Some odds and ends...

[devomeister]

Albums, singles, and discoveries that I thought worth sharing from the past year or so.

One Hundred Thousand- Zodiac Second album from these guys. Alt-prog just the way I like it. Released one track per month last year, it ended up being a killer album start to finish.
Aries
Aquarius

The Atomic Beau Project- Female-fronted aussie prog. She has a killer voice, and the band has a great sound. Only released singles so far (all of which are excellent), but one to watch for.
Time
The King

Eastern High- Has a Nevermore vibe to me. Loved the first album. This one is coming soon.
Emporor

Cellar Darling- 11-minute single released a couple of weeks ago. Another female-fronted prog band. I loved ‘The Spell’ a couple of years ago, and this would have fit right in. I don’t know what the hell is going on in the video, but it’s a great damn song.
Dance

Syqem- Released a couple of singles last year. Good pop/djent/prog/whatever. They just have a great sound.
Dopamine
Belief

Malrun- New single from these dudes, sounding more and more like Soilwork.
ThePunishment

Bak- Painter Aussie prog, middle eastern vibe. Killer singer. Second little 4-song album they’ve released, though this listens like a long song.
Full Album

September Mourning- Yet another female-fronted band. Not really prog, though I still maintain that they have a Queensryche vibe to me. This band just works for me. Good sound, and a killer singer.
Wake The Dead
Kill This Love

Perfect Shadows- First single from these guys. Good melodic prog that would have fit right in circa 2002, with maybe a touch of the djents thrown in because it’s 2021. Good singer.
Save Me

The Chronicles of Israfel- New discovery of an old band. Good stuff. Atmospheric post/prog metal.
Laudanum

[Random Axe]

I'm going to check a bunch of these out this weekend. I always look forward to your thorough band recommendation posts. The only reason I know of and love Cloakwheel is from one of these many years ago.

[jhallum]

Oooh, that One Hundred Thousand finally got an MP3 release last month on amazon. About time! I know what I'm getting next week...

And yeah, that Cellar Darling is really good.

[introclaus]

The Atomic Beau Project- Female-fronted aussie prog. She has a killer voice, and the band has a great sound. Only released singles so far (all of which are excellent), but one to watch for.
Time
The King

Eastern High- Has a Nevermore vibe to me. Loved the first album. This one is coming soon.
Emporor

September Mourning- Yet another female-fronted band. Not really prog, though I still maintain that they have a Queensryche vibe to me. This band just works for me. Good sound, and a killer singer.
Wake The Dead
Kill This Love

Perfect Shadows- First single from these guys. Good melodic prog that would have fit right in circa 2002, with maybe a touch of the djents thrown in because it’s 2021. Good singer.
Save Me

The Chronicles of Israfel- New discovery of an old band. Good stuff. Atmospheric post/prog metal.
Laudanum

I haven't heard any of these, but will check 'em out.

Cellar Darling- 11-minute single released a couple of weeks ago. Another female-fronted prog band. I loved ‘The Spell’ a couple of years ago, and this would have fit right in. I don’t know what the hell is going on in the video, but it’s a great damn song.
Dance

I don't like this band to be honest, but I'll give their new song a shot.

One Hundred Thousand- Zodiac Second album from these guys. Alt-prog just the way I like it. Released one track per month last year, it ended up being a killer album start to finish.
Aries
Aquarius

Yes, I like this album as well.

Syqem- Released a couple of singles last year. Good pop/djent/prog/whatever. They just have a great sound.
Dopamine
Belief

Love, love, love this band. I think it might have been you who turned me onto their debut (only) album years ago. The song "Rewind" from that album is probably my most played song in the last decade of anything ... Both the singles from last year were great, but still no new album

Malrun- New single from these dudes, sounding more and more like Soilwork.
ThePunishment

Yeah, their first 3 albums were great melo-death meets soft metalcore, but when they changed vocalist I lost interest in them. Nicklas Sonne (their current vocalist) is in way too many bands and they all end up sounding the same, especially if the music itself isn't exciting enough.

Bak- Painter Aussie prog, middle eastern vibe. Killer singer. Second little 4-song album they’ve released, though this listens like a long song.
Full Album

Hadn't heard about these guys, but this sounds really awesome so far.

[devomeister]

I'm going to check a bunch of these out this weekend. I always look forward to your thorough band recommendation posts. The only reason I know of and love Cloakwheel is from one of these many years ago.

Oh man, I still love that little Cloakwheel album, and lament that they never did anything else. They just had a great sound. Thanks for reading, hope you find one or two that you dig.

Oooh, that One Hundred Thousand finally got an MP3 release last month on amazon. About time! I know what I'm getting next week...

And yeah, that Cellar Darling is really good.

I remember finding One Hundred Thousand at the exact same time as Akord 'Ethereality', and thought I'd found alt-prog utopia, hahaha. I still listen to that Akord album regularly. I liked that first OHT release, but Zodiac is a huge step up IMO. Glad to see a few others digging it as well.

As for Cellar Darling, it's great to hear a band improve with each release, and find their sound. I liked This is the Sound well enough, but The Spell was a massive step forward. Dance sounds like a band hitting their stride to me. Really excited to hear what they do next.

[devomeister]

The Atomic Beau Project-
Eastern High-
September Mourning-
Perfect Shadows-
The Chronicles of Israfel-

I haven't heard any of these, but will check 'em out.

I've posted September Mourning a few times, but I'm pretty much on an island with that one, hahaha. Like i said, they work for me for some reason.

I posted about that first Eastern High album a few years back. It's a damn good album. Looking forward to this one quite a lot.

Cellar Darling

I don't like this band to be honest, but I'll give their new song a shot.

I am occasionally surprised when I later check out a band I had previously written off. Poem and Vangough come to mind. But it doesn't happen often. Different strokes and all that. I'm not sure this song is a mind-changer, as it sounds much like the material on The Spell, though I think it would have been my favorite song on that album if it was included.

One Hundred Thousand- Zodiac

Yes, I like this album as well.

Cool. I think it's a pretty big step forward from 'The Forms in Which They Appear'.

Syqem-

Love, love, love this band. I think it might have been you who turned me onto their debut (only) album years ago. The song "Rewind" from that album is probably my most played song in the last decade of anything ... Both the singles from last year were great, but still no new album

That's awesome man. 'Reflection of Elephants' was actually his 2nd album, but man, it was a MASSIVE step up from the first album 'Collection of Elephants' If I recall, I first heard them on Andy Read's internet radio show back in the day, along with Shattered Skies. I'm with you, I really hope he puts a full album together this year. He is more active lately, doing streams and he has a subscription Patreon kind of thing, so hopefully that helps him get an album together.

Malrun-

Yeah, their first 3 albums were great melo-death meets soft metalcore, but when they changed vocalist I lost interest in them. Nicklas Sonne (their current vocalist) is in way too many bands and they all end up sounding the same, especially if the music itself isn't exciting enough.

I much preferred Jakob Loebner's vocals as well (he seems like he's just out of music entirely after Boil called it quits). Don't get me wrong, this guy is a capable singer with a good voice, and I do think this song suits him better than the material on Malrun's last album that they did.

Bak- Painter

Hadn't heard about these guys, but this sounds really awesome so far.

I tend to just keep a running YouTube watch list of whatever random songs I check out and don't hate. It gets curated over time depending on whether I buy it or wonder how it ever ended up on my playlist, hahaha. This band I think I heard about on r/progmetal (put "Austrailia" and "prog" in the descriptions and I'm certain to give it a listen), and it's slowly made it's way up the playlist. 'Flower' isn't quite as good as 'The Painter', but it's still a good listen, and the new-ish single 'Damage Done' is pretty awesome. Hopefully they keep at it.

Thanks for reading! Hope you find one or two you dig.

[introclaus]

That's awesome man. 'Reflection of Elephants' was actually his 2nd album, but man, it was a MASSIVE step up from the first album 'Collection of Elephants' If I recall, I first heard them on Andy Read's internet radio show back in the day, along with Shattered Skies. I'm with you, I really hope he puts a full album together this year. He is more active lately, doing streams and he has a subscription Patreon kind of thing, so hopefully that helps him get an album together.

Yes hopefully something will happen with them (him) this year.
As for “Collection of elephants” I don’t count that as a real album. It’s basically just (as name suggests) a collection of demos and leftover stuff from writing sessions of “Reflections…”. Most of it isn’t good to be honest.

Malrun-

Yeah, their first 3 albums were great melo-death meets soft metalcore, but when they changed vocalist I lost interest in them. Nicklas Sonne (their current vocalist) is in way too many bands and they all end up sounding the same, especially if the music itself isn't exciting enough.

I much preferred Jakob Loebner's vocals as well (he seems like he's just out of music entirely after Boil called it quits). Don't get me wrong, this guy is a capable singer with a good voice, and I do think this song suits him better than the material on Malrun's last album that they did.

Jacob had to make a choice - either being a struggling musician or a very successful lawyer. Obviously he chose the financially safe one. Unfortunate that meant the end of Boil.

[devomeister]

Yes hopefully something will happen with them (him) this year.
As for “Collection of elephants” I don’t count that as a real album. It’s basically just (as name suggests) a collection of demos and leftover stuff from writing sessions of “Reflections…”. Most of it isn’t good to be honest.

Huh, you know, I didn't realize that, but it makes a lot of sense thinking back on that listening experience.

Jacob had to make a choice - either being a struggling musician or a very successful lawyer. Obviously he chose the financially safe one. Unfortunate that meant the end of Boil.

Making a living as a professional artist is really, really hard, and I totally get turning into a hobby, or stepping away altogether. It's still selfishly disappointing when it happens to artists I enjoy. I wish all of these folks could crank out music and make a good living doing so.

*edit- I couldn't tell if my quip came across funny or douchey, the latter of which I certainly didn't intend. I figured it better just to delete it than to seem like an unintentional dick.

[introclaus]

Yes hopefully something will happen with them (him) this year.
As for “Collection of elephants” I don’t count that as a real album. It’s basically just (as name suggests) a collection of demos and leftover stuff from writing sessions of “Reflections…”. Most of it isn’t good to be honest.

Huh, you know, I didn't realize that, but it makes a lot of sense thinking back on that listening experience.

Jacob had to make a choice - either being a struggling musician or a very successful lawyer. Obviously he chose the financially safe one. Unfortunate that meant the end of Boil.

Making a living as a professional artist is really, really hard, and I totally get turning into a hobby, or stepping away altogether. It's still selfishly disappointing when it happens to artists I enjoy. I wish all of these folks could crank out music and make a good living doing so.

*edit- I couldn't tell if my quip came across funny or douchey, the latter of which I certainly didn't intend. I figured it better just to delete it than to seem like an unintentional dick.

LOL

Yeah it’s a tough choice and I’m with you a lot of the way - it sucks as a fan when your favorite musicians are “forced” into quitting because they just aren’t making money on it. That’s obviously one of the reasons I was big on hating on illegal download when that shit was the “thing”. Eventually I just gave up the fight/discussion, but man … ugh ….