your Hopes (Wormholedeath) Bandcamp
- Darkspace - Dark Space - II - 2 (Season of Mist) Bandcamp
- Witchorious - Witchorious (Argonauta Records) Bandcamp
- The Obessed - Gilded Sorrow (Ripple Music) Bandcamp
- UKČ - Coming Out - Love & Hate Diaries Bandcamp
- Mr. Bison - Echoes from the Universe (Heavy Psych Sounds) Bandcamp
- Butterfly Bulldozer - The Great Becoming of Captain Fuzz (Tempest of Noise) Bandcamp
- Gaute Storsve Band - Bebé K’awiil (Feb. 12, Apollon Records)
- tom's diner - мечтой Bandcamp
- Grin - Hush (The Lasting Dose Records) Bandcamp
- Levitation Room - Strange Weather
- Sundrifter - An Earlier Time (Small Stone Recordings) Bandcamp
- Throne of Thorns - Converging Parallel Worlds (Rock of Angels Records) Bandcamp
- Solbore - Never Alone, Often Lonely Bandcamp
- Art of Anarchy - Let there be Anarchy (Pavement Entertainment)
- Dark Citadel - Carcosa I (Feb. 14) Bandcamp
- Sterling Bidler Mr. Yea - Trash Music World Bandcamp
- The Last Ten Seconds of Life - No Name Graves (Unique Leader Records) Bandcamp
- See You Next Tuesday - Relapses (Good Fight Music) Bandcamp
- Contrevents - Contrevents EP Bandcamp
- Sean Ono Lennon - Asterisms
- Pharmafabrik - Ptyx Bandcamp
- Ivo van Dijk - Karmaflow The Rock Opera Videogame (Original Videogame Soundtrack)
- K'Mono - Mind out of Mind (Apollon Records) (Label Re-release) Bandcamp
- Fjeri - Words Are All We Have Reloaded (SP Music) Bandcamp
- Von Hertzen Brothers - Live at Tavastia
- Samael - Passage - Live Bandcamp
- Mandalaband - Legacy: The Story of Mandalaband 1975 - 1978