Tag Opeth
It’s nothing short of painful to watch prog-loving extreme metal bands try to fit two ill-fitting pegs into yet more annoyingly ill-fitting holes. I mean, grim and frosty extreme metal and twiddly, fiddly prog – come on… Like watching Pink… Continue Reading →
Sometimes when people talk to you there’s loads of words coming out but none of them say anything. That was kind of like the press blurb for this band. It says lots about how big they are in their home… Continue Reading →
Thanks to UK Metallers Xerath’s consistent live work it appears that I am one of the few Ave Noctum scribes to be unfamiliar with the band. So why, therefore does it fall upon me to review their imaginatively titled… Continue Reading →
Opener ‘Eternal Rains Will Come’ is a stunner. It kicks straight in with a keyboard style (courtesy of new member Joakim Svalberg) that Ken Hensley would be proud to call his own, before in classic Opeth style, they turn… Continue Reading →
Here’s the seventh album from this particular German school of creeping black death. “The musical expression of emotional abysses” is the way they describe it. “Venereal Dawn” centres on the theme of living light but in a way that spawns… Continue Reading →
So, have you ever thought to yourself “I really wish that Tori Amos would just Metal things up a bit, y’know? Keep all that sombre melancholy but up the Prog Metal factor?” Nope, me neither, but in the hope that… Continue Reading →
Formed in 2010, this Italian band set about their debut album by dazzling us with a number of styles. Within the first two minutes, I’d heard an intense death-thrash riff, a strong progressive thread, death vocals, a moody jazz guitar… Continue Reading →
Welcome to the progressive world of Theater of the Absurd. This US band has been plying their trade since 2006 and seeking to express themselves in a way which reflects their take on modern progressive music and life in general,… Continue Reading →
This London-based band made a positive impact at the recent Incineration Festival with their energetic display of technical blackened death metal. “Frequencies”, their latest four track EP following three album releases since 2007, features material from their set on that… Continue Reading →
This album was originally released in 2006, but did not get the publicity it deserved. It was my first exposure to this Andorran band, and it’s now a pleasure to immerse myself once more in this long and epic prog… Continue Reading →
Symphonic dark beginnings give way to standard but free-flowing blackened death metal. There’s an air of confidence about this first full release from Norway’s Vredehammer whose previous recorded output had been three EP’s. I sensed an air of Vader in… Continue Reading →
Swedish progressive death metallers Descend returned with “Wither” which can only be described as a brilliant follow up to their 2012 effort, “Through the Eyes of the Burdened”. Everything in this new record is masterfully thought out, and its tight… Continue Reading →