Then came the virus and EVERYTHING shut down. For me, the greatest blow was the cancellation of PPUSA. It is truly a highlight of my year. Every year I hurt and ache and get exhausted and get sick and swear it off...then there I am the next year...back in the saddle for another round. LOL! Anyway, all that to say that I missed the great live music and I missed seeing many of you!
Then, as if to add insult to injury, I contracted COVID 19. I have NO idea how I got it as I was religious about sanitation. But there it is. Sinus infection from HELL...crud in my chest...absolute energy drain like I have never felt before. Lasted a full month. But I got over it. So many others were not as fortunate.
However, somehow all of that did not keep 2020 from being a banner year for music in general and hard/heavy genres in particular. There was SO much great music released in 2020 that I truly had a hard time keeping up. AOR...hard rock...metal of all sub genres...all saw a boatload of fantastic releases. So much music and so little time to REALLY enjoy all of it. It was a whirlwind!
Now to my list. For the purposes of THIS post, I am intentionally limiting it to prog and prog-ish releases...including prog-power metal that has enough of a prog-lite influence to make it of interest. After all, this board IS The Home Church Of Prog Music. Gotta keep it real.
Also, if I tried to cover all of the GREAT melodeaththrashtradpowerdoomfolkmetalaorhardrockprogrocketc releases that came out in 2020 the list would probably be close to 100 discs. 'Nuff said. Here we go.
DGM - Tragic Separation - Surprisingly, not a whole lot of love for this one around these parts. But this was hands down disc-of-the-year for me. Take everything I love about Symphony X style prog metal and killer soaring melodic AOR, throw it all in a blender, and out pours 'Tragic Separation'. A monster disc which I play daily. And it sounds amazing...a giant wall of power!
Psychotic Waltz - The God Shaped Void - This just came out of left field to be honest. I thought these guys were good back in the day. But just ok. Nothing really had any staying power. However...THIS one knocked me out. A great disc.
Pyramid Theorem - Beyond The Exosphere - The Rush and DT worship is strong with this one to be sure. But these guys inject enough of their own personality into the songs to give it an extra something. Great disc. And the production is amazing. Big and powerful with a lot of space between instruments. It's like the band is playing live in my living room. On my giant tower speakers of doom, this one looms large! Right up there next to the DGM as far as I'm concerned.
Chaos Divine - Legacies - Just a STUPID good disc from start to finish. Strong melody driven songs with great lush vocal performances across the board. And so much light and shade. A bit more extreme vocals than some of my fellow prog metal lovers can stomach. But to me it adds just the right contrast with the clean vox. This is everything a modern prog metal recording should be.
Thoughts Factory - Elements - I liked 'Lost' (2014). But this one took things to another level entirely. This one is classic prog metal in the mold of many of the early giants of the genre. And the guitar/keyboard interplay here is stellar. A great disc in a year absolutely crammed with great music.
Caligula's Horse - Rise Radiant - To be honest, at first I didn't like it much at all. More mellow and less visceral/heavy than their earlier discs. But the more I listened the more it wormed it's way into my brain. I have found that to be the case with a great number of discs that I end up loving. There are a few songs that I still don't care for...I still skip 'Resonate' most of the time. But overall a very strong showing.
Neal Morse - Sola Gratia - Just excellent progressive rock with an all star line up and a pristine production.
Paralydium - Worlds Beyond - Solid melodic prog metal with lots of vocal hooks to grab you and draw you in. The only weakness? A thin production which keeps it out of the god tier. If Jacob Hansen was at the board, this would have been HUGE. As it is, it's still very very good.
Vanden Plas - The Ghost Xperiment (Illumination) - What can I say? These guys have NEVER let me down. And this disc is no exception. Melody, melody, melody abounds. Did I mention melody? 'Under The Horizon' might well be one of the best tunes they've ever written. Not a weak song on the disc in fact
Vanishing Point - Dead Elysium - These guys are definitely a band who lean more into the power side of prog-power, but you just have to love their way with a hook. They have consistently written some barn burning songs with powerful and emotive melodies. And vocalist Silvio Massaro is an absolute ringer for Tom Englund in places.
Pyramaze - Epitaph - Another band with lots of power in their prog-power. And they have just gone from strength-to-strength over their last few releases imo. They have a definite signature sound of their own. This is music which can appeal to prog-power fans but has enough melodic hooks that it could easily cross over to radio...if mainstream rock radio had any integrity left at all. 'Steal My Crown' just has hit song written all over it. In a just world it would BE a hit.
Black Fate - Ithaca - I'll just say it and get it out of the way. This is early Kamelot worship. Period. 'Savior Machine' is one of the best songs Khan never recorded. And 'Fortress Of Solitude' is a near perfect blend of Conception and Kamelot. I love this disc. It is great stuff from start to finish. Another one which I play almost daily. When I have the Roy-sings-great-metal itch, this disc scratches it.
John Petrucci - Terminal Velocity - Do I really need to say anything? A master of his craft in his element. Few do it as well and none do it better.
Protest The Hero - Palimpsest - One of the pioneers of the whole metalcore meets prog-metal sub genre returns with what has to be one of their best discs to date. An absolute tour de force. I realize that Roddy's quirky vocals are definitely an acquired taste...he still has a lot of the emo boy in him. And I am NOT a fan of their trendy neo-anarchist politics. But that notwithstanding, this is a blistering disc with some insanely twisted instrumental performances.
Arch Echo - Story I - I am so proud to have been an early adopter of this band. Absolutely smoking instrumental prog rock/metal which blends so many genres that it almost defies all attempts to categorize it. Yet it isn't just prog for prog's sake. There is always a powerful melody driving it forward and propelling the songs to new heights. Honestly, if you like instrumental music...even a little bit...then what are you waiting for? These guys R-U-L-E!
P.S. I am STILL waiting for Haken to just grab me and shake me around. I am in awe of their skills...absolute musical prodigies one and all. But somehow their albums just leave me cold. Help a butha out!
Live Releases
Kamelot - I Am The Empire (Live) - These guys can do no wrong in my book. A live disc which captures their charisma and energy. Watching it makes me miss PPUSA even more.
Sylosis - Cycle Of Suffering
Heathen - Empire Of The Blind
Sorry. I broke my promise. But I just HAD to give a shout out to two of THE best melo-death/thrash discs of this or ANY year.
Like I said from the outset, 2020 was a great year for music in general.
