Categories
Music Reviews Progressive Metal

Demians – Mute

Demians was the surprise progressive metal newcomer of 2008 with Building An Empire. Focused on intense, densely layered dynamics, mastermind Frenchmen Nicolas Chapel created a lucid and ethereal experience. Met with critical acclaim, Chapel employed a live band and opened for acts such as Anathema, Marillion, and Porcupine Tree. Demians‘ new release, Mute picks up where their debut left off. While the albums features far more, and far heavier tunes, the lyrics appear to be more upbeat than their previous release.

Chapel delivers tense, ever-building sequences that only resolve at the right moments. Opening tracks “Swing of the Airwaves” and “Feel Alive” properly encompass the unique sound and style of Demians “Overhead”
“Rainbow Rus” has a sludgy bass rhythm over a haunting single note piano melody.

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Categories
Music Reviews Progressive Metal

Pain of Salvation – Road Salt One

Pain of Salvation‘s seventh studio album Road Salt One features the band experimenting with a more low-key production style which may come to a shock for many fans. Regardless, Road Salt One has taken the band to a completely new direction, while continuing to supply their exclusive brand of progressive metal. This raw, un-mastered release has several tunes featuring some deep, bluesy fuzz and and even folkish elements, woven into a hyperlinked narrative story saturated in socio-economic themes.

For the limited edition owners, the first track “What She Means To Me” offers a brief prologue before the band slams into the groove of “No Way” with the bluesy guitar fuzz and passionate vocal cry placed into the forefront. The blues aspect continues into the melodramatic “She Likes to Hide”.

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Movie Review

Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage

Not only do I write for ProgSnobs, I am also a film critic for the website Film Junk which is a  film blog and podcast. Last month I wrote a review for the new Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage documentary. Here’s an excerpt from that review:

There are three types of people in the world: people who love Rush, people who hate Rush, and the rest of the world who have never heard of Rush. Regardless, after 36 years the band has accumulated two-dozen gold records and fourteen platinum records, and are responsible for influencing many of the modern metal and hard rock bands of today. Their story, like any other band, has its ups and downs and the most interesting aspect is that they have strayed away from complete mainstream acceptance from traditional press and critical praise. Director Sam Dunn (Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey,Iron Maiden: Flight 666) has thoroughly dug through nearly 40 years of material to construct a detailed timeline of Rush’s existence.

Read the whole review at Film Junk.

Categories
Music Reviews Progressive Metal

The Devin Townsend Project – Addicted

The Devin Townsend Project 'Addicted' album cover

Addicted tends to express Devin Townsend’s acceptance of his personality coupled with his sobriety and fatherhood. All of which have certainly had a positive effect on Devin Townsend after touring and latter disbanding both Strapping Young Lad and The Devin Townsend Band in 2007. His personal project dubbed The Devin Townsend Project debuted with Ki, expressing much of his newly found acceptance of his broad range of musical styles and personality.

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