Tag: prog
-
Empress – Reminiscence
I told you Elder’s got a posse! A West Coast gig from our new stoner rock saviours inspired this here Vancouver trio to start kicking out their own respective jams, which has resulted in their five-song debut EP, Reminiscence. There’s two distinct types of tunes on Reminiscence—three sub-four-minute tracks, and then a pair of eight-plus…
-
Heave Blood and Die – Vol II
Now, based on the band name you’re probably thinking I’m about to review a grindcore outfit, or maybe an uber-kvlt black metal brigade. Well no, not even close—although they are from Norway. But their sound is far removed from the grim, frostbitten forest. Instead, they’re more akin to the Georgia prog-sludge of early Baroness or…
-
Best CANADIAN Metal of 2017: TOP 15
Our contributors’ submissions for this year’s best of Canadian metal list revealed a surprising amount of consensus and an unsurprising amount of varied tastes. We had so little trouble coming up with a top ten that we expanded the list to our top fifteen. And our numerous honourable mentions indicate how much more great Canadian…
-
Cattle Decapitation + more in Toronto, 31 October 2017
Cattle Decapitation + Revocation + Full of Hell + Artificial Brain @ The Opera House, Toronto on 31st October 2017 It’s the creepiest time of the year and there really is no better way to celebrate All Hallow’s Eve than to attend a gristly death metal tour. The range of bands haunting the Opera House…
-
A Devil’s Din – One Hallucination Under God
Montreal psychedelic power trip A Devil’s Din continues to impress with this, their wittily titled third album. It is a timeless album, one with a great sense of fun and humour. Indeed, unlike so much of today’s music, it is positively positive! Multi-instrumentalist David Lines is truly a man born out of time (as the…
-
Ne Obliviscaris – Urn
The music on this album is massive. But is it good? Do I like it? I have listened to this album on repeat for a few weeks now, and I am still asking myself this. On paper, I should love this. Ne Obliviscaris is an extreme prog metal band with a unique sound and some…
-
Elder – Reflections of a Floating World
Elder’s last album, Lore, finished pretty high on a lotta year-end lists a couple years back, and I suspect this one will as well. Although it was released back in June, I did not have the chance to get my hands on Reflections until I saw ‘em in concert last weekend—but if their live set…
-
Pallbearer + Kayo Dot @ Lee’s Palace, Toronto, 30 August 2017
Are we all doomed out yet? Over the last seven or so years, doom metal has risen from its moldy grave like a fiend from a ‘70s Hammer Horror film. Consequentially, this trendy reincarnation has spawned an army of redundant Black Sabbath, Candlemass, Electric Wizard and Pentagram clones as well as summoning the original corpses…
-
Stick Men + Sonar @ The Garrison, Toronto, 27 August 2017
Time to get sticky! Stick Men are a progressive rock act where all three band members stick it to conventional rock norms by playing wielding sticks – two Chapman sticks and drum sticks. Formed in 2007 by Chapman stick player Tony Levin of King Crimson fame (who has appeared on over a whopping 500 albums),…
-
Magma @ The Mod Club in Toronto, 20 August 2017
Sometimes progressive rock feels too limiting a label for an infinitely innovative collective credited with introducing unorthodox and challenging elements to music. One such act is cult legend Magma, formed in France in 1969 by the ambitious Christian Vander. Vander took Magma one step beyond other musicians at the time by creating his own language for…