The second half of May 2025 brings an unexpected overkill of instrumental releases

Not long after my landslide year of 2016 that finally opened the gates to Extreme Prog Metal for me with masterpieces such as Oceans of Slumber’s “Winter”, Hypno5e’s “Shores of the Abstract Line”, Black Crown Initiate’s “Selves We Cannot Forgive” and Persefone’s “Aathma” in 2017, Rivers of Nihil provided me with another perfect gateway drug at the beginning of 2018: their breakthrough album “Where Owls Know My Name”. With the controversial, artsy “The Work” as stop in between, the US Prog Death quartet has landed at their self-titled era now, with arguably their most melodic singles to date (at the very least partly thanks to the gorgeous clean vocals of ex-Black Crown Initiate beard brother Andy Thomas). Would they still bring enough Death with them? A most valid question after the catchiest ‘Sub-Orbital Blues’ that opens up this river. Fear not though, ‘Dustman’ goes hard and he’s not the only one. Progressive Death Metal striking the perfect balance between hooks for days, enough technical craziness for the Prog crowd to drool over, but not losing the Death Metal heads in the pit. I for one would’ve wished for more Saxophone (shoutout to Patrick Corona from Cyborg Octopus and his sexy hip swing), but let’s not overdo the work. “Can you see it? Believe me…” Dario

P.S.: Check out Alex’ full review of “Rivers of Nihil” right here!

Quadvium is probably the most unexpected of supergroup pairings ever – but it is a wet dream for all Fretless Bass lovers like me. Steve DiGiorgio (Testament, Death) and Jeroen Paul Thesseling (ex-Obscura, ex-Pestilence), both pioneers in implementing virtuoso (fretless) bass lines to Extreme Prog Metal music, teamed up with guitarist/composer Eve (Myth of I, Kaathe) and Dutch drum master Yuma van Eekelen (Exivious, Our Oceans) – and the result is “Tetradōm”, a wild ride exploring the fretless bass abilities as a lead instrument in an instrumental Progressive/Fusion Metal setting. The Jazz/Classical/Metal influences seem in perfect balance here, which could mean that they’re too Metal for a larger Jazz audience and vice versa. I for one wouldn’t want them to change a single thing in their formula and hope there’s a lot more to come where this came from. Other bass centered bands like The Omnific did manage to find success with a larger audience lately, so I do hope it works out or Quadvium as well and they continue the awesomeness. Dario

If you can’t get enough of this kind of Instrumental Prog Metal (see Quadvium highlight above), like me, Myth of I’s new EP “Stream” is chock full of jaw-dropping performances, be it the guitar tandem of Eve Smith (also see Quadvium above) & Tyler Fritzel, Nick Thorpe’s bass or James Russel’s drums. They’re definitely playing the champions league of Instrumental Prog Metal/Djent alongside lumineers like Animals As Leaders, Plini or Poh Hock & The Resonance Project (who also guested on their previous EP “Blood”). My favorite song on the EP, ‘Setsuna’, even gives me strong The Resonance Project vibes, and anyone who knows how much I love that band will understand the impact “Stream” must have made on me. Or still is as I’ve been constantly spinning it lately. And you should do so, too! Dario

What the organ is to The Soundbyte’s sound (see highlight below), might just be the addition of proper strings to the dreamy Progressive Rock of Ukrainian six-piece Obiymy Doschu (Обійми Дощу). Having a viola player as a full member of the band might help in that regard as well. The voice of main composer Volodymyr Agafonkin, equal parts pensive, poetic and evocative, is the main focus clearly, yet the lush arrangements (expertly mixed & mastered by The Pineapple Thief duo Bruce Soord & Steve Kitch respectively) are at least as important to the success of “Vidrada”. A beautiful album that feels like it took the band name seriously and put it to music for every second of its duration: Rain’s Embrace. A curious, nostalgic, melancholy sensation that feels oddly familiar and new at the same time. Dario

Sometimes, a single release can put you on the wrong path as to what to expect from the whole album that the single is intended to tease and represent in a way. ‘Can You See Me Now’ was my first introduction to the sonic world of Norwegian Avantgarde Post Metal project The Soundbyte, so naturally I was expecting to hear more of Kirsti Huke’s delicate lead vocals on the full album release of “Still Quiet”. Well, that is partly true still, at least for the last three songs on the album. But you can imagine my surprise to hear the dark timbre of Andreas Elvenes throughout more than the first half of the album. Reminiscent of the likes of Mick Moss, Brendan Perry and even Eric Clayton at times, his crooning Baritone is really bringing mastermind Trond Engum’s visions to life for the most part of the album until a lengthy instrumental break in the middle of the eight and a half minute center-piece, ‘Will You Follow’. The second half sees him picking up the pieces once more until Kirsti is taking over from ‘When All Is Gone’ onwards. All this atop meticulously crafted Gothic Post Metal soundscapes with plenty of organ and a delicate balance between the acoustic and the electric. An unexpected gem. Dario

Berlin based Touch guitarist Markus Reuter’s creativity seems to know no bounds, as he’s putting out so much music, be it with Anchor & Burden, Tonnen von Hall or any of his other numerous collab projects. “Truce <3” is one such project with the involvement of Fabio Trentini on fretless basses and Asaf Sirkis on drums. Improvisational in its core nature, yet meticulously structured in its grooves and layered, looped soundscapes, this third part in the “Truce” series documents three musicians who’ve not only settled for truce, but ultimately mastered the art of connection, blind-folded, with eyes closed, completely trusting in each other and their shared musical vision. Recorded in only two days, this is truly advanced stuff that never screams ‘look or hear how complicated I am’. On the contrary, it flows with grace and groove. Remarkable. Dario

Fractal Sextet’s “Sky Full of Hope” was definitely the 2024 album that took the above mentioned premise (play very complex stuff in a manner that sounds ultra relaxed) to the extreme with stunning results. Mainman Stephan Thelen is now back with some Fractal Sextet collaborators (namely Yogev Gabay, Fabio Anile & Jon Durant) plus David Torn for “World In Collision”. Quite literally, polyrhythmic electro-acoustic grooves clash with processed and looped voice samples and layered ambient soundscapes here. Not really Prog, let alone Rock or Metal, I find this very hypnotic and fascinating. Bonus points to this highlight double, as you can hear Markus Reuter  (see highlight above) & Stephan Thelen combine their artistic visions on their upcoming collaborative release, “Promise of a Better World”! Dario

Continuing where we trailed off a bit into Progressive Rock and Experimental fields after the Myth of I highlight, California one-man-prog-band Syncatto is back just a bit more than a year after their last album “Fiction”. Guitar virtuoso Charlie Robbins (Artificial Language) seems to be working hard to become one of the most prolific and productive musicians in the circuit. On the other hand, all of his music, especially with his solo project Syncatto, seems to have an air of effortlessness and weightlessness, which is a feat in itself given the complex nature of all the fretboard acrobatics he’s doing at any given time. How he’s got ‘only’ 100K monthly listeners on Spotify and not 1M like Polyphia for example is beyond me though. The catchiness is only topped by the complexity of the songs, yet it never sounds complicated or convoluted at all. On the contrary. “Memento” emanates pure joy across every single second of its 30 minute runtime. Modern guitar prog doesn’t get much better than this. Dario

There’s space for one more fun instrumental Jazz Metal release among these highlights of the second half of May 2025, don’t you think? Amero is the brainchild of Prog Metal guitarist Clayton Amero from Edmonton, Alberta (Canada) who went to Jazz school and “came out the other side with an auditory identity crisis of both”. With saxophone leads throughout the entire album, this is of course the jazziest of all the Instrumental Prog Metal albums highlighted here in this RotW-edition. It surely doesn’t lack any heaviness at all though, as displayed perfectly on the album’s lead single ‘Cobalt-60 Jenga’. Panzerballett As Leaders with a good bit of Ckraft thrown in one might say. You might reject entropy. But you’d be making a huge mistake in rejecting Amero’s sophomore album, “Simply Reject Entropy”. Dario

British multi-instrumentalist and composer Robin Armstrong has been putting out music under the Cosmograf moniker for more than 15 years now. For some of his albums, he recruited a plethora of guest musicians that read like the who’s who of Progressive Rock. In recent years, he’s toned down on that front a bit, and his newest work, “The Orphan Epoch”, is no different. He’s joined by long-time collaborator Kyle Fenton on drums and background vocals, with a brief appearance by Peter Jones (Tiger Moth Tales, Cyan) on saxophone on one of the tracks. And even though I must say I felt a bit estranged from this kind of (Neo) Prog Rock, I can’t deny that I seemed to thoroughly enjoyed the whole album in all its diversity and creativity. But maybe that’s exactly what a lot of Neo Prog releases lack these days: the guts to shake things up a bit and not only stick to one formula for a bloated two hours release. “The Orphan Echo” is the opposite of that, and all for the better. Dario

With seven out of the ten highlights so far being entirely instrumental, it’s time for some more vocal driven stuff, I think. With Feversea’s debut album “Man Under Erasure”, the vocals are somehow a focal point as much as they blend into the instrumental backdrop of this new Post Blackgaze five piece from Oslo, Norway. As befitting for dabbling in these kinds of waters, the music is equally intense and ethereal, as the lyrics are philosophical, cryptic, yet full of intention and meaning. A cathartic experience overall and a new name to follow closely. Dario

Easily the Tech Death sensation of May 2025 (no, not the social media spectacle of Archspire finding their new drummer): the return of Eschaton. While I have to admit that I was not familiar with them before, with such a star-studded line-up including shredmaster Christian Muenzner’s second appearance on lead guitars in 2025 after the equally stunning Retromorphosis debut, expectations were naturally very high. But with the first spin of “Techtalitarian”, they were immediately blown through the roof and then some with a most excellent balance between blistering technicality and filthy brutality. Hands down an absolutely mandatory listen for every fan of Brutal Tech Death. Dario

Coming from Portland, USA are 2-piece post-black metal band Obsidian Tongue with their fourth full-length effort titled “Eclipsing Worlds of Scorn”. This album would be their first release to drop on Profound Lore and the first to come after the pandemic, next to their beautiful 2024 EP “The Stone Heart”. If you checked out one of my highlights from last month, Blood Abscission’s “I I”, there is a chance you will get a kick from this. The blend of aggressive black metal and atmospheric proggy post-metal is a really nice treat, and with members of Thrawsunblat and Falls of Rauros, it’s bound to be a pretty eclectic listen. With moments to breathe every 10-15 minutes, bringing the intensity down, and then coming back up makes every moment more unforgettable and impactful. I might be more biased lately with the subgenre, but I can tell when a band knows how to make music that hits the listener. Give this a shot! Colin

I remember the release of “Exhaust”, the latest album from US based Experimental Death squad Pyrrhon last year, and als being a bit disappointed that I didn’t really get into it emotionally despite its objective qualities. Luckily, two out of the quartet, namely guitarist/bassist/vocalist Doug Moore and drummer Stephen Schwegler finally revealed the second full length under their Death/Doom moniker Weeping Sores. Now this is stuff that reaches directly into my miserable heart and soul, especially with the frequent use of Annie Blythe’s wonderful Cello tones as well as the occasional avantgarde dissonance. Raw in emotion and sound, “The Convalescence Agonies” deliver big time and should be readily lapped up by any fan of real underground Extreme Metal. Dario

A welcome surprise drop from one of my favorite vocalists: Azure’s Chris Sampson presents four eclectic Experimental Art Pop pieces that explore different aspects of his unique style that wouldn’t fit within the Azure-universe. With his highly distinguishable timbre and one-of-a-kind vocal melodies, there surely are some similarities, but they probably end there, as the first two songs are exclusively staying within the Art Pop confines, with ‘Mayfly’ sporting a sudden Punk/Hardcore-Devin-Townsend intensity and the final ‘Life of a Wyvern’ finishing things off in Mike-Patton-goes-flamboyant-fantasy style. More random Lord of the Gap EPs most likely dropping throughout the upcoming year? Bring ‘em on! Dario

Instrumental Post Rock Pt. 1, the French Sludgy Psychedelic Stoner edition! “Bakeneko” is the name of the new album by French trio Stone From The Sky and the giant monster two-tailed, three-eyed ghost mountain cat from the cover artwork looks exactly like the music sounds: huge, dangerous, mysterious, but at the same time I’d expect it to curl up and start purring immediately once tamed. Sounds weird? Well, listen for yourself and you might understand what I’m talking about. Dario

Instrumental Post Rock Pt. 2, UK edition! “Paramnesia” is the third album from UK based quartet Kusanagi. Compared to their French counterparts Stone From The Sky (see highlight above), their sound is ultra clean, which is not to say sterile at all though. The atmospheric guitar pickings weave in and out of each other, creating a sound that seems to glow from within, just like the hovering stellar object on the cover artwork. Or reflecting a warm light from far away like a moon. You choose. Dario

Post Rock Pt. 3, UK EP edition! Another British quartet, L.O.E. (Last of Eden) bring us a small three track EP on the way to their upcoming second full length album. But the music you’ll find on “I Was Not Magnificent” is anything but small. A feast for any Post Rock lover with towering, huge atmospheres and thoughtful voice-samples. So you can either dream away, or get lost in your thoughts. Which can be the same thing, but doesn’t have to be necessarily. Oh and btw, they’ll be doing a short three-dates UK run with Kusanagi (see highlight above), how cool is that? Dario

No matter in which guise A.A. Williams will present her compositions, there will always be an aura of magic, wonder and mysticism around them. Pure emotions poured into song. Be it delicate string arrangements like on the 2021 EP “arco”, or this newest “Audiotree Live” document with stripped down trio-arrangements of four of her songs. A stark reminder that beauty like sorrow is ephemeral, like life itself. Also, don’t forget to check out those UK/Europe tour dates in January/February 2026 for that slow fix of live melancholy: https://www.aawilliamsmusic.com/gigs. Dario

Certainly one of the artistically most daring projects recently was Kilter’s Avantgarde Jazz Metal Opera “La Suspendida” with the SEVEN)SUNS string quartet, a Growler’s Choir and last but not least the Dramatic Growloratura Soprano of Andromeda Anarchia in the title role. One year after the ‘studio version’ was released through Silent Pendulum Records, there’s now a Live version which is just as crazy and fascinating. Apparently it is supposed to come with the video as well, but I haven’t found any further information as to a DVD/Bluray or VOD/download release. Until then, we’ll have to make do with the audio only, which is challenging enough to be fair. If the word genre-defying didn’t exist yet, it had to be invented for exactly this kind of insanity. Dario