Suffering so you don't have to!
Metalcatto
Sometimes, a cat needs a break from all the goat sounds and drum farting. Something a little closer to home, perhaps. Lumsk is giving us a mix of Prog and Norwegian Folk, which is a pretty daring combination when you consider that one genre is about keeping things simple and the other is about making everything unnecessarily complicated. How could Einsemda possibly work, then? That’s why you’re here: to find out if these people can actually pull it off!
Metalcatto
Who the heck is Dikajee? This was my first question. However, The Frame came from a good promoter, so why not believe in her? Nothing like a good Kickstarter to fund an album. I’m not being sarcastic. This tells me that the project aims to have complete creative freedom and a good budget. That gives me hope to have something that will finally surprise me in the Prog Rock department this year.
Thechopstickdrummer
Israeli Ethno-Prog ensemble SUBMASQ (previously Subterranean Masquerade) joins the slew of masked bands. We’ve all come across S***p T***n, Korn, and Ghost, but have any of them donned the intriguing creation that vocalist Vivi Dolev wears on the album art (Yalon Schori, Shay Darvish)? I figured as much. For their debut on Willowtip Records, SUBMASQ taps deeper into their traditional and progressive minds to bring forth Spirit Animal, their fifth full-length record. Fit with a diverse instrumental session crew and a regained sense of imagination (the band released a short EP this February with a contemptible AI-generated cover), SUBMASQ is already impressing cranky ol’ me. Can they keep it up?
Metalcatto
You know what we don’t cover much around here? Traditional Proggy albums. It’s just not something many bands can do better than Dream Theater. However, North Sea Echoes‘ How to Cast a Shadow isn’t exactly a Prog album. It has a lot of the aesthetics, but it simplifies many things. There’s way less instrumental wanking here. I know that might let you down, but how about the other elements? Are they good? Let’s see.
Metalcatto
I can count on one hand the times an instrumental album has received a full review at MER Industries. It’s nothing personal. We just don’t get too many submissions of this kind, and even fewer from a promoter or label. The truth is, you customers love music where someone just shouts at you constantly. However, Vortex Sutra is a Prog Rock band that is pretty different from what we usually cover. Its album Noumenon surprised me and in a way challenged my reviewer’s habits. That’s good, right? Let’s find out.
Metalcatto
We don’t cover nearly enough Prog/retro-Rock here. That’s almost an intentional decision, because historically, I feel retro-Rock has become the equivalent of Oscar-bait but for Metal reviewers—albums that are enjoyable but have no effect on the genre’s zeitgeist, yet still receive mountains of praise. Anyway, Coffin Hunters hopefully delivers something that’s interesting, nostalgic, and also creative. Cosmic Dawn‘s artwork tells you exactly what this is about, so let’s get into it right away.
Metalcatto
Let’s do this as usual! With violence!
Metalcatto
No mercy! Let’s go!
Metalcatto
Too many bands as usual, so let’s go!
Metalcatto
Hi there! It’s about time we check what we’ve missed this year. We get thousands of promos, and some good stuff is bound to end up in the junk folder—or worse, just buried under all the PR. Anyway, I wanted to focus on the peculiar Prog music that hasn’t had as much attention as it should so far. Notice I’m just using the term “Prog” generally instead of “people who play wacky music that will demand a music degree from you.” But let’s stop wasting time and begin!
