Danish art-rock band Liserstille’s eighth album, Ilt, is a binaural recording of a live composition piece that unfolded over the course of six days with the recording taking place. As such, track names are more accurately thought of as movements…
View More Liserstille – IltAuthor: Eric Strother (Guest)
Wills Dissolve – The Heavens Are Not On Fire
Texas-based progressive metal band Wills Dissolve’s debut album, The Heavens are Not on Fire, is an Opethian meditation on misanthropy and religion told through the lens of a rural West Texas religious community’s reaction to the Leonid meteor storm of…
View More Wills Dissolve – The Heavens Are Not On FireEthernity – The Human Race Extinction
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: a progressive metal band creates an album around the story of a futuristic dystopian world where robots have taken over. That’s the story behind the female-fronted, Belgium-based band Ethernity’s third full-length album, The…
View More Ethernity – The Human Race ExtinctionTomorrow’s Eve – Mirror of Creation III: Project Ikaros
After a decade-long break, Tomorrow’s Eve is back with the third chapter of its Mirror of Creation trilogy, Project Ikaros. The entire album is a dramatisation of a Utopian world created by “Project Ikaros”, which seems like something straight out…
View More Tomorrow’s Eve – Mirror of Creation III: Project IkarosAmalgam Effect – As We Were
As We Were is the sophomore release from Colorado-based Amalgam Effect. The band is heavily steeped in ’70s-era prog rock, and cites influences as diverse as J.S. Bach, John Cage, Jethro Tull, Iron Maiden, Rush, and Opeth. That isn’t to…
View More Amalgam Effect – As We WereThe Dark Element – The Dark Element
When I first learned Anette Olzon (former vocalist for Nightwish) and Jani Liimatainen (founding member and guitarist for Sonata Arctica) were collaborating on a project called The Dark Element, I jumped at the chance to review it. Olzon is one…
View More The Dark Element – The Dark ElementTHRAK by King Crimson – The Complete Scores
Former King Crimson member Trey Gunn has partnered with Gabriel Riccio to create a set of full-band transcriptions of the band’s 1995 release THRAK. They do a good job not only of transferring those recorded performances into written form (working…
View More THRAK by King Crimson – The Complete ScoresThe Great Discord – The Rabbit Hole
Imagine that Lady Gaga and Alice Cooper collaborated with the creative minds behind American Horror Story on a musical retelling of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. You’ve just imagined The Rabbit Hole — the sophomore album by Swedish “progressive death…
View More The Great Discord – The Rabbit HoleOmnisighT – The Power of One
The Power of One is the latest release from Vancouver-based progressive rock/metal band OmnisighT. Musically, the album has an overall classic ’80s/’90s sound that is melodic with big hooks and technical guitar solos. The album’s strength lies in the band’s…
View More OmnisighT – The Power of One