Mid-march metal madness: 9 Higlights, 56 Releases in total!

Around one and a half years after I stumbled across the Wormholedeath Records label re-release of “Ómstríð”, the debut full-length by Icelandic progressive death metal quartet Vögel, they are back with a new self-released EP called “Kallið”. With a few black metal sprinkles in the harsh vocals that suit them very well, it is with the dreamy intro to the third track ‘Flæðisker’ at the latest that I find myself absolutely enamored with their Icelandic rendition of mid-era Opeth vibes. After struggling a lot to connect with most of this week’s releases, Vögel’s “Kallið” re-ignited the spark again and I’m happy to report that the flame is burning vigorously again. This is the stuff I need. Give me more! Dario

After paying a visit to the “Icelandic Opeth” in the far north of Europe, why not take a trip to the Mediterranean city of Venice to see if Italy got something to say as well in darker progressive metal realms, and with a band name like The Moor, the Swedish masters of Opeth are once again not far from my mind. However, after an epic orchestral intro, we’re hit with Finnish Amorphis sounds, while the title track of the new album ‘Ombra’, sung entirely in Italian, got some serious Moonspell vibes. After a weird, but endearing mix of Ulver (those clean vocals in the verses are as close to Kristoffer Rygg’s timbre as it gets) and Tomorrow’s Eve (that chorus!) in ‘This River Spoke’, we’re getting more and more comfortable in Swedish waters though – just a hell lot more Katatonia atmospheres than expected though. So if you like any of the aforementioned bands, or just want to dive headfirst into the shadows (“Ombra”) of dark progressive metal, you really shouldn’t miss out on this great album. Dario

From Iceland via Italy to – Limbo. An 80 minute avantgarde jazz extreme metal opera played by: jazz metal trio Kilter (bass, drums & bass saxophone), a string quartet (SEVEN)SUNS), a Growler’s Choir, led by Andromeda Anarchia’s inhumanly diverse stunt vocals about a woman suspended in a place between life and death? Yes, that is “La Suspendida”. And yes, it’s exactly as crazy as this description sounds. No easy listening, this is advanced art that demands attention and a healthy dose of fearlessness towards dissonance, noise – and pondering questions about mortality and death. The sheer scope of this project is absolutely crazy given the all-out avant-garde nature of this content. But I dare you to enter this Limbo, you might just find it endlessly fascinating, just like me. Dario

Now that is a move I haven’t seen before: when everyone is expecting you to drop a “Part 2”, because you’ve previously released a “Part 1”, just let go of the “Parts” business altogether and add Part 2 to Part 2 et voilà: you’ve got yourself an album twice the original length. Sounds complicated? Don’t worry, what matters is, that “Every Sound Has a Color in the Valley of Night” is 1 hour and five minutes of exhilaratingly energetic modern instrumental prog, excellently crafted with loads of atmosphere and two unexpected vocal features in the latter half, that seem to disrupt the flow a bit at first, but these sounds also have their very own colors in the valley of night and blend in more and more with each listen. The performances by all three Night Verses instrumentalists are inventive, engaging and occasionally off the charts when let loose. A modern classic the LA based trio will be able to bring to a wider audience on tour with the legendary Tool. A well deserved support slot that ought to propel them into the spotlight of modern alternative prog, where they belong. Dario

Modern Progmetal project Almo quickly sparked my interest when Lucas de la Rosa posted about having been involved in the production of Turbulence’s new album as well as this solo debut by Swedish multi-instrumentalist and composer Benjamin Almö Thorsell. Knowing about the brilliance of the first mentioned (“B1nary Dream”), “Reconciliation” was highly anticipated – And I’m happy to report that there’s a lot to love actually 🙂 From the diverse, incredibly dynamic compositions, over the Haken-esque harmony and rhythm patterns to the excellent sound, I’m absolutely diggin’ what Almo has to offer on the instrumental side. A minor drawback are the kind of forced vocals at the beginning for me, but also these grow after the first songs, getting more varied and expressive. Up from ‘Hope’, the album turns stronger with every spin, taking us on a wild ride that Benjamin describes as his personal therapy session while moving on and evolving as a person. The highlight is clearly the great finale coming along in the form of a 20 minute epic, and considering “Reconciliation” being a solo debut makes things even more impressive. Check it out! Katha

When Whom Gods Destroy started to tease on their upcoming debut, the reaction in the Prog community was quite enthusiastic due to the well-known names involved, calling out a new supergroup. Speaking for myself, the first songs left me rather underwhelmed, feeling a bit too formulaic in my ears, yet I was curious to hear “Insanium” in its entirety, and it turned out to be way stronger than the initial impression might have suggested. Interestingly, the singles work better in the overall context than as stand-alone tracks. What I really like is the high energy in their compositions and performances (besides the ballads, that lack the needed feeling for me, especially considering the personal lyrics), and the playing skills of all musicians here are for sure excellent, which makes the album a worthy highlight this week. It’s a bit like Sons of Apollo 2.0, building on the strength of their 2017s debut, but without this huge surprise factor they had back then, so things sound already rather familiar, still delivering all technical ingredients for dedicated Progmetal listeners. Katha

This album was hyped by a couple of friends, and I had no idea who they were, so after hearing their debut release last month, I joined in on the hype. Austrian screamo/post-metal group Pettersson kept fans waiting 8 years for their sophomore release that is “Ashen Plain”, and was it worth the wait? Considering I only had a month to stand by since discovery, I think so. In all seriousness, this one hits the feels with such beautiful, heavy-hitting atmospheres. While the length is only at a mere 25 minutes, it fully delivers throughout its runtime. Not as chaotic as some of my other recent faves in this style that I’ve heard this year, so if you’ve been hesitant about getting into screamo/post-hardcore music, this is a great place to start! Colin

Towards the end of the previous week, there was not only the first Rendezvous Point single after a couple of years coming out of the small town of Kristiansand in southern Norway. The brand new prog quartet Crystal Horizon dropped their very first, self-titled EP with a sound that’s a lot closer to Leprous than that of their sister band Rendezvous Point. With song titles like ‘Fate’ and ‘Stuck’ and lots of tropes from the more recent Leprous song-book, the comparisons with one of the most successful new prog bands out of the beautiful scandinavian country will be inevitable, but the execution is as professional as it’s emotionally engaging, so I really can’t find any fault in it and look forward to finding out where the Crystal Horizon will lead us. Dario

What happens when a bunch of Norwegian musicians around drum wizard Ingvald Vassbø (Kanaan, Shamblemaths, Sex Magick Wizards…) get together to create music equally inspired by heavy, psychedelic stoner rock and 20th century minimalism à la Terry Riley et al? Something like Full Earth’s first full length “Cloud Sculptor” might happen. Quite kraut-y in its electronic repetitiveness, explosive in its noisy sludge outbreaks, clocking in at 84 minutes it might seem like an extended jam record at times, but the exact opposite is the case. Meticulously crafted, composed and produced, it’s the missing piece between contemporary classical minimalism and progressive stoner rock no one knew was actually missing. Now that it’s not missing anymore, it feels like it’s always been there, like the collective subconscious. Dario