Progressive Metal

After an exceptionally long year full of personal change and near manic levels of creative activity, Canadian musician Devin Townsend releases his follow up to 2019’s acclaimed ‘Empath’ album. Assembled from a barrage of material written during the pandemic ‘Lightwork’ represents a new level, and has ended up being one of the most accessible, yet ambitious releases of his storied career. A project that has been on Devin’s mind since he was a teen, (and flirted with throughout his career) is a more melodic and direct album with a great producer to help guide the work. Enter Garth Richardson: A Vancouver based producer with a long resume and a friend of Devin’s for many years. And the goal? To provide something beautiful, cathartic, powerful and clear. A sense of optimism and power through what can be commonly known as a ‘depressing period’. It’s about strength, love, acceptance, fear, and overcoming together. Guests on the record include friends and stalwarts from his past (Anneke Van Giersbergen, Ché Aimee Dorval, Morgan Agren, Mike Keneally, Steve Vai, Elektra Women’s Choir) as well as some newer friends and faces (Darby Todd, Diego Tejeida, Nathan Navarro, Federico Paulovich, Jonas Hellborg), and also, in a rather hard to believe turn of events, legend producer and guitar player Nile Rodger plays on the track ‘HoneyBunch’.

“Devolution Series #2 - Galactic Quarantine” was recorded between July and September 2020 in various places around the world. Originally streamed on September 5th, 2020 on StageIt.com as a replacement show for the COVID affected “Empath Vol 2 European Tour” and various cancelled Summer festivals. The show features Devin on vocals and guitars, Samus Paulicelli III on drums, Wes Hauch on guitars and Diego Tejeida on keys. 

The Custodian is a new British post-progressive rock band formed by Richard Thomson, vocalist for cinematic death metal band Xerath.  Unlike Xerath, The Custodian is an outlet for the more melodic, rock oriented writing from Thomson.While there are moments in the album that harken back to old school bands like Genesis and Yes, the music of The Custodian is contemporary in sound.  Necessary Wasted Time is an album full of dynamics - light and dark shadings balancing acoustic vs electric, heavy vs pastoral.  While atmospherics and tension are a strong component of the album, the band demonstrates their adept musicianship offering up long instrumental passages to complement the emotion filled vocals.  When needed the band unleashes some complex electric runs.The Custodian's debut should deeply resonate with fans of Steven Wilson, Riverside, Pineapple Thief, and Anathema.Necessary Wasted Time was mixed by noted engineer Jacob Hansen and give the full audiophile mastering treatment from Bob Katz. 

In a time where progressive music is rising and there are so many options available to new listeners, it takes serious guts and personality to turn heads anymore. Norway’s Leprous has done just that in recent years, and it has been such a joy to watch them emerge into the limelight of awareness within the progressive community. It is no wonder, however, as Leprous continues to mature and to cling ever closer to their hearts when crafting new music.Leprous is a visionary band that defies genre labelling, not just in the style, but also in their attitude. After releasing “Tall Poppy Syndrome” (2009), “Bilateral” (2011) and “Coal” (2013); these artists released their monster album “The Congregation” (2015) that spurred high acclaim and an enormous world tour. Leprous, however, is not a band that takes success resting on their hind quarters, as they believe in pushing boundaries, learning from their mistakes, and following their instincts. They are prepared to release their new album “Malina” this summer, and it is set to offer a left hook to the progressive world.Of all things, Leprous is not a band that can be caged into any single genre. They aren’t interested in any of that. What they do believe in, however, is pursuing their artistic passions and following wherever their hearts may lead. They have been celebrated for years for their evocative mix of polyrhythmic grooves, melancholy atmospheres, melodic vocals, and biting lyrics; but their new album represents a pure stream of consciousness in the changes they have made to their sound. It’s in this imaginative style of composition that the band finds “a lot of the beauty about composing and creating: There’s always movement.”The band, however, found their instincts leading them away from simply polishing the melancholy progressive metal of “The Congregation”. They followed their conviction about creating music that feels right in the moment, which they consider to be the core of all true musical expression. In the process, Leprous has become a band that is “more accurately defined as a rock band than a metal band”, though even that label is unsatisfactory and binding to them. This is music that expresses their souls, embodies their passion, and confirms their genius.  They believe in making quality music that speaks to who they are right here and right now.About these changes, the band had this to say, "This album is the perfect example on how you can start with avision and ending up with a result that has nothing to do with the original idea. The writing of the album started out with the idea to perfect the sound and working method we began with on "The Congregation". While the writing process was actually pretty similar (30 sketches, elimination process etc etc) we gradually started noticing stuff with the sound and the songwriting on the previous album that we wanted to sound different. Gradually we realised what needed to be done. This album needs to sound more alive, more organic and more dynamic. The longer into the process the more obsessed we got with this idea”.“Malina” is set to be a change in direction in more ways than one. Right away, you can see that the cover art is more colorful and more mysterious than they’ve ever had in the past. The album itself has been nothing short of a labor of love. The album took 4 times as many days in the studio to record as past albums, as the band was certain that the sound they wanted would be found in the recording studio, and not in a digital mask that would be applied during the mixing stage.With this concept in mind, David Castillo of Ghostward Studios was brought in to produce and record the album to meet the band’s demands for a specific sound and the then went with Jens Bogren again to mix the album.  The band was however adamant about what this album needed to be, “We wanted it to sound like it sounded.  We did not want to "digitalise" the sound.”The members of Leprous have poured their blood, sweat, and tears into the process of creating “Malina”. They’ve challenged themselves to mature and grow in ways they themselves did not expect. It’s because of these amazing qualities that the band is set to conquer the music scene once again in 2017. Combining a new album with a fresh sound with their upcoming, biggest headline tour yet Leprous is ready to bring their passion and badass energy to fans and new audiences worldwide this year.

I can't remember a buzz on a band's debut since Circus Maximus.  Perhaps due to the album being released in Japan a year ago and its unavailability elsewhere, maybe because they are lined up to play ProgPowerUSA.  Whatever the reason the album finally gets a wide debut and it was worth the wait.  Damnation Angels is a British symphonic metal band fronted by a Norwegian singer.  He goes by the name PelleK and was a contestant on Norway's version of X Factor.  The band's stock in trade is epic sounding metal that pays a huge debt to Kamelot.  The instrumental passages take on the grandeur and scope of Nightwish.  PelleK does a sold job out front - he's obviously listened to a Khan quite a bit.  Highly recommended.

“You can expect a beefy rock album, freak style. I think that Cooking with Pagans finally has the sound and energy of Freak Kitchen live; the energy and rawness. It is anything but overproduced, stripped down, drums, bass and guitar. To the point.” – Mattias “IA” EklundhIt has been 5 years since Freak Kitchen graced us with a new album.  Since the release of 2009’s Land Of The Freaks, the band has toured the world – making stops in Europe, USA, and Asia along the way.  Finally the band was able to settle down in their home base of Sweden to record the long awaited follow up Cooking With Pagans.The album finds the band collaborating with Blacksad comic book creator and former Disney animator Juanjo Guarnido.  In addition to creating the amazing packaging for the album, Mr. Guarnido has created an incredible animated video to support the album release.Freak Kitchen consists of world renowned guitarist Mattias “IA” Eklundh, bassist Christer Ortefors and drummer Bjorn Fryklund, The trio offers an intense blend of progressive metal and rock, often served up with a wicked dose of humor.  RIYL Frank Zappa, Steve Vai, and Bumblefoot.