01. New Generation Slaves
02. The Depth of Self-Delusion
03. Celebrity Touch
04. We Got Used To Us
05. Feel Like Falling
06. Deprived (Intrievably Lost Imagination)
07. Escalator Shrine
08. Coda
[01/21/13]
[InsideOut Music]
Over the past few years the progressive rock and metal scene has been witness to a large number of bands creating albums that see them “returning to the roots” of progressive metal; cultivating albums that harken back to sounds of old. The sixties and seventies were indeed great times for rock music, and those decades carried with them some of the most influential music in rock history. But with so many bands trying to emulate those sounds, and so many of them falling flat on their faces, it can feel a bit frustrating to see a favorite band throwing aside their aggressive qualities and adopting sounds from the past. With Shrine of New Generation Slaves, Riverside show us all the right way to blend retro-style prog rock into the context of modern progressive music.
Fans of that classic progressive rock sound get stoked, because Riverside are releasing a new next week! Shrine Of New Generation Slaves will be released on InsideOut Music on January 21st, and this week a video for the album’s lead single ‘Celebrity Touch’ has been posted online. You can check it out below:
I’m a sucker for those groovy prog riffs backed by an organ synth. We need more of that in our lives, and Shrine of New Generation Slaves will likely deliver. In addition to the new video, the band announced a short string of US shows, which you can find below:
04/30/13 – Charleston, SC @ WindJammer – Isle of Palms
05/02/13 – Atlanta, GA @ Vinyl
05/04/13 – Gettysburg, PA @ RoSFest
05/06/13 – Dunellen, NJ @ Roxy and Dukes
05/08/13 – Chicago, IL @ Double Door
05/10/13 – Raleigh, NC @ The Pour House
05/12/13 – Mexico City – Jose Cuervo Salon
Hey everybody! My name’s Shjon Thomas, and I play guitar in a Boston-based progressive metal band called The Deadstation. The awesome guys here at Heavy Blog is Heavy let me write a guest article on whatever I wanted… so I chose to share what I consider to be the ten most essential albums of “old-school progressive metal”!
Since the newer school of prog-metal is so popular with the readers here (Animals As Leaders, Periphery, etc…), I thought it would be cool to share some great albums that follow from the original style of the genre that was popular in the 1990s and 2000s. These albums have also been a large influence on my own music, so if you like something here, you might also like The Deadstation! (You can download our free EP “Episode 01” here)
My hope is that you guys find some enjoyable stuff here that you hadn’t heard before! Cheers!
10. Fates Warning – Disconnected (2000)
At #10, we have Fates Warning’s 2000 album Disconnected. Most fans of this band can be divided into two categories: fans of their early work with vocalist John Arch, and fans of their later work with Ray Alder. Disconnected, in my opinion, is one of the crowning achievements of the later Ray Alder period, along with their 1997 album A Pleasant Shade of Gray. These albums feature a much more moody and unique sound than their previous efforts, which sounded a bit more like Queensryche.
Any fans of guitarist Jim Matheos’ current project OSI, will notice that Disconnected features a very similar style, to the point where it almost feels like a Fates Warning / OSI hybrid. Keyboards were handled by future OSI bandmate Kevin Moore (Chroma Key, Ex- Dream Theater), so the comparisons are only natural. Also, the now-signature Matheos rhythm guitar sound made its first appearance on this album… massive and razor-sharp. You can check out anything he has put out since 2000 (pretty much) to hear the sound I’m talking about. On a side note, fans of progressive rock band Rush might find something else special about this album: it was co-produced by Terry Brown, who worked on classics like Moving Pictures and 2112.
