Damn, bringing in the big guns, mentioning Native Construct.
Right? Native Construct is nigh unapproachable but Others By No One is close enough in vibe and flair that I felt comfortable throwing it out there.
I nearly included Ludo in there too due to similarity in concept to their Broken Bride EP but that’s a deep cut from a pop-punk band.
It appears this comm is averse to committing to a 2 hour concept album about time travel to which I say “Do you even prog?”
No, it’s just a bit shy in general. I’ve been going through best of lists the best week trying to find some good prog metal from the past year, so this is a welcome respite. Man cannot live on Cookie Monster or proggy Atmoblack alone.
So I’m listening to it now and will attempt to report back. Honestly, Native Construct isn’t my Desert Island Disc, personally, but tossing it out there is an attention-getter. :). I just hope the lyrics aren’t crucial - I cut my prog teeth on foreign bands so I don’t listen to lyrics. So far, points to the singer for variety in delivery, that’s for sure - everything from airy cleans to angry clown to even Cookie Monster. I swear I even hear some UneXpect in there!
Then back to figuring out if Changeling/Tomarum/Scardust/An Abstract Illusion/Aephanemer/BTBAM/In Mourning put out albums I want. As of now my prog metal album for 2025 is Psychonaut’s World Maker, but damn if there wasn’t some great stuff - Grapefruit Astronauts, Carian, Hiroe, Arch Echo, Green Carnation, Royal Sorrow, The Arbitrary, Blackshape…
shy
I mean we’re prog nerds, right? Isn’t the poor social skills and/or autism implied?
proggy atmoblack
You’re speaking my language
lyrics
I am not a lyrics kinda guy either due to an auditory processing thing. I understand just enough to get the gist of the story but I’m still there for the instrumentals.
Unexpect, Tomarúm, BTBAM, Arch Echo
This guy gets it! I’ll take a look at the rest just based off these.
I’ll look at my library once I get home and see what I’ve got for this year. Are you familiar with The Progressive Subway?
Bahahaha! We’re speaking the same Language! (Contortionist, 2014)
Yeah, I suspect we have a lot of overlap, so very curious what you had for last year. I’m not afraid of harsh vocals, but since I’m ignoring the lyrics, I prefer some cleans as well. Atmoblack is somewhat new for me, my absolute fave album for last year may be Gamle Mesmer, but dang if Unreqvited isn’t up there (then again, nerd of many colors - Totorro and Carian are up there too)
Yeah, Prog subway and AMG are in my RSS feed, as is Feckin Bahamas.
Last Chance to Reason is on my list of songs to post! I’ll always be an Exoplanet stan but was very glad to see Mike and Jordan join.
Scale the Summit was incredibly instrumental (ha, get it) in my growth as a musician as well as my growth as a person. I played guitar in an instrument prog band in high school thanks to them. Upon learning how they met at Musician’s Institute in Los Angeles I decided to move from small town Midwest for their Guitar Craft program.
Looking through my 2025 list surprised me. I only added 25 albums to my permanent library and may yet prune a few of those. Apparently Tomarúm’s newest ended up in both Black and Prog folders lol.
Thanks for reminding me to evaluate my seeding folder! There’s another 25 albums from last year in there that I need to listen through again. Honestly, kinda hard to give a more comprehensive 2025 list until I give those another chance but I can throw a few standouts at you.
I’ve been on a Ukrainian BM kick thanks to White Ward and a sense of solidarity. Auratom’s Kamenari was great, but my favorite find thus far is Labyrinthus Stellarum; HIGHLY recommend checking out their whole discography.
Subterranean Lava Dragon was a Prog standout for sure. BTBAM has maintained Favorite Band status for nearly 15 years at this point (shout out Rock Band for including Prequel to the Sequel) and The Blue Nowhere landed in the top half of their discography pretty quickly.
I’ll get back to you once I evaluate more albums!
I’ve heard of but am largely unfamiliar with RSS feeds; I intended to look into them further but never got around to it. Keeping up with new album releases sounds like the perfect impetus to dive in. Any tips?
Last Chance to Reason is on my list of songs to post! I’ll always be an Exoplanet stan but was very glad to see Mike and Jordan join.
Ooh, unfamiliar with them. Man, I can’t even remember when I started with Contortionist, but too good a joke not to run with.
Scale the Summit was incredibly instrumental (ha, get it)
Nerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrd! They were good live. Instumental. Instru-djental?
I decided to move from small town Midwest for their Guitar Craft program.
Damn, that’s commitment. And I’m sure the source of thousands of stories. : )
Looking through my 2025 list surprised me. I only added 25 albums to my permanent library and may yet prune a few of those. Apparently Tomarúm’s newest ended up in both Black and Prog folders lol.
No comment. My SO probably wishes I only added 25 albums. It was… more. Between the prog, the djent, the math, the post, the gaze, the atmoblack, the melodeath, the gaze… /me shakes fist at bandcamp friday.
Thanks for reminding me to evaluate my seeding folder! There’s another 25 albums from last year in there that I need to listen through again. Honestly, kinda hard to give a more comprehensive 2025 list until I give those another chance but I can throw a few standouts at you.
Count me in for the ride! It’s been a good list (again, ask my wallet), but I know stuff will come in out of nowhere. Search bandcamp for “Seventeen Years to Hatch an Invasion”. Just came across that. Damn. Listen to that whole album. Not metal, but damn.
I’ve been on a Ukrainian BM kick thanks to White Ward and a sense of solidarity.
Slava Ukraine! Good on you for doing that, I know I’ve upped my listening of compatriots from there the past couple of years to help out monetarily. I liked that WW album from a few years ago, but haven’t kept up.
Auratom’s Kamenari was great, but my favorite find thus far is Labyrinthus Stellarum; HIGHLY recommend checking out their whole discography.
Oh, hey, I’ve listened to that! Okay, yup, atmoblack with cosmic synths and harsh vocals. God, it’s so hard to narrow this down. The Tomarum reminds me a bit of Cynic in spots, and the An Abstract Illusion’s synths almost make up for all the screaming. (And now I see there’s an instrumental version of Woe… hmmm…)
Subterranean Lava Dragon was a Prog standout for sure. BTBAM has maintained Favorite Band status for nearly 15 years at this point (shout out Rock Band for including Prequel to the Sequel) and The Blue Nowhere landed in the top half of their discography pretty quickly.
I’ll have to try that first one, not familiar with them. And I need to sit down both with the BTBAM and the new Steven Wilson. Mixed luck with both of their last album or two, but both have been highly regarded
I’ll get back to you once I evaluate more albums!
I’ll be here! Personally, I’d drop a new post - we need all the conversations we can get in here. : )
I’ve heard of but am largely unfamiliar with RSS feeds; I intended to look into them further but never got around to it. Keeping up with new album releases sounds like the perfect impetus to dive in. Any tips? There’s multiple ways to roll it (anwhere from browser extensions to docker containers to mobile apps), but the concept is the same: most sites (that aren’t social media) have an invisible feed of all their articles, updated automatically. The RSS reader just looks periodically and tells you what’s new. You become your own algorithm - do you like that site that posts once every few months? You’ll see the post within a day or two. Site updates 3 times a day? It’ll queue them up, and so you always have something cool to read while walking the dog. I tell people I follow 300 web sites and they look at me like I’m deranged. No, I just only read the new stuff, it’s not like I’m spending my time going between tabs or sites, it’s just a scrolling list of articles. If you’re on iOS I like NewsExplorer ($5 once for iphone, syncs between devices and is essentially its own server, and will even allow you to lurk R and the /r/'s without giving S any money), otherwise there’s a bunch out there - I used to use Feedly and enjoyed it, but this seems to work better for me.
Also points for “”theater nerd prog”. LOL. Not wrong!
