Pomegranate Tiger – ‘Boundless’ [Review]

Listening to Boundless, you’d never guess that Pomegranate Tiger is a one-man band. The fact that it is is fucking mind-blowing; Pomegranate Tiger head honcho Martin Andres not only wrote all the music you can hear via Bandcamp below, but also laid down all the drums, guitars, and piano you’ll hear down there as well. Respect is definitely due.

Above all else, Boundless is brutal. Technically, it’s bang on the money; Andres’s playing is super clean, super tight, and relentlessly intense. Album centrepiece Paper Hammers showcases Andres’s softer side, as Read more…

Posted on 05 January 2016

Derange – ‘The Awakening’ [Review]

About a month ago, I watched as Derange tore London’s Boston Music Room a new one in the process of opening for underground heavyweights Dorje. To cut short a long story already told in this live review, it was immense. After that show, I had to hear more.

Fans of tech-metal stars Tesseract, Karnivool, and Periphery will feel immediately at home with The Awakening. That said, this is not just another djent-related release to toss on the “Heard It A Thousand Times Before” pile. Derange draw heavily from Read more…

Posted on 04 January 2016

Lithium Dawn – ‘Tearing Back The Veil I: Ascension’ [Review]

This is one of the most inspiring metal albums of 2015.

With the first part of Tearing Back The Veil, Lithium Dawn have set out to stretch the boundaries of tech-heavy progressive metal. It’s an ambitious task, to say the least; with luminaries such as Meshuggah, Karnivool, Periphery, Tool and Tesseract already forging new paths into the future, it’s easy to overlook the underground underdogs out there, and assume that everyone bar the legends are paying lip service to progression while actually playing catch-up.

One of the most attractive aspects of the prog world is the fact that anything goes. It’s like watching a Thunderbirds rerun from the ’60s: “Anything can happen in the next half hour!” We expect twists, turns, and tangents – but Lithium Dawn don’t just live up to that expectation. They go beyond it, into the Read more…

Posted on 20 November 2015

Intervals – ‘The Shape Of Colour’ [Review]

Calling Intervals’ history complicated would be a serious understatement. Aaron Marshall’s brainchild has switched from instrumental to vocal-led prog metal and back again amid multiple lineup changes. Throw in an extended struggle with Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome, and you have the kind of situation that pretty much anyone would find difficult to deal with.

The Shape Of Colour is the end result of Aaron Marshall’s fight to make something good out of something bad. The results are not Read more…

Posted on 14 November 2015

Teramaze – ‘Her Halo’ [Review]

Opening an album with a 13-minute epic, taking in everything from delicate acoustic guitar arpeggios and gracefully dramatic piano to chunky, churning riffs and soaring solos in the process, is not a move most bands would choose to make.

But then, Teramaze aren’t most bands.

After An Ordinary Dream establishes Teramaze’s home territory – a fastidiously percolated progressive-metallic blend of Symphony X, Dream Theater, and Karnivool – these guys spend the duration of Her Halo exploring both its hyperdense core and wild outer limits. The result is a journey full of Read more…

Posted on 29 September 2015

Scale The Summit – ‘V’ [Review]

On V, their fifth album (and third long-player since 2009’s career-skyrocketing Carving Desert Canyons), Scale The Summit have sought to further expand their already considerable repertoire of instru-mental pieces. Heavy on the heaviness, equally shred-happy and melodically restrained, and fond of harmonic complexity, Scale The Summit remain in a class of their own here.

After ticking off almost every item an instrumental progressive metal act could stick on their wish list (tours with everyone from Dream Theater and Devin Townsend to Yes, Periphery, and Between The Buried And Me; ecstatic levels of praise from all corners; even a Billboard-charting album in 2013’s The Migration), Scale The Summit could be forgiven for resting on their laurels – Read more…

Posted on 23 September 2015

Teramaze – ‘Out Of Subconscious’ [Review]

In order for someone to become world-class at a particular skill, research indicates that at least 10,000 hours of practice are required. The individual members of Teramaze have clearly put in way more than that. They represent progressive metal at its most engaging, immersive, and addictive – a tough peak to hit considering the competition.

Out Of Subconscious sounds like Symphony X jamming with Dream Theater and Karnivool. Read more…

Posted on 15 September 2015