Little needs to be said about Chico, California’s Clouds on Strings, because once you catch even a small portion of their music, you’ll know what they are about. They are not metal, in any way really, but prog rock is an integral part of metal, and vice versa, so presenting the meta world with a [...]
Technicality and elegance amongst the progressive elite didn’t start in metal, and in fact, all of the hallmarks that make progressive “metal” so impressive can all be traced back to the greats that made progressive rock separate from the rest of the world. Dead Heroes Club is not metal, but they are quintessentially prog. Combining [...]
Queensryche is one of those bands that is largely hit or miss for me, leaning more towards the miss. I can understand people’s interest, but in large part, Queensryche is a progressive rock/metal band with aims to create powerful, epic albums which usually end up lacking substance leading me to use the term “vapid” to [...]
Birthed from the remains of Puya, the nu-metal breakout sensation from Pueto Rico that overtook the Ozzfest scene out of no where for a brief year or two and then faded into obscurity outside of their die hard fanbase, Yeva combines heavy metal riffs and latin rhthyms to create a very unique sound. Unlike his [...]
Album: Look At Yourself
Label: Mercury Records
Year: 1971
Metal in 2008 is an age in which aggression, speed and brutality rule the day. Even bands like Opeth, Rob Rock, Dream Theater, Kamelot, Rhapsody of Fire and so many other progressive and power metal bands sport faster riffs and include the occasional guest harsh vocalist and blast beat. Classic metal exists, and will never [...]
Watershed. I mean…what can you expect from a band that’s never had a bad release? To any fan of Opeth, Watershed would be another addition to an already great discography—no way it could be bad. But for a band to improve upon such great achievements is something to admire. For, Watershed, as an [...]
Tiles, a Detroit based prog group, takes the route less traveled amongst American prog metal. It seems these days bands either attempt to take the route closer to the likes of power metal, or they go in a more assertive direction ala Between the Buried and Me. In fact, one could say that calling Tiles’ [...]
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=qtAhlPcdh9c[/youtube]
Album: The Human Equation
Label: Inside Out
Year: 2004
Ayreon is probably the best musical project I have ever heard. Arjen A. Lucassen, the mastermind of all the writing of every Ayreon album, is a musical genius in my mind, with a maturation in writing and superior ensembles of singers that blows his competition out of the water. Ayreon is literally, metal’s supergroup [...]
