Etherius are for everyone who claims to love Dream Theater but whinges about James LaBrie. Instrumental music has grown in popularity since the rise of the tech-metal scene. Yet, rather than the dexterous whiddlings of Animals as Leaders or Polyphia , this New Jersey quartet throw back to the classic progressive…
As a reviewer, some of the most entertaining bands to cover have an eclectic list of apparent influences. It’s fun to flex my rolodex of bands and genres to describe an artist’s sound. More importantly, they tend to produce some of the most unique, creative music in their respective genre(s).…
With music, as in every facet of life, expectation creates a breeding ground for disappointment. Albums often clear the bar fans continuously raise, of course, but they can also hit it straight on or miss the mark entirely. I’m not suggesting that we can’t hold the artists we love to…
Will we see the day when Art As Catharsis releases a dud? So far, the evidence suggests a resounding, “No.” The label has released music from every corner of the Australian underground, and each of their artists and releases approaches their respective genre with a progressive mindset. I’m stoked to…
One of the common phrases in metal that I have absolutely no interest in challenging is that power metal is pretty much dead. Don’t get me wrong, there are still a few interesting albums being made each year but the genre seems to have abandoned any attempts to expand, modify,…
“FFO”. Those three letters that can almost derail a band before a single note is heard. I try to use that acronym sparingly but I am certainly one of the worst offenders when trying to break down a band’s sound for new ears. I will compare bands’ sounds six ways…
Among the small pleasures of listening to music, it’s satisfying when an album title perfectly encapsulates the narrative played out in the track list. Such is the case with Lesoir’s fifth album Mosaic, a collage of art rock and prog highlighted by a theatrical delivery and themes of mystic whimsy.…
There are a few things I’m excited to accomplish with this post, beyond highlighting yet another couple of excellent death metal releases. First, from a practical standpoint, this is an efficient means of covering two short EPs that are still absolutely worth your time. It’s the same reason I created…
Since I passed my 5-year mark with Heavy Blog late last year, I’ve been reflecting on my own philosophies on and experiences with music. Formally reviewing music has been a significant hobby of mine for at least a decade across multiple channels. With this being my third review of a…
There’s a type of victory in sports called a “wire-to-wire” win, where one team holds the lead throughout the entire game. Instead of both teams tying and trading leads multiple times or one side staging an epic comeback, the winner dominates the match from start to finish and quells any…
