The latest album reviews, concert reviews, and interviews of progressive and alternative rock and metal.
Cameron Maynard is the lead guitarist for Indianan progressive metal band The Contortionist. His band released their latest album “Language” last year, and completed their latest tour with TesseracT. I had the chance to sit down with him and discuss his band, influences, and future plans. How long have you been playing music? How long…
After a much needed week off from the site, I’m back at it. Whether it was the musical A.D.D. from multiple submissions, or the sheer exhaustion brought on by the holiday season, I needed to step back for a little. During this time, I have still been listening to new music submissions, but have been…
This one is for all you sci-fans out there. Finnish progressive metal band Simulacrum has recently released its newest album “Sky Divided,” an album influenced by various sci-fi movies, literature, and video games. I may not be too much of a sci-fi reader or gamer myself, but I can definitely feel its impact on the…
I’m excited to write about this one. I’ve been meaning to share with you all my experiences listening to this absolutely beautiful album after I first heard them live earlier this year. But as most things in my life, time gets the better of me, and months later I’m left asking myself “Why haven’t I…
“Happy birthday to me,” I thought when I scrolled through Progarchives and found another contender for album of the year. Sure, my birthday was back in August, and I only found this album just last week. But looking at the release information for progressive rock/metal artist Amadeus Awad’s latest album “Death Is Just A Feeling,”…
As this site continues to fill up with mentions of amazingly talented bands from Australia, I must stop and thank one band in particular that has opened my eyes to the land down under. If it weren’t for progressive/alternative rock/metal band Caligula’s Horse, I might’ve simply passed over some of my current favorite records, including…
Swedish music label Ulterium Records was kind enough to send me a promotion copy of heavy metal band Waken Eyes’ upcoming album “Exodus” last week. Having heard that both bassist Michael Lepond of Symphony X and drum god Marco Minnemann were two members of this amazing supergroup, I couldn’t listen to this album fast enough.…
Here we go again. With another major music release date happening this Friday, I’ve been gearing up for a busy weekend of listening and writing. Luckily, one of those upcoming albums was released early, made available to stream around the world this Tuesday. Thanks to progressive metal band TesseracT for making my job a little…
Big news was released from Kscope yesterday: TesseracT has revealed its first single off their upcoming album “Polaris.” After another lineup change, singer Daniel Thompkins has returned to the band, providing a lower registered voice left off by former frontman and falsetto master Ashe O’Hara. The single, “Messenger,” is a perfect teaser to fans of…
Even without the slightest knowledge of their songs or albums, I still have heard of the band Symphony X. That’s how big of a name this band is in their music scene. Another one of those bands that’s been recommended to me over the years, progressive metal giants Symphony X has released a new album…
Yesterday, I wrote about my experience meeting the members from Between the Buried and Me and Animals As Leaders. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. If you thought my night couldn’t get better than that, then be prepared for Part 2 of my concert review! Before I even begin about the…
Last night, I experienced one of the best concert-filled evenings I’ve had in a long time. There is so much I want to say that I feel it easier to split this concert review into two posts. The first one I will elaborate on my VIP session, and the second one I will review the…
The moment I’ve been waiting for has finally arrived. After several months of anticipation, I have finally wrapped my hands around Between The Buried and Me’s latest release. Well, figuratively, because I downloaded it off iTunes. I couldn’t begin to tell you how impatient I’ve been for this release in particular. Hearing so many rumors…
This next album really crept up on me; I had totally forgotten the release date until last night. In a panic, I got home from the office, purchased the album later that night, and sat in a cold, dark room, being what I felt was the perfect setting considering the style of their prior work.…
I was listening to some Ayreon over the weekend, and couldn’t stop thinking about the amazing vocal talent on all of his albums. That got me to thinking about reviewing an individual on his latest album that I believe shined amongst a stacked lineup of vocal extraordinaires. Fronting a smaller band with a devout fan…
On the ever constant search for new music, I found this next band because Last.fm suggested I might like them (They were right). I found this band last year, but cannot get enough of their latest album. Considered a band on the rise in their scene, I feel it is my duty to share their…
If my readers haven’t already figured it out by now, I must confess that I’m a sucker for concept albums. The easiest way to win my heart musically is to play me a concept album; I can’t deny a concept album a thoughtful listen. Even for albums that aren’t necessarily following a concept, I can’t…
Searching through Progarchives over my Labor Day weekend, I stumbled across this next band. Earlier that weekend, I decided to learn some heavier music on guitar, which made me interested in finding some new harder songs to listen to. In comes Hemina, a band suggested numerous times on Progarchives. Hemina is a band from Sydney,…
This next album features a band that was included in this year’s Sonisphere lineup in the UK. After scrolling through the long list of bands in attendance, I came upon the band TesseracT. Before Sonisphere, I had never heard of them. After some basic research, I found out how renowned the band was in other…
This next album comes from a band that has a long track record. Since the mid-80’s, this band has put out some of the most influential progressive metal album in rock music history. The band I’m referring to is Dream Theater. This five-piece from Boston consists of some of the most influential musicians in their…
This next band is another one that I’ve found since I started my Twitter account. When I first started my account, I was scrolling through my list of followers and noticed how many bands were following my page. I felt impelled to go through them and start sampling each band, a ritual I still do.…