Progfreak.com Progressive Music Ratings & Reviews

The epic Octavarium makes this album. Most of the other songs are OK, a couple weaker ones.

Some few albums seem to have some kind of magic aura about them, none moreso than this one.

Took a while for me to get to even like this, but it slowly grew on me until I realized just how beautiful and unique this album is. It is the most "progressive" music I've heard, and easily Yes's finest work.

I rate this album high, mainly due to the strength of the epic Echoes, which I consider to be Pink Floyd's best work.

My favorite Ozric Tentacles that I've heard so far.

I never get tired of "Lunar Sea", the rest of the songs are pretty good too.

Yes's most underrated album.

A gorgeous album, full of emotions.

An enjoyable album from the new project by Duncan Patterson, albeit very similar to Anathema's eponymous album, Alternative 4.

Enter The Spittin' Cobras, an American hard rock band whose music is as dangerous as their name is. Year of the Cobra is the debut full-length from this Seattle-based band, and, if you like rock 'n' roll, then don't even waste anymore time reading this review – just go and buy the album!

Year of the Cobra is a massive slab of ferocious, in-your-face high octane rock 'n' roll with an OD injection of heavy metal and a touch of punk rock. And it's damn good. From the opener "All the Way" to the closer "Long Live Rock n' Roll" (a cover version of the legendary track by Dio-fronted Rainbow), the listener is pumped up beyond recognition. Don't be surprised if you find yourself in detention, having trashed up your town after listening to this album. What The Spittin' Corbras have done is they have basically taken the aesthetics and energy of bands like AC/DC and rammed steroids down its throat in the form of maxed up tempos, punked up aggression, and metalled up brutality.

Needless to say, this ...
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Singaporean blackened death metallers Impiety continue their onslaught of destruction in the form of their 8th album, aptly titled Ravage & Conquer, on which the band delivers an endless Satanic barrage of blackened death-grind chaos.

True to their style, Impiety based their songs on this album on hyper fast blastbeats, and aggressive riffage, drawing mainly on the aesthetics of death metal and grindcore as well as early Teutonic thrash. While most of the riffage is not super technical, the song structures themselves are actually quite complex, consisting of numerous riffs. Reminding us that they definitely know their way around their instruments, Impiety insert little bursts of technical guitar playing into their tracks every now and then, which definitely adds some texture to the tracks on the album.

The overall impression of the album is one of chaos and evil, and this is obviously something the band deliberately aimed at. One factor in the generation of chaos is the structural quality of the compositions themselves. Coming across as a frenzy of riffs and blastbeats, every tune is extremely intense and, I bet, the result of an underlying control that follows from advanced musicianship. The guitar solos likewise are very chaotic and might seem messy, but they actually include shredding, sweeping and other advanced techniques. The ...
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With their avant-garde approach to genre transgression, Maximum the Hormone might well be the elusive progressive nu metal band that some people are looking for. In any case, I think they are one of the most innovative bands on the nu metal scene, which, I think, is quite well documented by this single release.

The opening track "爪爪爪" (or "Tsume tsume tsume" in Romaji) was the first song from Maximum the Hormone that I heard, and it remains one of my favorite metal songs ever. After a brieft drum explosion, it starts out with an uptempo aggressive dissonant riff accompanied by extreme metal growls and screams and a fast drums, changing to a more off-beat figure and then again to a more samba-like riff and drum beat, while a more rapping style of vocals (accompanied by riot background vocals). Then the tempo drops and a crushingly heavy groovy riff kicks in, as the vocals go back to a more extreme metal style, before an extremely melodic chorus that just compels you to sing along even if you don't speak Japanese. The entire sequence of riffs is repeated, and then a groovy percussive bridge kicks in, evolving around a Latin-type of groove. Giving you another chance to sing along, the chorus is repeated, and the dissonant riff serves as a coda.

The following track "「F」" is no less sensational It starts out with a simple aggressive figure, featuring some thrashy drums, a slapping and popping bass, and aggressive riot singing, and then morphs into a melodic section featuring both vocal harmonies and rapping in extreme metal screams and growls. This is followed by a nu metal groovy riff accompanied by the same type of aggressive rapping. A brief interlude is given in form of an of beat funky section which also combines the melodic vocal harmonies and aggressive rapping. This is followed by an extremely melodic ...
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At the present moment, the most recent release by Japanese nu metallers Maximum the Hormone, "Greatest the Hits 2011-2011" is a three-track single. The band is known for their complete disregard of genre restrictions, a disregard that serves as the foundations of Maximum the Hormone's very own brand of nu metal. Thus, the album takes the listener on a journey through a landscape of heavy grooves, hardcore punk aggression, alternative metal funkiness, metallic brutality and then some.

The opening track "鬱くしき人々のうた" (officially translated by the band into "Ode to the Bluetiful People") is apparently a song about depression, which is interesting, because it starts out an uplifting happy hardcore tune, but quickly morphs into an aggressive groovy crossover/thrash affair, featuring vocal styles ranging from growls and screams over male and female rap to male and female clean vocals. After a couple of the different riffs of this more uplifting and aggressive series of riffs, a very melodic bridge kicks in which combines very soft female background vocals and ballady music with aggressive rapping. It might seem strange that a song about feeling blue combines uplifting and aggressive aesthetics, but - hey - what cures the blues better than some uplifting melodies and empowering aggressive grooves?

"Maximum the Hormone" starts out heavy and groovy, but takes on a more atmospheric character when the verse kicks in, which has the form of multi-harmonic chanting (which really utilizes the fact that all four members of the band can ...
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Granted, CB Murdoc sounds more like the name of a late 80s second rate glam metal band, but, make no mistake, this Swedish sixtet play fierce death-thrash which teems with evil and brutality.

And they make this very clear right from the explosive opening of the very first track which features a brutal death metal-style riff and blastbeating drums. Adding to the overall intensity that characterizes the album, a track like 'Patch' feature both dissonance and more post-hardcore styled riffage, while "Two In One" is an all out raging thrasher.

But, CB Murdoc is not all about brutality. In fact their brand of death-thrash is quite technical and even progressive, as they often go off into rhythmically complex passages and mind-boggling breakdowns. Their style is slightly djent-informed and also includes some elements that you might recognize from metalcore. However, before the djentophobes and metalcorophobes go running back to mamma, I should point out that these elements are far from dominant, and that they are ...
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Apparently having changed their musical direction from a more traditional power metal sound to heavier and groovier sound, Brazilian metallers Shadowside deliver something in between groove metal, modern metal and power metal on their third album "Inner Monster Out".

Most tracks draw on heavy and groovy riffage, combining them with compelling vocal melodies and, at times, elements from modern pop music, Shadowside have certainly created music which should have broad appeal inside and outside of the metal community. Granted, personally, I find the more poppy elements a bit of a turn-off, but the heavy grooves and Dani Nolden's powerful voice more than make up for that (just check out a track like 'In the Name of Love' or a track like 'Inner Monster Out' or 'I'm Your Mind'). While the overall sound is more akin to modern melodic metal, the band retain the epic choruses associated with power metal.

The musicianship is top notch, and the production is clean and crisp with a very modern edge. As mentioned, Singer Dani Nolden has a very powerful voice, and I should also mention that the guitar solos are pretty impressive and technically advanced.

Shadowside have been accused of sounding like something that would come out of the stereo of a teenage wannabe metalhead. Well, I'm in my thirties, I don't have a stereo (iPod's my choice), and I am definitely not wannabe, and still I think this album is pretty damn good.

(review originally posted at metalmusicarchives.com)

Branded a progressive melodic death metal band, In Mourning obviously have certain liberties and can get away with things that other more traditional genre-bound death metal artists might not be forgiven for.

Their latest release "The Weight of Oceans", for instance, does not at all strike me as being a death metal release. Well, that is, the vocal style consists of growls and screams, but other than that we are dealing with music which is much more in the direction of gothic metal blended with alternative rock and progressive metal. And, you know what, it is pretty good actually. I think that the melancholic bass-driven opening of the very first track 'Colossus' pretty much makes that clear.

Drawing on dark atmospheres, melodic harmonies and spicing things up with odd time signatures every now and then, In Mourning have really struck gold artistically speaking. Not unlike with gothic metal legends Paradise Lost, ...
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Finnish prog-metallers Status Minor are ready with their sophomore full-length in the form of "Ouroboros", following up on 2009's "Dialog".

Stylistically, the Status Minor stay within the world of progressive power metal, like they did on their debut, thus delivering epic and melodic metal music with powerful and memorable sing-along choruses and lush textures. Observing the conventions of progressive metal, Status Minor include keyboards into their instrumentation, which of course helps generate the above-mentioned lushness, but also delivering some spacey keyboard solos to complement the blazing and sweeping technically advanced guitar solos featured on this album.

Progressive but not inaccessible, elements such as odd time signatures do appear, but are pretty well masked by drum figures that are not too quirky, and, of course the many vocal melodies also help make the music accessible (check for instance a track like 'Stain' and the mighty 'Sail Away' which feature a number of clever odd time signatures). While a ...
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Originating as a metallic crust punk band, French aggressors Acephalix gradually took their style in a more death metal oriented direction which, on Deathless Master - their sophomore full-length release – has resulted in a sound that is not unlike the mighty Stockholm-sound of the 1990s Swedish death metal scene.

Acephalix primarily make use of primitive, but brutal, death metal riffage combined with crust punk and hardcore riffage, accompanied by a drumming style that features both d-beating and slightly more advanced death metal drumming techniques, which generates an aggressive energy which I think will appeal to many a metalhead. The uptempo parts on the album compel you to bang your head, while the heavier breakdowns are very moshing-friendly. The guitar leads are aggressive and slightly chaotic, which is another feature that fans of old school death metal should like.

The vocals consist of guttural growls – at times accompanied by screams and other vocal noises. Appearing to have been ...
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It's interesting that people accuse metal and hard rock of not being melodic, resorting instead to the crappy mainstream pop music that we are force-fed these days. What a shame that is, because there are hard rock bands out there, like Departure, whose music is massively melodic and much more artistic (they write their own music and play their own instruments etc.) and worthy of attention than your Rihannas, Lady GaGas, and Shakiras.

"Hitch A Ride" is a collection of tasty and catchy melodic hard rock songs, many of which feature a lot of AOR elements. Just check the opening theme of the very first track, which is hugely catchy and pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the album. Of course, some tracks, such as "Travel Through Time", are heavier than others, and some, like "LuvSick" and "This Is My Time", are uplifting while others are more ballady, like "Rose" and "Soldier of Fortune". Regardless of whatever mode of expression Departure operates with, one thing is ubiquitous - namely, melody.

As musicians and songwriters, Departure are incredibly skilled, and the performance is brilliant across the board. I especially appreciate the prominent use of melodic guitar leads and guitar harmonies.

I think that all the tunes on this album have something to offer, but I would like to highlight the slightly ballady "Soldier of Fortune" and the hard rockers "Travel Through Time" and "Outside Looking In" as my favorites of the album.

This is a hugely melodic and catchy hard rock album which should have broad appeal. Let's put it this way, if you like melodic music and don't give Departure's latest album a listen, then you are a total moron.

(review originally posted at metalmusicarchives.com)

I hope I will be forgiven for my initial disappointment with this album. I know, it's my own fault, but a band with a name like Veil of Maya - the accidental namesake of one of Cynic's most legendary songs - automatically led me to expect jazzed up progressive death metal. Those expectations were not met, as I was met with technical deathcore with a touch of djent instead, and the inevitable feeling of disappointment kicked in.

However, having shaken off the initial disappointment and having given the album several more spins, I of course ended up appreciating the album, because it is actually quite good. Placed somewhere between deathcore and technical death metal, Eclipse features music which is both technically advanced and also quite brutal. Taking the listener through a maze of blasbeats, djent-ish grooves, metalcore breakdowns of the more interesting kind, and bursts of advanced guitar complexities, Veil of Maya definitely challenges the listener who likes technical brutal music while at the same time appealing to those who prefer the br00tality of deathcore. To me, this is a positive experience - for some reason only very few of the bands that are labeled deathcore bands appeal to me, so I really appreciate it when I stumble upon a release associated ...
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