Between The Buried And Me – ‘Automata I’ (Album Review)

After almost two decades in the game, Between The Buried And Me refuse to stop pushing their own boundaries. Since day one, BTBAM have consistently evolved while birthing multiple progressive masterworks. Alaska was one of the first albums that got me into structurally advanced music; Colors was…well…Colors, for fuck’s sake; and 2012’s Parallax II cemented BTBAM’s status as a new generation’s equivalent of Pink Floyd and Dream Theater Read more…

Posted on 27 February 2018

Jakub Zytecki – ‘Ladder Head / Feather Bed’ (Album Review)

There may be countless technically accomplished guitarists in the world, but Jakub Zytecki is one of a kind. The best musicians are not only able to impress using flashy chops and virtuosic gymnastics – they also succeed in making us feel something. With Ladder Head and Feather Bed – two EPs set to be combined into one full-length release – Jakub Zytecki has Read more…

Posted on 20 February 2018

Rabea Massaad – ‘Grinding Gears’ (EP Review)

As one of the Internet’s leading guitar personalities, Rabea Massaad is widely recognized by six-string aficionados worldwide as…well…a bit fucking good. A total, authoritative master of rock and metal playing with a unique, immediately recognisable style of his own, this guy knows his shit. Bea (pronounced like “beer”) is also a key member of long-term personal favourites Dorje and Toska – a pair of bands already making an impact on the online rock, metal, and instrumental prog scenes Read more…

Posted on 08 February 2018

Rolo Tomassi – ‘Time Will Die And Love Will Bury It’ (Album Review)

Rolo Tomassi are batshit crazy in the best possible way. If you fancy trying to pigeonhole them, good luck. You’d probably have to come up with some ridiculous new genre label to make it work – something like “box of mathy death-frogs” or “kitchen sinkcore”.

Alternatively, you could just call Rolo Tomassi “Rolo Tomassi”, and be Read more…

Posted on 06 February 2018

Arcane Roots – ‘Melancholia Hymns’ (Album Review)

In order to create, you sometimes have to destroy. Ripping everything up and starting again can be cathartic, reinvigorating, exciting, terrifying, relieving, overwhelming, and/or everything above all at once. Forcing yourself to confront the truly blank page takes a hell of a lot of heart, and Arcane Roots certainly have that.

Through their first album Left Fire, Arcane Roots became synonymous with air-guitar-inducing acrobatics and the kind of time changes that would make the world’s physicists weep with despair Read more…

Posted on 23 August 2017

The Contortionist – ‘Clairvoyant’ (Album Review)

In an age of constant content overload, it’s become increasingly difficult to create something that truly stands on its own. So much has been done before; so much has already been done to staggeringly high standards. Still, with 2014’s Language the Contortionist pulled off the near impossible.

Listen back further to 2012’s Intrinsic and 2010’s Exoplanet, and you’ll see how far the Contortionist leapt on Language. Over time, their fusion-flavoured influences crowded out the Contortionist’s heavy side until the results became mellower, more soulful, even ambient. Language was ultimately an uplifting prog album with strong shades of metal spliced in at just the right moments. Read more…

Posted on 16 August 2017

Leprous – ‘Malina’ (Album Review)

With so many progressive bands hastily jumping on the djent bandwagon, Leprous’ latest is a breath of fresh air. Already known for their special blend of modern prog influences (The Mars Volta, Tool, Karnivool, Devin Townsend, Symphony X, TesseracT and Dream Theater, to name a handful), Leprous have struck out for rockier pastures than those occupied on 2015’s The Congregation. Read more…

Posted on 06 August 2017

Marco Minnemann – ‘Borrego’ (Album Review)

Marco Minnemann is prolific. This is a fact well established over the past few years and albums such as Schattenspiel, Above The Roses, Celebration, and EEPS – to name only the releases which have received the review treatment here to date. Of course, on top of those projects you also have to add in Marco Minnemann’s work as a sideman to the likes of Joe Satriani and Steven Wilson, as well as his position as one third of The Aristocrats.

That’s a lot of work, enough to keep any musician occupied to the point of burnt-out, overstretched insanity Read more…

Posted on 30 July 2017