Progressive Rock Reviews
Since I generally tend to prefer progressive rock over progressive metal – seventies-style progressive rock in particular – the style is represented relatively well on Kevy Metal. Since I tend to lean towards the more riffy, guitar-driven side of the progressive rock spectrum rather than the folky or keyboard-laden side of it, those who enjoy the bands reviewed in my progressive metal reviews and my hard rock reviews might find something to enjoy here as well. These are all my Album of the Week reviews about progressive rock releases.
Using tags effecitvely is something I didn’t do until a couple of years in. As a result, some progressive rock revies may show up here. If you are looking for something specific, I recommend using the search bar at the bottom of the page.
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Album of the Week 36-2023: Ningen Isu – Shikisokuzekū
2021’s ‘Kuraku’ was as close to a median Ningen Isu album as we ever got. Solid, but unspectacular. Fortunately, the power trio from Aomori has a way of following lesser albums up with something amazing. The lackluster ‘Burai Hōjō’ was followed by the crusing masterpiece ‘Kaidan Soshite Shi to Eros‘,…
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Album of the Week 20-2023: Arjen Lucassen’s Supersonic Revolution – Golden Age of Music
If carefully crafting massive prog rock operas is your day job, what do you do for fun? Well, if Arjen Lucassen’s new project Supersonic Revolution is anything to go by: playing rather spontaneous-sounding seventies-inspired hard rock with a bunch of relatively local friends. ‘Golden Age of Music’ is an often…
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Album of the Week 13-2023: The Alfee – Arcadia
Possibly the longest-running active rock band in Japan, The Alfee managed to maintain a sizeable portion of its popularity by simultaneously staying true to their core sound and developing along with the changing trends of the rock landscape. Despite starting out as Japan’s answer to the American folk rock scene…
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Album of the Week 42-2022: Vorbid – A Swan By The Edge Of Mandala
What a surprising evolution… Prior to ‘A Swan By The Edge Of Mandala’, Vorbid made a combination of thrash metal riffs and distinct progressive compositions that made me see them as part of the same scene as all those proggy thrash bands whose name start with a V. You know…
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Album of the Week 39-2022: Magma – Kãrtëhl
When Magma announced ‘Kãrtëhl’ would be a bright and optimistic album, that was not necessarily a reason for me to look forward to it. To me, Magma is generally at their best when their unconventional blend of proggy jazz-rock with modern classical overtones is as dark and oppressive as possible.…
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Album of the Week 24-2022: Dir En Grey – Phalaris
Usually, a Dir En Grey album is something to look forward to. However, with ‘The Insulated World’ being a borderline unlistenable barrage of noise that completely forsakes the band’s trademark dynamic songwriting, particularly during its first half, I was a bit apprehensive about ‘Phalaris’. Fortunately, ‘Phalaris’ puts Dir En Grey…
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Album of the Week 23-2022: Dream Theater – Falling Into Infinity
‘Falling Into Infinity’ is arguably Dream Theater’s most controversial album. Allegedly, Elektra Records demanded a more radio-friendly album. In all honesty, it is difficult to picture any mid-nineties radio station having most of the material on ‘Falling Into Infinity’ on heavy rotation, with all the odd meters on display. There…
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Album of the Week 22-2022: Czesław Niemen – Aerolit
Czesław Niemen was a remarkable artist. Not only was he one of the best singers I have ever heard, he was also the type of artist who kept pushing his boundaries. Between the late sixties and the late seventies, he developed from an unusually soulful beat artist to a progressive…
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Album of the Week 19-2022: Providence – And I’ll Recite On Old Myth From……
Japan had its fair share of progressive rock bands throughout the eighties. Since most of them are fairly synth-heavy – often synths of the glossy, blaring variety typical of the decade – J-prog is not the scene I delve into most. There are, however, some true gems to be found…
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