Instrumental or not: the prog metal factor is high this week!

Instrumental Prog Metal Part 1: Fusion edition! Steroid Puppets are a new progressive jazz/fusion metal supergroup from Israel consisting of Ben Azar on guitars, Or Lubianiker on bass and Nir Nakav on drums. Their debut album “Earthguest” is 42 minutes of fresh compositions that rival the best in the aforementioned sub-genres in all aspects: playing, production and songwriting. And, as with all great supergroup, it ends up as much more than ‘simply’ the sum of its parts, which would have been staggering already in light of the sheer talent involved. Decidedly more metal overall than their famous powertrio supergroup peers in The Aristocrats, those three seem to have found a special magic very much unique the clashing of their talents. I’m really hoping that this project will be here to stay, as it’s so much fun listening to these three monster musicians having fun playing music together. Dario

Instrumental Prog Metal Part 2: Symphony edition! Fancy a huge, epic dose of instrumental, classically inspired prog metal? Look no further than Mendel’s new album “Equilibrium”. His sixth solo album in 10 years, dutch prog metal guitarist, composer and solo artist Mendel bij de Leij is keeping a very nice balance of epic- and heaviness on “Eqilibrium”. Parts dominated by the symphonic orchestration and classical chord progressions take turns with some serious shred action. More Adagio than Symphony X, you will definitely want to stay until the end for a cool rendition of the famous ‘Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies’ and orchestral versions of two album tracks if you’re as much into classical music as I am. Dario

It’s !GeRald! week here on The Progspace! After an exclusive premiere, a Progtalks episode with percussionist Teddie Burton and Evelina’s full in depth review, we just have to mention their jaw-dropping debut full thlength “The Lost Tapes” as a highlight of the week as well. Don’t miss out on the most exciting avantgarde prog punk debut album of the year and if you’re anywhere near one of the stops on their European tour supporting the release of the album that they started yesterday, I seriously urge you to go for that extra visceral and violent live experience! Dario

One thing becomes clear from the very first chords: Iris Divine is very much influenced by one of the most influential power trios in the prog history. No, I’m not talking about Rush. I’m talking about the heavy, grooving and soulful rock sound of King’s X! Only the fourth album in about 15 years of band history, the US trio adds some heavier sounds from the likes of Queensrÿche, Fates Warning or Conception into the highly explosive cocktail that is “Mercurial”. Highly recommended for every fan of heavy rocking prog metal. Dario