DEMONSPELL'S SONGS TO WATCH
THE INDEPENDENT PROG SOURCE
An Alliance Production
Written April 18/19, 2002
Greetings, devoted readers! Because of the relative scarcity of new releases, I will be focusing more on lesser known and often self-released prog albums, of which there has been some work of great promise and quality, and these bands need every ounce of promotion. Of course, there is one album that every prog fan is looking forward to, and that is Rush's Vapor Trails. For reviewing purposes, I listened to each song once (with the exception of the advance single), wrote down my first impressions, and then deleted the files. The results of this experiment in spontaneous reviewing appear below. Warning: contains spoilers. And now, the songs:
Alias Eye River Running, Premortal Dance: German progressive rock act whose debut album Field Of Names has received some good press. Stirring chorus on the former, while the latter track from a demo contains some skilled keyboard playing. Both songs available at www.mp3.com
All Too Human Entropy, The Jester: One of the best independent prog releases Ive heard in a while, at times reminiscent of Queensryche and early Dream Theater (Derek Sherinian makes a guest appearance.) The former contains a chorus that will refuse to leave your head, while the latter has an awesome instrumental section. Samples available at official site.
Arcturus Nightmare Heaven, For To End Yet Again: The Ends most highly regarded act (well, at least until this weeks signing of Nightingale, maybe ) returns with The Sham Mirrors, arguably their most impressive work of abstract metal, and is more readily accessible than earlier releases while still being highly challenging. Latter closing track contains a number of false endings, one of which gives way to an incredible piano-led classical excursion.
Artension Area 51, Valley Of The Kings: This years Sacred Pathways was a decent release, but in my opinion the earlier Phoenix Rising best displays this neoclassicals act potential. Former track, despite its weak lyrics about the governments worst kept secret, impresses with its persistent keyboard figure and soaring vocals from John West.
Avalon Age Of Salvation, Fate Of Centuries: German progressive metal act who seems to change with every album. These songs from Vision Eden are above average prog with strong vocals and a few surprises, such as the bass breakdown in the former and the odd counterpoint vocal in the latter, which also contains a great intro.
Braindance Relentless, Only A Moment: One of the more unusual independent acts Ive ever reviewed, this New York act plays a heavily gothic tinged version of prog, complete with very deep vocals and a female guitarist. Definitely worth exploring, especially the former which creates a sinister atmosphere. More information at www.progressivedarkwave.com
Dark Tranquility A Bolt Of Blazing Gold, At Loss For Words: In honor of the upcoming Damage Done, which has been described by Niklas Sundin as a cross between The Minds I and Haven, here is a time-spanning selction of songs, beginning with Skydancers most epic offering and ending with arguably the strongest song from their current phase.
Dead Soul Tribe Cry For Tomorrow, Powertrip: Inside Out release featuring Buddy Lackey of tech-metal pioneers Psychotic Waltz, here billed as Devon Graves. As the name change might suggest, this can come across as an attempt to distance himself from his former band, the songs, while still containing some impressive sections, do not approach tech-metal in any sense of the word
Edge Of Sanity Crimson: This album-length song should need no introduction to some of my readers, but after the success of Green Carnations mega-epic I thought it would be fitting to include Dan Swanos first major boundary-pushing death metal effort. Isolating individual passages is highly difficult because there are so many great ones. Includes vocal contributions from Mikael Akerfeldt.
Everon Until The Day Breaks, Not For Sale: I seem to be including a lot of German bands in this installment. This one plays progressive rock with some metal leanings and more of an emphasis on songwriting than instrumental diversity. The latter features a great keyboard figure and the former is a warmly melodic. The band is scheduled to play at Progpower Europe, which also includes two bands with huge potential, Stonehenge and Sun Caged.
Inner Resonance Icarus, Broken Stone: Another independent progressive act discovered through the progradio.net stations (if you havent heard about the planned copyright laws regarding internet radio, I urge you to visit www.saveinternetradio.org). Former song contains a driving rhythm, while the latter contains some very skilled playing for a demo-quality debut.
Into Eternity Unholy (Fields Of The Dead), Distant Pale Future: An intriguing Canadian progressive metal act, whose material contains more than a touch of death, but these tendencies are balanced by a strong melodic sense, especially apparent on the former track, with its addictive chorus. In other words, they arent exactly tech-death. Hear for yourself at www.dvsrecords.com
The Jelly Jam No Remedy, I Am The King: This has to be the ugliest album cover of all time, excluding any black metal album that has a shirtless corpsepainted battleaxe wielding guy on it. Formerly known as Platypus, this features John Myung, although his talents arent on that much display here. Somewhat enjoyable and better than the other two albums, but still the worst of the DT side projects.
Labyrinth New Horizons, Time After Time: This band has been the subject of speculation recently, given their inability to address rumors that they have disbanded. Here are two of the better tracks from the album that established their reputation and so far have been unable to deliver a successful followup, Return To Heaven Denied. Some of the best guitar-keyboard interplay Ive ever heard.
Mezarkabul In Esir Like An Eagle, This Too Will Pass: Also known as Pentagram, this is one of the more promising acts on the Noise/Sanctuary label, playing a darker edged version of power metal. Both of these songs contain sharp riffs and strong choruses with some Middle Eastern touches, appropriate to their origin.
My Dying Bride Two Winters Only, The Return To The Beautiful: Set to release a DVD and live album (Voice Of The Wretched, whose title and artwork may cause some confusion because it isnt clearly identified as such), here are two of their more interesting tracks, the former evolving from a mournful beginning into a cathartic climax, while the latter is an expansion of a track from their debut.
Nokturnal Mortum Return Of The Vampire Lord, Carpathian Mysteries: Black metal act that has received widespread controversy over their explicit Nazism (ironic considering they are of Slavic descent), which got them dumped from The Ends roster. However, their earlier releases dont rely on this disturbing trend in black metal, and contain material reminiscent of Emperor.
Nonexist Idols And Fiends, Ebony Tower: Melodic death project notable for its two primary members: former Arch Enemy vocalist Johan Liiva and excellent young Andromeda guitarist Johan Reinholdz. Both of these songs lean towards the formers melodic death, although the other Johan shows his impressive talents on both songs. Fans of both bands should definitely look into this.
Planet X Apocalypse 1470 BC, Ignotius Per Ignotum: Sherinian, Macalpine, and Donati are back with a live album covering their two albums of instrumental prog madness, including a run through of the Atlantis suite on the first, to which the former belongs. Latter song is an awesome new track set to be included on the forthcoming Moon Babies. Amazing musicianship and superb production on Live From Oz.
Sentenced Cross My Heart And Hope To Die, You Are The One: A pair of songs from the upcoming Cold White Light, which promises to improve on the inconsistent (some would say lifeless) Crimson. The latter track definitely does, showing more energy than usual, and the former also finds the band in strong form. Note: several of the new songs are incorrectly labeled.
Shape Of Despair Angels Of Distress, Down Into The Stream: This band is highly regarded among doom fans, so I thought Id give them a try. The former title track from their latest release lives up to their promise: very heavy, very epic, and quite harrowing at times. Latter song features a powerful extended intro.
Soilwork As We Speak, Song Of The Damned: With their fourth release Natural Born Chaos, this often maligned band has finally shed the Gothenburg clone tag, in no small part thanks to Devin Townsends excellent production, the presence of former Evergrey keyboardist Sven Karlsson, and vastly improved clean vocals, prominent on the chorus of the latter. Easily their best to date.
Sonus Umbra Erich Zann, Homo Homini Lupus: Another independent prog act, this one originally from Mexico but now based in Baltimore (leaving one hellhole for another ). Both of these tracks are primarily instrumental, featuring some strange passages, appropriate given that the former is named for Lovecrafts tormented musician. Inspired acoustic work on the latter, whose title is Latin for werewolf.
Star One Master Of Darkness, The Eye Of Ra: The much anticipated project finds Arjen Lucassen accomplishing his goal of writing another space opera with four distinct vocalists, all of whom turn in great performances, although Dan Swano and Floor Jansen are a bit underused. The former track finds the music squarely in the progressive metal field Arjen is aiming for, while the latter reminds one of Ayreons most epic material.
Virgo Fiction, To Be: Side project of producer Sascha Paeth and former Angra frontman Andre Matos. This heads in a more melodic rock direction. Both of these songs are highly orchestrated ballads, which work to mixed success. Too bad Andre dropped out of the far more interesting Looking Glass Self project.
Zeal Camera Down To The Planet, Assimilation: Another independent prog act whose demo has been featured on Progged Radio, a great source for finding up and coming acts. The lengthy former track features some impressive musicianship, while the latter is a more energetic power metal-leaning track, although the strained vocals give it a slightly different slant.
The Vapor Chase - First Impressions
1: One Little Victory initially didn't grab me at first, but it is a very catchy song, and appropriate as the first single because it is indicative of much of the album, and Rush's determination to remain vital.
2: Ceiling Unlimited reminds me of Counterparts a little. The proggiest track so far. Culture is the curse of the thinking class. A superb track, this will definitely be a quick fan favorite.
3: Ghost Rider - This isn't grabbing me as much as the others, but it is still a strong composition. Could have been on MFH. Also the name of Neil's upcoming book.
4: Peaceable Kingdom has a great chorus...and why does just about every song on the album so far have wordless vocals at one point or another? Great song, and very timely given the current political climate.
5: I like the way Stars Look Down begins with a deceptively simple riff before piling on the Rushisms...warmly melodic chorus here. Another killer instrumental section. What is the meaning of this? Definitely a future fan favorite.
6: How It Is - Some great acoustic work here, complemented with a strange fuzzy effect on the verses. More melodic rock than prog, but still unmistakably Rush.
7: Vapor Trail...Neil's vast percussive vocabulary used to great effect here. The detail here will impress prog fans everywhere.
8: On to Secret Touch...the progression in this song is stunning! Some of the best work from Geddy so far, both on bass and vocals. The way out is a way in. Awesome instrumental section, more devastating skill! Magnificent outro. Best song on the album at first listen.
9: Earthshine has some of the hardest rocking verses Rush has done in a long time. Geddy seems buried in the mix at times, but sounds really good. Actually, it sounds fantastic. Another definite highlight.
10: Nice lead bass in Sweet Miracle, but the rest of the song is a bit unspectacular, although I can tell this must have great meaning for Neil.
11: Nocturne reminds me of a less synth heavy version of their 80s work, until that odd transition riff to the chorus appears, some of Alex's oddest phrasings in years. Did I have the dream, or did the dream have me? This could be the start of yet another intriguing new direction for Rush.
12: Holy crap, the intro of Freeze is nothing I would ever expect from Rush. I am loving this album. We still haven't settled the issue about what the Fear series will be called now.
13: Out Of The Cradle has a great driving rhythm in it, and again some inventive work from Alex. Possibly Rush's best closer since Available Light.
THE INDEPENDENT PROG SOURCE
An Alliance Production
Written April 18/19, 2002
Greetings, devoted readers! Because of the relative scarcity of new releases, I will be focusing more on lesser known and often self-released prog albums, of which there has been some work of great promise and quality, and these bands need every ounce of promotion. Of course, there is one album that every prog fan is looking forward to, and that is Rush's Vapor Trails. For reviewing purposes, I listened to each song once (with the exception of the advance single), wrote down my first impressions, and then deleted the files. The results of this experiment in spontaneous reviewing appear below. Warning: contains spoilers. And now, the songs:
Alias Eye River Running, Premortal Dance: German progressive rock act whose debut album Field Of Names has received some good press. Stirring chorus on the former, while the latter track from a demo contains some skilled keyboard playing. Both songs available at www.mp3.com
All Too Human Entropy, The Jester: One of the best independent prog releases Ive heard in a while, at times reminiscent of Queensryche and early Dream Theater (Derek Sherinian makes a guest appearance.) The former contains a chorus that will refuse to leave your head, while the latter has an awesome instrumental section. Samples available at official site.
Arcturus Nightmare Heaven, For To End Yet Again: The Ends most highly regarded act (well, at least until this weeks signing of Nightingale, maybe ) returns with The Sham Mirrors, arguably their most impressive work of abstract metal, and is more readily accessible than earlier releases while still being highly challenging. Latter closing track contains a number of false endings, one of which gives way to an incredible piano-led classical excursion.
Artension Area 51, Valley Of The Kings: This years Sacred Pathways was a decent release, but in my opinion the earlier Phoenix Rising best displays this neoclassicals act potential. Former track, despite its weak lyrics about the governments worst kept secret, impresses with its persistent keyboard figure and soaring vocals from John West.
Avalon Age Of Salvation, Fate Of Centuries: German progressive metal act who seems to change with every album. These songs from Vision Eden are above average prog with strong vocals and a few surprises, such as the bass breakdown in the former and the odd counterpoint vocal in the latter, which also contains a great intro.
Braindance Relentless, Only A Moment: One of the more unusual independent acts Ive ever reviewed, this New York act plays a heavily gothic tinged version of prog, complete with very deep vocals and a female guitarist. Definitely worth exploring, especially the former which creates a sinister atmosphere. More information at www.progressivedarkwave.com
Dark Tranquility A Bolt Of Blazing Gold, At Loss For Words: In honor of the upcoming Damage Done, which has been described by Niklas Sundin as a cross between The Minds I and Haven, here is a time-spanning selction of songs, beginning with Skydancers most epic offering and ending with arguably the strongest song from their current phase.
Dead Soul Tribe Cry For Tomorrow, Powertrip: Inside Out release featuring Buddy Lackey of tech-metal pioneers Psychotic Waltz, here billed as Devon Graves. As the name change might suggest, this can come across as an attempt to distance himself from his former band, the songs, while still containing some impressive sections, do not approach tech-metal in any sense of the word
Edge Of Sanity Crimson: This album-length song should need no introduction to some of my readers, but after the success of Green Carnations mega-epic I thought it would be fitting to include Dan Swanos first major boundary-pushing death metal effort. Isolating individual passages is highly difficult because there are so many great ones. Includes vocal contributions from Mikael Akerfeldt.
Everon Until The Day Breaks, Not For Sale: I seem to be including a lot of German bands in this installment. This one plays progressive rock with some metal leanings and more of an emphasis on songwriting than instrumental diversity. The latter features a great keyboard figure and the former is a warmly melodic. The band is scheduled to play at Progpower Europe, which also includes two bands with huge potential, Stonehenge and Sun Caged.
Inner Resonance Icarus, Broken Stone: Another independent progressive act discovered through the progradio.net stations (if you havent heard about the planned copyright laws regarding internet radio, I urge you to visit www.saveinternetradio.org). Former song contains a driving rhythm, while the latter contains some very skilled playing for a demo-quality debut.
Into Eternity Unholy (Fields Of The Dead), Distant Pale Future: An intriguing Canadian progressive metal act, whose material contains more than a touch of death, but these tendencies are balanced by a strong melodic sense, especially apparent on the former track, with its addictive chorus. In other words, they arent exactly tech-death. Hear for yourself at www.dvsrecords.com
The Jelly Jam No Remedy, I Am The King: This has to be the ugliest album cover of all time, excluding any black metal album that has a shirtless corpsepainted battleaxe wielding guy on it. Formerly known as Platypus, this features John Myung, although his talents arent on that much display here. Somewhat enjoyable and better than the other two albums, but still the worst of the DT side projects.
Labyrinth New Horizons, Time After Time: This band has been the subject of speculation recently, given their inability to address rumors that they have disbanded. Here are two of the better tracks from the album that established their reputation and so far have been unable to deliver a successful followup, Return To Heaven Denied. Some of the best guitar-keyboard interplay Ive ever heard.
Mezarkabul In Esir Like An Eagle, This Too Will Pass: Also known as Pentagram, this is one of the more promising acts on the Noise/Sanctuary label, playing a darker edged version of power metal. Both of these songs contain sharp riffs and strong choruses with some Middle Eastern touches, appropriate to their origin.
My Dying Bride Two Winters Only, The Return To The Beautiful: Set to release a DVD and live album (Voice Of The Wretched, whose title and artwork may cause some confusion because it isnt clearly identified as such), here are two of their more interesting tracks, the former evolving from a mournful beginning into a cathartic climax, while the latter is an expansion of a track from their debut.
Nokturnal Mortum Return Of The Vampire Lord, Carpathian Mysteries: Black metal act that has received widespread controversy over their explicit Nazism (ironic considering they are of Slavic descent), which got them dumped from The Ends roster. However, their earlier releases dont rely on this disturbing trend in black metal, and contain material reminiscent of Emperor.
Nonexist Idols And Fiends, Ebony Tower: Melodic death project notable for its two primary members: former Arch Enemy vocalist Johan Liiva and excellent young Andromeda guitarist Johan Reinholdz. Both of these songs lean towards the formers melodic death, although the other Johan shows his impressive talents on both songs. Fans of both bands should definitely look into this.
Planet X Apocalypse 1470 BC, Ignotius Per Ignotum: Sherinian, Macalpine, and Donati are back with a live album covering their two albums of instrumental prog madness, including a run through of the Atlantis suite on the first, to which the former belongs. Latter song is an awesome new track set to be included on the forthcoming Moon Babies. Amazing musicianship and superb production on Live From Oz.
Sentenced Cross My Heart And Hope To Die, You Are The One: A pair of songs from the upcoming Cold White Light, which promises to improve on the inconsistent (some would say lifeless) Crimson. The latter track definitely does, showing more energy than usual, and the former also finds the band in strong form. Note: several of the new songs are incorrectly labeled.
Shape Of Despair Angels Of Distress, Down Into The Stream: This band is highly regarded among doom fans, so I thought Id give them a try. The former title track from their latest release lives up to their promise: very heavy, very epic, and quite harrowing at times. Latter song features a powerful extended intro.
Soilwork As We Speak, Song Of The Damned: With their fourth release Natural Born Chaos, this often maligned band has finally shed the Gothenburg clone tag, in no small part thanks to Devin Townsends excellent production, the presence of former Evergrey keyboardist Sven Karlsson, and vastly improved clean vocals, prominent on the chorus of the latter. Easily their best to date.
Sonus Umbra Erich Zann, Homo Homini Lupus: Another independent prog act, this one originally from Mexico but now based in Baltimore (leaving one hellhole for another ). Both of these tracks are primarily instrumental, featuring some strange passages, appropriate given that the former is named for Lovecrafts tormented musician. Inspired acoustic work on the latter, whose title is Latin for werewolf.
Star One Master Of Darkness, The Eye Of Ra: The much anticipated project finds Arjen Lucassen accomplishing his goal of writing another space opera with four distinct vocalists, all of whom turn in great performances, although Dan Swano and Floor Jansen are a bit underused. The former track finds the music squarely in the progressive metal field Arjen is aiming for, while the latter reminds one of Ayreons most epic material.
Virgo Fiction, To Be: Side project of producer Sascha Paeth and former Angra frontman Andre Matos. This heads in a more melodic rock direction. Both of these songs are highly orchestrated ballads, which work to mixed success. Too bad Andre dropped out of the far more interesting Looking Glass Self project.
Zeal Camera Down To The Planet, Assimilation: Another independent prog act whose demo has been featured on Progged Radio, a great source for finding up and coming acts. The lengthy former track features some impressive musicianship, while the latter is a more energetic power metal-leaning track, although the strained vocals give it a slightly different slant.
The Vapor Chase - First Impressions
1: One Little Victory initially didn't grab me at first, but it is a very catchy song, and appropriate as the first single because it is indicative of much of the album, and Rush's determination to remain vital.
2: Ceiling Unlimited reminds me of Counterparts a little. The proggiest track so far. Culture is the curse of the thinking class. A superb track, this will definitely be a quick fan favorite.
3: Ghost Rider - This isn't grabbing me as much as the others, but it is still a strong composition. Could have been on MFH. Also the name of Neil's upcoming book.
4: Peaceable Kingdom has a great chorus...and why does just about every song on the album so far have wordless vocals at one point or another? Great song, and very timely given the current political climate.
5: I like the way Stars Look Down begins with a deceptively simple riff before piling on the Rushisms...warmly melodic chorus here. Another killer instrumental section. What is the meaning of this? Definitely a future fan favorite.
6: How It Is - Some great acoustic work here, complemented with a strange fuzzy effect on the verses. More melodic rock than prog, but still unmistakably Rush.
7: Vapor Trail...Neil's vast percussive vocabulary used to great effect here. The detail here will impress prog fans everywhere.
8: On to Secret Touch...the progression in this song is stunning! Some of the best work from Geddy so far, both on bass and vocals. The way out is a way in. Awesome instrumental section, more devastating skill! Magnificent outro. Best song on the album at first listen.
9: Earthshine has some of the hardest rocking verses Rush has done in a long time. Geddy seems buried in the mix at times, but sounds really good. Actually, it sounds fantastic. Another definite highlight.
10: Nice lead bass in Sweet Miracle, but the rest of the song is a bit unspectacular, although I can tell this must have great meaning for Neil.
11: Nocturne reminds me of a less synth heavy version of their 80s work, until that odd transition riff to the chorus appears, some of Alex's oddest phrasings in years. Did I have the dream, or did the dream have me? This could be the start of yet another intriguing new direction for Rush.
12: Holy crap, the intro of Freeze is nothing I would ever expect from Rush. I am loving this album. We still haven't settled the issue about what the Fear series will be called now.
13: Out Of The Cradle has a great driving rhythm in it, and again some inventive work from Alex. Possibly Rush's best closer since Available Light.
