Joviac and Surreal

[Philbert]

I rarely post here, but was a little miffed that neither of these albums has been mentioned (as far as I can tell):

Joviac - Here and Now. Not entirely sure how to classify this Finnish power trio. It straddles the rock/metal divide, all clean vocals. The musicianship is stellar, but the guitarist/lead vocalist has a stronger sense of melody than I typically hear from most prog guitarists. He can clearly shred, but writes incredibly melodic guitar lines and solos. Bassist is awesome, and the mix really allows all the instruments to shine. It has some odd time signatures and rhythms throughout, but I prefer when they lock into a groove, as they do in this track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z1o5sz7pnk

Surreal - Starmaps & Constellations. These guys have a couple previous albums, but this sounds like a step up in all departments. It's in the Arena / Threshold / Frost* / Neal Morse Band camp. A bit neo-proggish, but this is a bit heavier overall than their previous work. Production is superb, sound is "warm" (I guess?) and the tunes are full of stellar hooks and melodies. Every track on the album has a YouTube link, but here's a good sample of the album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kyFG8oZs0c

Hope either/or appeals to some of you.

[Psychotic Symphony]

The Joviac sounds familiar. I'm sure I remember reading about it but for some reason passed it over? It sounds pretty good to me.

The Surreal sounds good to me but less so than the other you mentioned. I will give it a proper go though. Thanks for the post.

[Locust0311]

Surreal - Starmaps & Constellations. These guys have a couple previous albums, but this sounds like a step up in all departments. It's in the Arena / Threshold / Frost* / Neal Morse Band camp. A bit neo-proggish, but this is a bit heavier overall than their previous work. Production is superb, sound is "warm" (I guess?) and the tunes are full of stellar hooks and melodies. Every track on the album has a YouTube link, but here's a good sample of the album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kyFG8oZs0c

I just listened to this and really dig it. The mix of prog rock, metal and pop with an emphasis on piano and synths makes me think of Everon. Add in that they're a local (to me) band and I'm wondering how I haven't heard of them before now. Definitely going to check out the back catalog.