Progressive Metal Reviews
Although I have a somewhat conflicted relationship with the progressive metal genre, the bands that tackle the style well tend to do so exceptionally well. If you like your time signatures odd and often changing, your song structures unpredictable, your chords and harmonies sophisticated, and your songs long, make sure to check up on Kevy Metal’s progressive metal reviews from time to time. You can find all my progressive metal Album of the Week reviews right here.
However, I did not start properly tagging my reviews until a couple of years in. If you are looking for something that doesn’t show up, it might still be there. I recommend using the search bar at the bottom of the page if you are looking for something specific.
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Album of the Week 50-2015: Galneryus – Under The Force Of Courage
Opinions on Galneryus’ previous album ‘Vetelgyus’ were divided. The album saw the band deviating from their trusted formula by injecting more Hardrock than usual into their highly melodic Power Metal sound. Personally I quite liked the record, but those of you who had their concerns need not worry: ‘Under The…
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Album of the Week 45-2015: Crimson Glory – Transcendence
Futuristic sounding albums ironically have a way of not standing the test of time too well. ‘Transcendence’, the sophomore album of Florida-based progressive Metal band Crimson Glory, still sounds quite fresh. It’s obvious that it’s a product of the late eighties Progmetal scene with its sizable amounts of reverb, but…
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Album of the Week 42-2015: Queensrÿche – Condition Hüman
After what can be only considered one of the most embarrassing soap operas in Heavy Metal history and a surprisingly concise legal battle, Seattle’s Queensrÿche moved on without their legendary singer Geoff Tate. For any band, this would be a disaster, but for remaining original members Michael Wilton, Eddie Jackson…
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Album of the Week 40-2015: Amorphis – Under The Red Cloud
Consistency is key in Amorphis’ career. The Finnish sextet has hardly released any subpar records and although the stylistic detours of the first half of their discography are in the past, you can always depend on the band to come up with a well-crafted record. ‘Under The Red Cloud’ is…
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Album of the Week 37-2015: Blind Guardian – At The Edge Of Time
Generally, ‘At The Edge Of Time’ is seen as Blind Guardian’s big return to form after ‘A Twist In The Myth’, which I personally didn’t consider as that much of a departure from the rest of their discography, but whatever. The album does however bring something back to the table…
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Album of the Week 31-2015: Symphony X – Underworld
Upon first listen, I thought ‘Underworld’ suffered from the same flaws as Symphony X’s previous album ‘Iconoclast’. While the latter was an enjoyable album, it sacrificed a lot of the band’s melodic sensibilities in favor of a heavier approach. For instance, Russell Allen, one of the best Rock singers on…
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Album of the Week 29-2015: DragonForce – Sonic Firestorm
Guilty pleasures come in all shapes in sizes. However, I don’t feel particularly guilty about enjoying artists like ABBA or DragonForce. Sure, the latter may have an abundance of Metal clichés in their songs, but they seem to be very tongue-in-cheeky about it. Also, their brand of warp speed, highly…
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Album of the Week 25-2015: Masterplan – Masterplan
When drummer Uli Kusch and guitarist Roland Grapow were simultaneously fired from Helloween, they wasted no time and started Masterplan. Since their shared tenure in Helloween is my favorite period in the German Power Metal giants’ history, I was eagerly awaiting this debut release at the time. It wasn’t quite…
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Album of the Week 21-2015: Leprous – The Congregation
Bizarre and unique. Those are the only two adjectives that describe Leprous adequately. Sure, it’s progressive Metal, but it’s nothing like the Dream Theater clones that saturate the genre. The Norwegians abandon chugging over constantly changing meters and bouncing a million riffs around in favor of an approach that is…
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