Top Picks*
Martin Gonzalez – Suspiro (technical prog-metal)
Martin Gonzalez is the guitarist of the band Atomic Guava, who I had never heard of but sounds absolutely delicious. He also used to be in a band called Ok Goodnight, who I had also never heard of, and is perhaps best known for his contributions to the soundtrack of the RWBY anime (2013–), which I know nothing about other than that it exists. That context might be helpful to some of you out there, but it really isn't necessary, because his debut solo EP Suspiro is immediately impressive and inspiring in its own right.
Gonzalez' mostly instrumental, debut solo venture provides a cross section of progressive metal staples like Dream Theater, Protest the Hero and Between the Buried and Me with the added technical flair of modern djentle giants like Tesseract and Periphery. Weirdly, the tech-metal aspects come through more clearly on the tracks with vocals, which are provided by Atomic Guava vocalist (and Gonzalez' wife) Elizabeth Hull, who switches between Spencer Sotelo-style growls and Dan Tompkins-esque cleans, with occasional bouts of overwrought theatrics, à la Evanescence's Amy Lee.
It's the instrumental tracks where Gonzalez really gets to let rip though. Although each are bolstered by some showy guest appearances, including Haken's Richard Hempshall who lends his distinctive keys to "Purpose" and Video Game Orchestra instrumentalist/Street Fighter V (2016) soundtrack composer Zac Zinger who adds some seriously sexy sax to "Reality Check", it's Gonzalez who always shines brightest, proving he's already got what it takes to rival many of his lofty inspirations. Moreover, while many of the bands referenced here tend towards overindulgent self-seriousness, Suspiro remains refreshing through both its infectious levity and bite-sized delivery.
There's room for expansion, especially when it comes to incorporating some of the electronic flourishes that crop up on the intro and outro tracks, but as a proof of concept, Suspiro is beyond impressive and an absolute blast from start to finish.
Hideous Divinity – Unextinct (brutal prog-death)
It seems like a weird thing to say, given how much of a niche-of-a-niche it is, but 2024 has been a good year for progressive leaning brutal death metal. Vitriol set an early standard and with highly anticipated records from the likes of Ulcerate and Construct of Lethe on the way, it doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon.
Add to that list Italian death metal merchants Hideous Divinity. The band have never had much prog to their sound in the past, but this fifth outing sees them adding in more complex progressions, along with dissonance and atmospherics that see them sitting somewhere closer to bands like Job for a Cowboy (who have also contributed to this year's catalogue of brutal proggishness) and latter-day Decrepit Birth than the more straight-forward approach of Hour of Penance or trendsetters Deeds of Flesh, to whom they have commonly been compared to in the past. Unextinxt is a huge step up in both scope and quality for Hideous Divinity and only further evidence that 2024 is one for the progressive-brutal ages.
*This week's true top pick is drinking Baileys in the bath while watching Wayne's World 2 (1993), which is what I did last night after work, instead of writing this up in a timely manner, and is highly recommended to everyone.