What are you listening to right now?

[Mardoch]

In a funk and indecisive, scrolling around winamp wildly...landed on Thank You Scientist. So that's what my day is now, just gonna spin this all day. I love these folks.

[RickyRock]

Speaking of Thank You Scientist, it really sucks to hear the vocalist threw in the towel. He is very unique and fit that music like a glove. Don’t know if that means no more music from them or not. Guitarist is the genius behind the music so let’s hope they continue with some music, even an all instrumental would suit me. He is just an insanely amazing guitar player. Maybe Claus has some info?????

[introclaus]

Speaking of Thank You Scientist, it really sucks to hear the vocalist threw in the towel. He is very unique and fit that music like a glove. Don’t know if that means no more music from them or not. Guitarist is the genius behind the music so let’s hope they continue with some music, even an all instrumental would suit me. He is just an insanely amazing guitar player. Maybe Claus has some info?????

I didn't know the singer left. That's a shame
I don't enjoy instrumental music, so that would mean I'm out on anything they do going forward ...

[Mardoch]

Speaking of Thank You Scientist, it really sucks to hear the vocalist threw in the towel. He is very unique and fit that music like a glove. Don’t know if that means no more music from them or not. Guitarist is the genius behind the music so let’s hope they continue with some music, even an all instrumental would suit me. He is just an insanely amazing guitar player. Maybe Claus has some info?????

Oh that's a bummer. I'd grown to quite like him. Last time I saw them live I got the feeling he was kinda done with being a touring musician, though, and that's hard to fault.

[prog_powermetal99]

Eternity X - The Edge - Ya know some Cds don't age well, but I still love playing this as much now as I did when it first came out. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but to me it's a masterpiece. The weird part is, I don't care at ALL for their other CDs before this, which is weird.

[Sir Exar Kun]

Eternity X - The Edge - Ya know some Cds don't age well, but I still love playing this as much now as I did when it first came out. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but to me it's a masterpiece. The weird part is, I don't care at ALL for their other CDs before this, which is weird.

Just played this on Tuesday myself, and it absolutely holds up every bit as well as it did back in the day. Magnificent album! I do enjoy the other albums, though.... "Primitive" as they are comparatively.

[introclaus]

Eternity X - The Edge - Ya know some Cds don't age well, but I still love playing this as much now as I did when it first came out. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but to me it's a masterpiece. The weird part is, I don't care at ALL for their other CDs before this, which is weird.

Just played this on Tuesday myself, and it absolutely holds up every bit as well as it did back in the day. Magnificent album! I do enjoy the other albums, though.... "Primitive" as they are comparatively.

Agree with you both - "The Edge" is an amazing disc and it holds up perfectly. It is a prog metal masterpiece.
I enjoy their other discs, but not as much as "The Edge". Too bad we never got a proper recording and release of "From the Ashes" as the material there had so much potential as well.

[giedrius]

Noor - Mother's Guilty Pleasure Part I
Released in December, 2023, it's a pretty interesting debut album with a strange front cover and a very attacking and powerful metal style in the early power/speed metal way, mixing elements of the 80s Iron Maiden, Queensryche's early heavy/power metal songs, Heir Apparent, early Fates Warning, and some Agent Steel/Liege Lord likes.

Atheist - Unquestionable Presence/Elements/Piece of Time - was preparing to attend their gig on the European tour, it's a truly great band and one of several to label as "being ahead of their time".

Dirty Looks - Cool from the Wire, 1988.
I was listening to a podcast with producer Max Norman. This album was praised a lot and I thought I should give it a listen. I have to admit that I literally never listen to AC/DC, but I liked hard rock delivered on this album and gave it a number of spins.

Eternity - The Edge, thanks for reminding about this album! There is a lot of heart and honesty in those prog metal albums of the late 90s.

As for 2024 releases, I am listening to Borknagar, Ihsahn, Job for a Cowboy, Vicinity, Whom Gods Destroy, Bruce Dickinson, but I am still waiting for contenders to my Top 10 of the year (time will tell if Caligula's Horse is one of them).

[Mardoch]

Saw that Fallujah and Persefone are going to be within striking distance, and on a Friday at that!, so now I've got Fallujah's Empyrean on.

[introclaus]

Saw that Fallujah and Persefone are going to be within striking distance, and on a Friday at that!, so now I've got Fallujah's Empyrean on.

They are playing in Greensboro, which is 100 miles from here. It's a Sunday 7/6, but I might just make the drive. Considering I was Persefone's manager for 15 years it's messed up that I never got to see them live - wth!?!?

[introclaus]

Noor - Mother's Guilty Pleasure Part I
Released in December, 2023, it's a pretty interesting debut album with a strange front cover and a very attacking and powerful metal style in the early power/speed metal way, mixing elements of the 80s Iron Maiden, Queensryche's early heavy/power metal songs, Heir Apparent, early Fates Warning, and some Agent Steel/Liege Lord likes.

According to their bandcamp, the official release date was Feb 20, 2024: https://noorband.bandcamp.com/album/mot ... e-part-one
That said, Metal Archives lists it as Dec 13, 2023: https://www.metal-archives.com/albums/N ... ne/1216172
I am listening now, and you hit it right on the nail with those inspirations. There's some Lethal, Sacred Warrior, Titan Force, Hollow and even Witherfall in it as well. I can't believe I never heard of them before. This is great stuff. Purchased!!!! ($4US on bandcamp .. can't beat that price).

Atheist - Unquestionable Presence/Elements/Piece of Time - was preparing to attend their gig on the European tour, it's a truly great band and one of several to label as "being ahead of their time".

Those 3 albums were absolutely insane. Soooo great.

Dirty Looks - Cool from the Wire, 1988.
I was listening to a podcast with producer Max Norman. This album was praised a lot and I thought I should give it a listen. I have to admit that I literally never listen to AC/DC, but I liked hard rock delivered on this album and gave it a number of spins.

Never got into them. As you said, very AC/DC like (basic, simplistic, raw).

Eternity - The Edge, thanks for reminding about this album! There is a lot of heart and honesty in those prog metal albums of the late 90s.

Yup!

As for 2024 releases, I am listening to Borknagar, Ihsahn, Job for a Cowboy, Vicinity, Whom Gods Destroy, Bruce Dickinson, but I am still waiting for contenders to my Top 10 of the year (time will tell if Caligula's Horse is one of them).

For me so far the best albums of the year are Caligula's Horse, Ihsahn, Vemod, Borknagar and my #1 hasn't been released yet so I'll wait talking about it just a little bit longer. The year is starting off with some great stuff in my opinion.

[introclaus]

Noor - Mother's Guilty Pleasure Part I
Released in December, 2023, it's a pretty interesting debut album with a strange front cover and a very attacking and powerful metal style in the early power/speed metal way, mixing elements of the 80s Iron Maiden, Queensryche's early heavy/power metal songs, Heir Apparent, early Fates Warning, and some Agent Steel/Liege Lord likes.

According to their bandcamp, the official release date was Feb 20, 2024: https://noorband.bandcamp.com/album/mot ... e-part-one
That said, Metal Archives lists it as Dec 13, 2023: https://www.metal-archives.com/albums/N ... ne/1216172
I am listening now, and you hit it right on the nail with those inspirations. There's some Lethal, Sacred Warrior, Titan Force, Hollow and even Witherfall in it as well. I can't believe I never heard of them before. This is great stuff. Purchased!!!! ($4US on bandcamp .. can't beat that price).

Here's a really good review of the album I found:
https://www.forgotten-scroll.net/metal- ... -part-one/

... I've now listened to the full album twice and I'm loving it!!!

[introclaus]

LOST IN SEPARATION - Sabertooth
Progressive Metalcore - somewhere along the lines of ERRA, early-Architects, Invent Animate and even the more aggressive parts of Born of Osiris. Mardoch, this one is for you ...

[Mardoch]

LOST IN SEPARATION - Sabertooth
Progressive Metalcore - somewhere along the lines of ERRA, early-Architects, Invent Animate and even the more aggressive parts of Born of Osiris. Mardoch, this one is for you ...

I don't love the vocal production, but everything else about it is great. That's definitely joining my list of stuff to check out.

[introclaus]

ARTIFICIAL LANGUAGE - Distant Glow
As with both previous albums, this is killer djent-influenced next-gen prog metal. Very melodic, very technically proficient. Love it.
But, why - oh why - why is this just an EP instead of a full length? I won't put EPs on my year-end list, so this is going to be quickly forgotten by me ... such a shame, because it's phenomenal and would end up high on the list. Same issue as with the new Persefone. Ugh, I really dislike EPs.

[Mardoch]

ARTIFICIAL LANGUAGE - Distant Glow
As with both previous albums, this is killer djent-influenced next-gen prog metal. Very melodic, very technically proficient. Love it.
But, why - oh why - why is this just an EP instead of a full length? I won't put EPs on my year-end list, so this is going to be quickly forgotten by me ... such a shame, because it's phenomenal and would end up high on the list. Same issue as with the new Persefone. Ugh, I really dislike EPs.

Yeah this is fantastic. I don't share your dogmatic distaste for EPs, but I would also have been perfectly happy waiting another year for a full length to happen.

[introclaus]

BLAZING ETERNITY - A Certain End of Everything
Second single from upcoming album. I must have listened to this song 30+ times in the last couple of days. Incredible. The Katatonia vibe is strong with this one. This album has AoTY-candidate written all over it for me.

[Mardoch]

I've been listening to the new Erra, Cure, almost non-stop since yesterday. This album is FANTASTIC. Only one track kinda sticks out as an oddball, Past Life Persona, and even then it's not bad, it's just a bit different than the rest.

[introclaus]

I've been listening to the new Erra, Cure, almost non-stop since yesterday. This album is FANTASTIC. Only one track kinda sticks out as an oddball, Past Life Persona, and even then it's not bad, it's just a bit different than the rest.

Yeah I listened through it twice today.
First full album of theirs I’ve liked. Normally they are too “chaotic” for my taste, but there’s a huge focus on strong melodies this time around and I ended up pulling the trigger in this.

PS: I know why you don't like "Past Life Persona" - it sounds like Good Tiger, who you hate

[Mardoch]

I've been listening to the new Erra, Cure, almost non-stop since yesterday. This album is FANTASTIC. Only one track kinda sticks out as an oddball, Past Life Persona, and even then it's not bad, it's just a bit different than the rest.

Yeah I listened through it twice today.
First full album of theirs I’ve liked. Normally they are too “chaotic” for my taste, but there’s a huge focus on strong melodies this time around and I ended up pulling the trigger in this.

PS: I know why you don't like "Past Life Persona" - it sounds like Good Tiger, who you hate

I don't hate Good Tiger, I hate Elliot Coleman's voice! I loved The Safety Fire, man. Past Life Persona is also still very good, just a curveball from the rest of the album.

I'm happy you've finally gotten into an album from them, though. I was hoping this one might do the trick.

[prog_powermetal99]

Slaughter to Prevail - Conflict. LOL, I'm not sure what's wrong with me other than I've become addicted to powerful deathcore breakdowns lol.

[introclaus]

Slaughter to Prevail - Conflict. LOL, I'm not sure what's wrong with me other than I've become addicted to powerful deathcore breakdowns lol.

I've gotten more and more into deathcore over the past year and a half, but still not too hooked on Slaughter to Prevail. Sure, I'm impressed by his voice, but besides that they aren't doing a lot for me.

[prog_powermetal99]

Slaughter to Prevail - Conflict. LOL, I'm not sure what's wrong with me other than I've become addicted to powerful deathcore breakdowns lol.

I've gotten more and more into deathcore over the past year and a half, but still not too hooked on Slaughter to Prevail. Sure, I'm impressed by his voice, but besides that they aren't doing a lot for me.

I think it's just the crazy breakdowns, and as a drummer myself I'm just absolutely blown away by their drummer. He's so fucking absolutely amazing. He has many videos on his youtube channel where he cam is just on him and man, what an amazing beast! I just watch him sometimes with my jaw hanging open lol.

[GaetanL]

Angel Witch\Angel Witch\04-Confused
Human League, The\Greatest Hits\01-Don't You Want Me
Balance\In For The Count\03-Slow Motion
April Wine\Animal Grace\01-This Could Be The Right One
Mystery\Redemption\02-Redemption
Anvil\Strength Of Steel\01-Strength Of Steel
Rough Cutt\Rough Cutt\04-Dreamin' Again
EZO\EZO\01-House Of 1,000 Pleasures
Into Eternity\Dead Or Dreaming\08-Dead Or Dreaming
Pallas\The Sentinel (1992 Re-Issue)\01-Shock Treatment
Psychotic Waltz\The God-Shaped Void\03-Back To Black
Stonehenge\Angelo Salutante\04-Wendigo
Styx\Edge Of The Century\02-Show Me The Way
Veni Domine\Fall Babylon Fall\06-O Great City
Winger\In The Heart Of The Young\03-Miles Away
World Of Silence\Mindscapes\01-Four Seasons
Tad Morose\Leaving The Past Behind\01-Eternal Lies
Saviour Machine\Saviour Machine II\03-Enter The Idol
Quiet Riot\Terrified\01-Cold Day In Hell
Osbourne, Ozzy\Bark At The Moon\02-You're No Different
W.A.S.P\Still Not Black Enough\02-Skinwalker (Bonus Track)
Circus Maximus\Isolate\07-Mouth Of Madness
Triumph\Never Surrender\02-A World Of Fantasy

[introclaus]

Angel Witch\Angel Witch\04-Confused
Balance\In For The Count\03-Slow Motion
Into Eternity\Dead Or Dreaming\08-Dead Or Dreaming
Pallas\The Sentinel (1992 Re-Issue)\01-Shock Treatment
Psychotic Waltz\The God-Shaped Void\03-Back To Black
Veni Domine\Fall Babylon Fall\06-O Great City
Winger\In The Heart Of The Young\03-Miles Away
Tad Morose\Leaving The Past Behind\01-Eternal Lies
Saviour Machine\Saviour Machine II\03-Enter The Idol
Osbourne, Ozzy\Bark At The Moon\02-You're No Different
Circus Maximus\Isolate\07-Mouth Of Madness

Yum!!!! Quality!!!

[Sir Exar Kun]

All these new releases, and yet what am I listening to? All old stuff..... LOL.

Lillian Axe "Dark Red Shadows" - Modern era EP from one of my faves..... Only includes a handful of new tracks plus some re-records, but love it nonetheless. "47 Ways to Die" and "Under the Same Moon" (?) are both killer.

Symphony X s/t - Weren't they talking about re-recording this many years ago with Russell on vocals? Still would like to hear that..... Vocals here aren't bad by any means, but just are SO starkly different. This almost feels like more of a Mike Romeo solo album comparatively.

Yngwie Malmsteen "Attack!!" - One of the last solid Yngwie albums before he went completely self-indulgent and decided he didn't need a band. A few gems on here, the rest is pretty much typical Yngwie.

Kix "Blow My Fuse" - Baltimore hair metal; marginal fan at best, but enjoy a bit here and there. "Don't Close Your Eyes" was the big MTV hit, but I prefer "Cold Blood".....

Sonata Arctica "Broken" - CD single off the "Winterheart's Guild" album if I recall correctly. Last true power metal album before they went into their weird phase with "Unia"

Place Vendome "Close to the Sun" - Kiske and Denis Ward project; not as hook laden as PC69, not as powerful as Helloween, but still has a few standout tracks. Plus..... It's KISKE for f&*k's sake!

Crimson Glory s/t - This was hard as hell to track down back in the day, as I was "late" to the party on this one. SO worth it though!

Machine Men "Elegies" - Honestly don't recall how or why I picked this one up. Were they supposed to play ProgPower at some point? It's not bad stuff..... Engaging Queensryche-esque metal, but again.... Nothing individually REALLY standing out. Good, not great.

[introclaus]

Symphony X s/t - Weren't they talking about re-recording this many years ago with Russell on vocals? Still would like to hear that..... Vocals here aren't bad by any means, but just are SO starkly different. This almost feels like more of a Mike Romeo solo album comparatively.

Agreed - it's a good album with good vocals. It's not a great album with great vocals

Yngwie Malmsteen "Attack!!" - One of the last solid Yngwie albums before he went completely self-indulgent and decided he didn't need a band. A few gems on here, the rest is pretty much typical Yngwie.

I like this one as well.

Crimson Glory s/t - This was hard as hell to track down back in the day, as I was "late" to the party on this one. SO worth it though!

Classic!

Machine Men "Elegies" - Honestly don't recall how or why I picked this one up. Were they supposed to play ProgPower at some point? It's not bad stuff..... Engaging Queensryche-esque metal, but again.... Nothing individually REALLY standing out. Good, not great.

If I remember correctly they started out as a Bruce Dickinson (solo) cover band - hence the band name. Yes, there's some Qryche to it, but mostly their first few albums sounded like BD's "The Chemical Wedding" style.
I booked them for ProgPower Scandinavia back in 2007.

[Mardoch]

Kansas - Leftoverture
Still one of the best albums out there in my opinion.

[Mardoch]

Leftoverture fell into Masque and Monolith, too. Monolith is probably one of my least favorites of theirs, but it's still very good.

[LarryD]

Leftoverture fell into Masque and Monolith, too. Monolith is probably one of my least favorites of theirs, but it's still very good.

****Yes, yes and Hell yes !!!!!!!!

[Mardoch]

I've got a big integration to write and not much time in which to write it and I also picked up a bunch of stuff on Bandcamp this past week, much of which was filling in collection gaps from Inside Out and Century. So I started up with the last thing I was listening to on Friday and then queued up a whole bunch of goodies.

Novallo - Novallo
Novallo - Novallo II (I doubt these folks will ever do anything again, but there's still nothing I've heard that's like them and I really want more)
Wheel - Charismatic Leaders
Angel Dust - Bleed
Angel Dust - Enlighten the Darkness
Nightingale - Retribution
Devin Townsend - Ziltoid the Omniscient
Orphaned Land - El Norra Alila
Lorna Shore - Pain Remains

I finally checked out Lorna Shore with this past week's Bandcamp Friday and damn, those dudes are something ELSE. Their old singer was good, but Will Ramos is a phenom. And the instrumentation on the newer stuff is astoundingly good. Definitely not everyone here's cup of tea, but if you can get past the ridiculous deathcore vocals I encourage everyone to try it out.

Novallo for the curious:

[introclaus]

Novallo - Novallo
Novallo - Novallo II (I doubt these folks will ever do anything again, but there's still nothing I've heard that's like them and I really want more)

I don't remember if you've tried to "sell" us on these guys before, but it's all over the place I've listened on Bandcamp to their second EP, and can't decide if it's great or if I hate it, haha. I'll need to try again when I'm in a different headspace.

Wheel - Charismatic Leaders

I've got this one lined up - not expecting too much as their last one ended up boring me.

Angel Dust - Bleed
Angel Dust - Enlighten the Darkness

I loved "To Dust..." (their second album"), and their last two ("Enlighten the Darkness" and "Of Human Bondage") - everything in between were bland power metal in my opinion.

Nightingale - Retribution

Great album. Their first 3 are their best though, and then they completely lost me until this one (their final album).

Devin Townsend - Ziltoid the Omniscient

The only Devin album I truly love. Everything else pretty much annoys me (I do like "Ziltoid 2" as well).

Orphaned Land - El Norra Alila

Wonderful band. Haven't made a bad album yet.

Lorna Shore - Pain Remains
I finally checked out Lorna Shore with this past week's Bandcamp Friday and damn, those dudes are something ELSE. Their old singer was good, but Will Ramos is a phenom. And the instrumentation on the newer stuff is astoundingly good. Definitely not everyone here's cup of tea, but if you can get past the ridiculous deathcore vocals I encourage everyone to try it out.

This is such a great album, and the EP before it (also with Will Ramos) was equally great.

I heard another deathcore band yesterday that I actually thought was pretty great:

[prog_powermetal99]

I loved "To Dust..." (their second album"), and their last two ("Enlighten the Darkness" and "Of Human Bondage") - everything in between were bland power metal in my opinion.

"Bleed" is my favorite. I discovered them at powermad and instally fell in love with this cd, especially the title track. When that crunch kicks in, OMG instant eargasm. Also love "cross of hatred" and few others from that CD. I also like "Elighten the darkness" quite well, but I can do without the shitty ballads/slow songs.

[Mardoch]

I heard another deathcore band yesterday that I actually thought was pretty great:

Holy shit that's bonkers! There's so much going on here. Like...neo-classical shred deathcore? I'm definitely looking into this some more.

[introclaus]

Holy shit that's bonkers! There's so much going on here. Like...neo-classical shred deathcore? I'm definitely looking into this some more.

Unfortunately it's only a 4 song EP. I purchased it anyway, because it's so great. The "bonkers" comment had me laughing, because ... really ... it is bonkers.