Review by Cheyenne Hohman Having been a self-identified Sad Bastard all my life, I’ve read many books about goth bands, history, and scene apocrypha. The Art of Darkness opens with accounts of the goth scene’s heyday – the late 1970s/early 1980s – and gives a viscerally descriptive account of what a typical night out was like. The styles, the influences, and what sorts of creatures of the night you may encounter. But then we go to Chapter Two: The Fall of Rome! It’s irresistible to scribes of gothic history to talk about the actual historical Goths, who sacked Rome and plunged Europe int ..read more

The older I get, the less genre labels matter to me. IAs a person who runs a music website that includes the word “prog” in the title, I find that particular genre label especially useless. While one can often find complex elements in progressive songs and music, the essential elements of any good prog rock song are, in the end, quite similar to the elements required for a good pop song, or jazz song, or reggae song, or really any song ever written in any genre. Are there memorable, interesting melodies? Are there any emotional, intellectual, or even spiritual elements that resonate? Does the ..read more

I first came across the Aaron Clift Experiment, a progressive rock band from Austin Texas, in 2015 when I stumbled across their sophomore album Outer Light, Inner Darkness. I had never heard of them before and was impressed by the both the songwriting and musicianship on the album. I liked it enough that I was happy to contribute to the Indiegogo campaign for their fourth album, The Age of Misinformation. The band has had nearly complete turnover since their 2015 effort, with Aaron Clift himself as the only remaining member, so it was to be expected that their newest album would have a differ ..read more

More than a decade ago, a guy told me to check out a band that reminded him a lot of Dream Theater. At the time I gave them a quick listen, but didn’t form much of an opinion of the music. About a year later, the bassist of the band I was playing in recommended that same group to me, following the release of their third album. Upon my initial listen to what would become the biggest song on that album, I actually winced, once again not very impressed at the time. But then I gave the whole album a shot, and everything changed. That band was Haken; the album was The Mountain. Most music fans hav ..read more

I’ve been keeping an eye on Sirintip since 2019, when I saw her perform solo opening for The Reign of Kindo at a small club in Salt Lake City, UT. I was impressed with her dynamic as a vocalist, as well as her unexpectedly appealing blend of pop, jazz, rock, electronic, and progressive music. I brought her first album Tribus home with me, and it’s made regular appearances on my turntable in the years since.  This October I was pleasantly surprised to see Sirintip’s second full length release Carbon appear online. Simply put, it’s everything I hoped to hear from her and more. Carbon conta ..read more

Over the last several years Riverside has, in my humble opinion, released some of the finest albums in modern progressive rock. Wasteland, Love Fear and the Time Machine, and Shrine of New Generation Slaves all remain on regular rotation in my ears, and I’ve seen them live three times with tickets already purchased to see them a fourth and fifth. I’m a fan, and it was definitely with more excitement than trepidation that I approached their upcoming album, ID.Entity. In their live shows, front man and bassist Mariusz Duda has pushed back some on the ‘progressive rock’ label, poking light-heart ..read more

Music festivals are the best way to tackle your band bucket list.   Here at Proglodytes, we thought we would try and compile a list of all of the progressive rock/metal music festival that we knew of, in case there is one that is happening close to you. If you are aware of one that we left off, or if we need to update any details, please let us know, and we’ll make sure to keep it up to date. North America RoSFest Date: TBA Venue: Sarasota Opera House, Mandebille Beer Garden City, Country: Sarasota, Florida USA Website: https://rosfest.com/ Bands: TBA Terra Incognita ..read more

2022 was a year that was full of all sorts of surprises, but we got through it with the help of some amazing bands and artists. We at Proglodytes each decided to share our favorite albums of the year 2022. We sincerely hope you check out these albums and support these artists! Click on the album name to listen to and buy the recommendations. Cedric Miles Davis – That’s What Happened THE Miles “comeback” band of the 80’s, featuring the likes of John Scofield (guitar) and Daryl Jones (bass). Rockin’, bluesy, and funky as hell! Just TRY to sit still! Michael Giacchino – The Batman Never have tw ..read more

My wife and I had the amazing opportunity to catch this show at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor. My first observation, made clear as soon as we arrived: The venue was sold out, and the line of people when I arrived a half an hour before was down the sidewalk and around the corner. I know The Dear Hunter and the other bands have mostly successfully dodged the ‘prog’ label that might clump them in with Yes and King Crimson imitators, and therefore they haven’t had to deal with the negative associations with those bands, but it is still very heartening to see so much support for ambitious, complex, t ..read more

Anyone who’s known me for any extended period of time knows that Dream Theater is a very important band for me. I feel like hearing “Pull Me Under” for the first time in the 90s is a flashbulb memory for my musical history, and I still consider Scenes From a Memory to be among my most influential albums. So, if I read that Jordan Rudess, keyboardist for Dream Theater, is coming to a nearby city, of course I am going to make the effort to go. The historic Ludlow Garage is an excellent, intimate venue in an awesome part of town, with an attached restaurant and bar. If you’re not from the area ..read more