Band: Ὁπλίτης | Album: Παραμαινομένη | Genre: Black metal, Progressive metal | Year: 2024 From: Ningbo, China | Label: Independent For fans of: Spectral Lore, Krallice Bandcamp I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know much about the contemporary Chinese musical scene. Within the Sinosphere, the only acts I’ve got any familiarity with are Zhaoze–a post-rock act I’ve covered which is based out of Guangzhou–and Taiwan’s Chthonic, a relatively well-known metal band. I did recently run across WV Sorcerer Productions on Bandcamp, a French label which specializes in underground Chinese psychedel ..read more

Welcome to part two of The Elite Extremophile’s Top 50 Prog Albums of 2023. Part one can be found here. Now, let’s get back to it! #25: Steven Wilson – The Harmony Codex | Art pop, Progressive electronic | Buy Steven Wilson’s second-most electronic outing of his solo career is also his strongest in quite a while. Ditching many of the glossy and saccharine sounds that dominated his last two solo releases, The Harmony Codex is often dark and foreboding. Guitar is relatively minimal on this album, but when it shows up, Wilson sounds like he cares for the first time in a while. The synth arrangeme ..read more

Band: Bekor Qilish | Album: The Flesh of a New God | Genre: Black metal, Progressive metal | Year: 2023 From: Milan, Italy | Label: I, Voidhanger Records For fans of: Cynic, Enslaved, Spectral Lore, Mare Cognitum Bandcamp I do my best to avoid falling into ruts on this site. I’m purposely vague about what constitutes “progressive rock,” “progressive metal,” or any other “weird and/or experimental” music I cover on this site. This approach also extends to my attempts to highlight a lot of different record labels. At times, I feel like this site can border on being a showcase for Spinda, Karism ..read more

Band: Fleshvessel | Album: Yearning: Promethean Fates Sealed | Genre: Avant-garde metal | Year: 2023 From: Chicago, USA | Label: I, Voidhanger Records For fans of: Oranssi Pazuzu, Panopticon, Panegyrist Bandcamp Sometimes I run across albums with artwork that does not seem to fit the music. Yearning: Promethean Fates Sealed, the first full-length album from Chicago-based Fleshvessel, doesn’t quite gobsmack me, but it’s not really what I was anticipating. Twisting trees made of arms and chasms lined by teeth led me to expect a gruesome onslaught of relentless death or black metal. But instead ..read more

Welcome to the fourth installment of The Elite Extremophile’s Top Prog Releases of 2022. We’re starting off with the Top Prog EPs of 2022. The two-part Top 50 Albums list will be posted in the coming days. I’ve never settled on a firm number for this list, but the last three years have all been Top Fives. This year, though, I listened to many more short releases than usual, and there are nine in particular that I want to highlight. The difference between an EP and a short LP can often be murky. A number of these releases could have feasibly been included in the Top Albums list (and at least tw ..read more

Band: Ahasver | Album:Causa Sui | Genre: Progressive metal, Post-metal | Bandcamp This band reminds me a lot of Gojira. It’s sludgy, groovy metal with a powerful but unhurried pulse. There are some strong vocal melodies on here, and the songs each make an impression without overstaying their welcome. Neat riffs are sprinkled in, too. However, there’s nothing particularly noteworthy or unique about this release. If you’re in the mood for some solid post-sludge, this ain’t a bad place to turn, but it’s nothing genre-defying. Score: 68/100 Band: Church of the Cosmic Skull | Album: There Is No T ..read more

Band: Besna | Album:Zverstvá | Genre: Post-metal | Bandcamp Besna hails from Slovakia, and they play a variety of melodic black metal and post-metal which artfully weaves together multiple musical ideas. Each of the six songs on this album sprawl without being overlong. The passages blend together seamlessly, and the emotional intensity makes these tracks that much more impactful. I’m also glad that this band sings in their native language, as I quite like the sound of Slovak (and Czech, since they sound so similar, aside from that terrible ř sound the Czechs have). Score: 82/100 Artist: Tan ..read more

Band: Creature | Album:Eloge de l’Ombre | Genre: Progressive metal, Avant-garde metal | Year: 2021 From: Bretagne, France | Label: I, Voidhanger Records For fans of: Arcturus, Cynic, Öxxö Xööx Bandcamp France has long embraced a distinct weirdness and experimentalism in their rock music. Magma are probably the most germane example for this site, though there was a whole microcosm of uniquely French prog acts in the ‘70s, such as Ange, Memoriance, and Mona Lisa. This spirit can be seen today in numerous extreme metal acts, like the bizarre symphonics of Öxxö Xööx or blackgaze pioneers Alcest ..read more

Band: Kayo Dot | Album:Moss Grew on the Swords and Plowshares Alike | Genre: Progressive metal, Gothic metal | Year: 2021 From: Brooklyn, USA | Label: Prophecy Productions For fans of: maudlin of the Well, Kekal, Neurosis Bandcamp Kayo Dot are back with their tenth full-length release two years after the totally-okay Blasphemy. That album continued the band’s recent trend away from metal and toward Gothic rock with some experimental leanings. Kayo Dot has always been difficult to nail down with precise genre descriptors, frequently operating in nebulous grey areas between assorted experimenta ..read more